Profile Evaluation - GMAT 680

[maximiliano]

Hi,
It would really be helpful and appreciated if you could evaluate my profile.

Nationality: Argentina
Age: 32
Gender: Male
GMAT score (1st attempt): 680 (Q49, V34, IR5, AWA expecting a 5+)

Background: I am an Accountant with a Master in Finance (National University, still working in my final thesis, average score 8.5, 10 scale ). Several courses in Finance (eg: Chinese finance in the Jiaotong University in Beijing, China)
Year of Graduation: 2005
Work Experience till date: 8 years

2005 to 2009: Ernst & Young. Semi-senior. Consulting and Audit on Banks and Insurances Companies.

2009: Swift trade (6 months): trader. Scalping strategies on NYSE stocks.

2010: Real state project (Trust, urbanization project): pricing and credit strategies .

2011 to 2013: Commodities broker (first by volume in Argentina, trading soybeans, corn and wheat). Senior analyst. Developing hedging strategies for clients with positions at the Chicago Futures Exchange (CBOT) and Buenos Aires Futures Exchange. Daily Market reports (Chicago and Buenos Aires markets).

2013: founder of a Start up in Montevideo (Uruguay), Uomotors.com (the business concept was to connect buyers and sellers of cars in an online and then in an real space in the Montevideo shopping). The project won the prize to the Best Technological project in Uruguay. We closed the start-up in 2014 (we could not monetize to the break even point).

2014: Consulting. Corporate Finance and Capital markets. Current clients: a real state project, a big clothing retail company and local investors in the US financial markets.

twitter: @maximilianoi

Extracurricular activities:
Yachting. Member of the crew who participated in the 2014 Rolex Atlantic Sur Cup (race from Buenos Aires to Punta del Este Uruguay). We obtain the second position in our category. Currently competing in the V22 category in Rosario.

NGOs activities:
Rotaract (the Rotary program to the people below 30 years old):
2004: Director of the Finance Committee (organization of events to fund the communnity projects)
2003: Director of the Community Committee in Rotaract .
2002: Ttreasurer at Rotaract Club.

Running: marathon competitions. 10, 21 and 42 kms.

I would to apply to the following schools (all R2):
1) Columbia
2) UCLA
3) New York Stern
4) Berkeley Haas
5) Chicago Booth

thank you!

Maximiliano

[Jon@Admissionado]

Hey Maximiliano,
Well you definitely have a very unique and interesting profile, my freind.

Let take this baby apart:

The Good stuff:
- Argentina - the schools see VERY few Argentinean candidates. This alone is not enough to get you in, but it CAN make you interesting!
- Competitive Yachting... also not very common, and lets be honest.. Bschools are elitist places
- Good range of work experience

The Challenges:
- Older candidate
- GMAT is lower than the average for all of your schools


So you do have some challenges to overcome, but your basis is strong. Sooo the first thing to consider is: What kind of strategy do you want? Right now, your school list is a bit risky, given especially your GMAT score. You can decide to live with this risk, or you can decide to plan for it, by adding schools in the Top 20-30. That is what I would personally recommend, esp. taking into consideration that as an older candidate, every year comes with its costs.

The second thing is: What are your goals? And how do they make sense from the perspective of your work experience? On the one hand you have a vast breadth of experience which will make for an interesting application, but on the other, you want to make sure it doesn't come across as "messy"...

Sooo Maximiliano,
What do you think?
Best,
Jon