Profile eval for top 25 schools?

[cityathrt]

Thank you so much in advance for reading my post. I just took my GMAT this weekend and walked out with a 670 (45Q, 37V).

Female
23 y/o Asian
Applying from US but grew up in Asia

Will have two years of accounting advisory experience from a Big 4 accounting firm (one year audit, one year valuation). Finalist in firm's national intrafirm business proposal competition, extensive participation in firm recruiting efforts and intrafirm organizations). Have managed a team of two for four months.

Graduated with a 3.5 from top 25 national university (top 3 ranked business program). Strong extracurriculars (president of premier peer mentoring organization, student rep for school financial aid office, executive board of sorority). Stayed busy every summer with internships and jobs.

Will have strong recommendations from supervisor at work, supervisor from college, and colleague of two years. Also currently involved as an organizer of an Asian professionals group (around 300 members).

I'm thinking of schools like NYU, USC, Georgetown, CMU, and UVA as good matches, with Berkeley and Columbia as my reaches. Based on my profile, is this list realistic? Do I have a good shot at my matches? Is my GMAT the weakest part of my application? (My relatively low amount of work experience is also slightly worrying me).

My story for an MBA is that I don't want to stay in accounting, I intend to concentrate in finance (aim to be a financial analyst with a F100 firm upon graduation) with a high likelihood of heading back to Asia after graduation (hence the schools with a strong Pacific Rim reputation). If not Asia, then definitely a major city with a high concentration of Asians. Is this a coherent/compelling enough story?

Thanks again.

[Stacey Oyler]

Hi,

Thanks for your post. I agree with your assessment, I think your GMAT and short tenure are your weak areas. If I may ask, why do you want to seek an MBA now? Why not wait a year or two until you have more experience? This would also give you plenty of time to retake the GMAT which will increase your odds of success. Can you let me know your thoughts around your timing?

Regards,

Stacey

[cityathrt]

Hi Stacy,

Thanks so much for your response. Apologies for my delayed one, work happened, as usual.

That is also partially the reason why for an MBA now (well, now as in 2012). I realize that public accounting isn't for me, and I don't intend to stay in it. Corporate accounting also holds no allure for me. Rather, I would like to go the corporate finance route, and would need more education in that regard.

Apart from a career change, this is actually also good timing for me. There are two exit points within my group -- just after you start, or after you've been there a good 6-7 years. The reason for the former being you've learned just enough to know what you're doing/not be a fresh faced college grad, and the latter being you've accumulated enough accounting knowledge and technical skills to add value to other companies. There really is no in between. If you're in between, you don't know enough of the accounting issues to deliver a coherent answer to a client problem, so you're essentially a glorified corporate accountant making binders and tie outs, but billing out at a higher rate.

I've also always intended to go for my MBA (double majored in accounting and management in college to set a foundation for the MBA), do these reasons sound valid?

I know what I want, and realize that my score probably puts me solidly out of Columbia and Berkeley's target population. NYU is my number one school right now -- am I shooting for the stars here?

Thanks again.

[Stacey Oyler]

Hi,

Thanks for the additional information. While I understand your rational for seeking your MBA at this time, you'll want to be sure that not only do you explain your timing in terms of your career plans, but also that you are prepared to make a solid contribution to an MBA program. Often times the concern with younger MBA applicants is that they don't have enough experience to contribute to classroom discussions, study groups and their peers in general. You'll want to be sure the adcom knows that not only is the ideal time for you from a career perspective, but that you are also an ideal candidate with a lot to contribute.

I do think you should consider adding some schools to your mix. I generally recommend applying to 4-6 programs with a mix of reach, target and safety programs. This will hopefully put you in a position where you can have a couple of acceptances to choose from.

Regards,

Stacey