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: treasurer of the 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

[CriticalSquareMBA]

Hey there Maximiliano,

Thanks so much for posting! Let's get to your profile:

What I like

1) You're from South America - adcoms love that
2) You have some interesting work experience and I actually don't hate that your startup didn't go super successful - still a learning experience!
3) Great grades and international experience

The so-so

1) Your GMAT is ok - would it be great if it was > 700? Absolutely. And it's below (well below) the medians for the programs you've listed. That isn't itself a death blow but it doesn't help either!

The not so good

1) Your age. That's a big deal for the programs you've listed

You haven't really mentioned why you want your MBA so it's hard to talk about your schools from a fit basis but I'll say this - that's a somewhat aggressive list. You might want to consider some in the 10 - 18 range to balance things out. You have some great things in your profile but your so-so GMAT and your age are flags to consider.

I hope that helps get the conversation started and let me know if you have any other questions or want me to clarify anything!

Bhavik

[maximiliano]

Thank you Bhavik!
Post MBA, I am oriented to entrepreneurship. However, I would like to gain experience working for a US consulting company, because I think I had a lot of experience and knowledge to contribute. However, as you said, my age is a big deal for this. Regarding entrepreneurship, I have in mind some ideas (even I am making some business in USA) but here in Argentina (or even in Uruguay) I lack the resources, the networking, and the experience to escalate them.

I mentioned those programs because, according to my research (which is not yet so extensive, so additional info is welcome), those are the programs that fit my expectations and may also be within my reach. But I am really interested too in the programs of Virginia Darden and Hong Kong University. Even I have heard of a program Chicago Booth in Hong Kong, which I did not have the time to reasearch but it sounds interesting.


Maximiliano

[CriticalSquareMBA]

Maximiliano,

So sorry - I thought I had responded to this but I must not have hit submit! Apologies for the delay! I think you should be ok with your GMAT - you can retake it if you'd like (and it'll help) but not absolutely necessary. You're S. American and so you're compared against other S. Americans. The GMAT scores from that region, on average, are a bit lower.

Here's a good resource to start thinking about how to pick schools: How to Choose Programs

You should also check out our free, detailed school profiles to learn a bit more about these programs: School Profiles

I say that because it seems you're still a bit early in your school research process and need to really drill into these schools.

I hope that helps and apologies again for the wait!

Bhavik