Profile Eval for Top 10 Hopeful

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Profile Eval for Top 10 Hopeful

by beehagit » Sat Jul 02, 2011 10:40 am
Profile: 25 year old white male (but don't plan on applying for a couple years)

Education: 3.28 GPA from UCLA (major in Biology, minor in Accounting). Note that I graduated in five years due to the addition of my minor and I did receive one F early in my career because I chose to pursue a job that conflicted with the timing of my class. I subsequently retook this class and got a B+.

GMAT: 770 (Q50, V45)

Work Experience: Finishing up my second year at one of the Big Four accounting firms in Audit. I plan on having between four and five years of total experience at the firm upon matriculation and will have my CPA license. I will be promoted to Senior Associate this summer and will have plenty of experience running engagements (responsible for managing my staff, the client, and the managers/partner) when applying.

Extracurriculars:
- I was recently nominated for and granted a spot on our Senior Leadership Council. This is a group of about 12 senior associates from the firm's Pacific Southwest offices that is responsible for engaging our peers to gauge what their complaints are and then working with management to resolve these issues (with the goal of decreasing turnover).
- Involved with the United Way through my firm (dedicated to fighting poverty in LA)
- VP of Homeowner's Association (good experience negotiating with/persuading people much older than myself)

Basically I am most interested in attending a top school and am leaning towards Wharton, CBS, Kellogg, Booth, Ross, Haas, Anderson. I was wondering if you think it is reasonable that I only apply to these schools (without any real safety school). I don't know if I'd be interested in attending a lower ranked school just for the sake of going back to school.

I'd really appreciate any advice you can offer with regards to school selection or steps that I can take in the next couple years to improve my chances. I'm pretty sure that I will be using a consultant down the line to maximize my odds.

Many thanks!
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by Lisa Anderson » Mon Jul 04, 2011 3:22 pm
Dear beehagit,

Based on your post, I would say you are on track for a competitive profile to any program. Be sure to apply within your 5 year window for your GMAT score as it is outstanding (congrats!). Other than continuing your career progress, the best thing to be doing is seeking out leadership opportunities inside and outside the office where you can lead teams and/or manage projects of increasing scope. You seem to have some strong extracurriculars now, but you could also pursue significant involvement in an organization not affiliated with your company. Whether or not you decide to apply to a mix of schools or only top schools is your choice; the risk in only applying to top 10 programs is that you might not end up anywhere due to the competitive nature of those programs. However, if you submit strong application packages, then it might be a risk worth taking as you will have at least one admission offer (and one is all you need).

Good luck,
Lisa
Lisa Anderson
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Stacy Blackman Consulting

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