Can I get in to these schools?

[big4auditor]

I plan on applying to the following B-Schools for the MBA programs beginning in Fall 2013:

- U Penn (Wharton)
- UNC (Kenan-Flagler)
- UCLA Anderson
- UCLA Berkeley
- U Michigan (Ross)

I'd like some honest, candid feedback regarding my chances of being admitted to these schools. Here's some background information about myself.

EDUCATION:
UNCW - B.S. in Business Administration w/ Accounting concentration. 3.9 GPA.
UNCW - Master of Accountancy (MSA) degree. 3.9 GPA.

WORK:
2 years of experience as a Big 4 auditor (will have 3 years of experience upon entry to MBA program)
GMAT 690 (but will be retaking the exam and expect to score 720+)

LICENSURES:
CPA License
CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner) Certification

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I feel that my GPA/GMAT should be sufficient but the challenge will lie in my ability to interview well and write great essays. What do you all think? What are my chances of getting into these universities?

Please let me know if there's any other information you'd like me to share, which would help you analyze my odds. Thanks in advance!

[NextGreatLeader]

Do you have a friend, coworker, family member, or mentor that can help you practice your interviewing techniques and read your essays?
You have some strong stats, but a lot of your admissions odds will come down to your ability to market yourself and effectively present your story.

[essaysnark]

Hi big4auditor,

First things first, nobody can tell you if you can "get in" except the adcom and we don't know enough about you/your profile to truly say one way or another BUT we can offer some insights.

You're starting on a strong note with your profile! Impressive grades at the undergrad and grad level, and some nice work experience. Plus, if your plan to take the GMAT again results in the stronger score of 720+, you would definitely be a qualified candidate at each of the schools you mentioned. (note: you might be fine at UNC with your current score).

But, equally important to your profile, and not mentioned in your original post, are your career goals! They will help determine which school is a good fit and they'll be at the center of all of your writing and interviewing. Because you didn't mention them, EssaySnark is not sure if you already have them figured out, or if you are still navigating what you want to do with your life. Either way, we think we have some posts that might help! If you're not quite sure what you want to do, Ross actually offered some helpful questions for self-assessment, and we talk about them in this post: https://www.essaysnark.com/2010/10/think ... -need-one/ It's an old one, but the advice still holds true. And, if you do know what your career goals are, you'll still need to write about them! This post, from the dean at Kellogg, has a few helpful hints when it comes to actually writing the career goals essay. https://www.essaysnark.com/2010/12/kello ... als-essay/

Finally, after you have your shiny career goals, you'll need to actually explain why the school can help you achieve them! So many applicants miss this part, but it is very important. Again, you didn't include this in your profile, so EssaySnark isn't sure why you selected the schools that you did. The list is great, but the programs mentioned are fairly different from one-another, so we're curious as to why those schools and not, for instance, NYU, Tuck, Columbia, or even Harvard and Stanford? Also, important to note, you would be a younger candidate for Wharton and Haas probably and so would need to have superstar stories of achievement to prove to them that you are bschool ready. (helpful hint...don't refer to UC Berkeley as UCLA Berkeley. I'm sure it was a minor oversight in this post...but similar minor oversights in essays tend to annoy the admissions committee. So, proofread, proofread, proofread.)

We agree with NextGreatLeader, in that a lot of your odds lie in effectively presenting your story. And, hopefully you realize that your career goals are, in fact, a large part of that story.

This post went all over the map, and we could have responded with plenty more to say about the essays and the interview process, but we think we'll stop here. Of course, if you have a question, feel free to ask us!

EssaySnark

[big4auditor]

Thanks for your input! As I suspected, it seems that my admission prospects will be greatly influenced by my ability to use the essays and interviews to effectively sell myself, tell my story, and articulate my goals.

EssaySnark: You mentioned that the MBA programs I listed were very different from each other in some aspects. I'm not necessarily set on these 5 schools in particular. Frankly, I've found it challenging to really differentiate the various MBA programs, particularly with regards to their culture. It would be difficult for me to take the time off work to visit these schools, so it seems I have little choice but to glean as much information from the Internet as possible. Unfortunately I don't know many MBA graduates, so I don't have contacts I can reach out to.

Are there any websites you'd suggest visiting (or other forms of information-gathering) that will help me to differentiate between the MBA programs and better understand their cultures and what sets them apart from the pack?


Thanks for your feedback. To all others, I encourage you to leave some candid feedback about my admissions prospects based on what you've read here. Thanks!

[essaysnark]

We know that an auditor's lifestyle can make it difficult to visit campuses. And we recognize it is a big commitment of time and cash, but we believe that if you can make it work, it is worth it!

We wrote a post a while ago about this very subject, called (conveniently) "how to choose a bschool" https://www.essaysnark.com/2010/06/how-t ... a-bschool/ It advocates visiting, but also might have a few useful pointers for you too. Then we wrote this one about school fit: https://www.essaysnark.com/2011/04/school-fit/

Finally, we wrote a BUNCH of posts for people trying to decide between different schools they'd been accepted to, some with scholarships, and some not. Now, we realize you're on the other side of this process, but we still think that some of the posts in the series might be helpful. Here's one to start with, and it links to all the rest of them. https://www.essaysnark.com/2012/03/schoo ... th-part-1/ We could just re-type a lot of the pertinent advice here, but we're going to send you over there and save our tired fingers.

Basically, if you can't visit (although we choose to say again here that you should really try!), the best source of information about the school is the SCHOOL itself. Watch their videos, read all the application pages, blog posts, alumni magazines, and graduation speeches and pretty much anything they put out there on the web. (Most even even do annual reports. Does that resonate with you as an auditor?) It takes some digging on the website, but you can definitely find clues about their culture. Now, don't COPY their statements verbatim in your applications, REFLECT on what it would mean to you to be a student in a culture like that. Remember our school fit post?

Hopefully that helps! Sorry we're behind on posting back to you, but totally willing to help more if we can!

EssaySnark

[money9111]

EssaySnark's comments were very thorough so I will make this incredibly brief. Given your stats from your initial post, you have to realize that your profile sounds similar to about 80% of people applying to those schools. The question shouldn't be "do I have a shot of getting in" but rather "how do I separate myself from the pack TO GET IN?" Getting a 720 won't separate you from the pack - although that is something that one should strive for. If you get the 720 it's going to come down to the softer side of your application.