Can you evaluate my profile

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Can you evaluate my profile

by fslcal » Mon Nov 07, 2016 8:22 am
Hey everyone!

I'm looking to apply to business school in round 1 of next year. I'd really appreciate if you guys could give me some input regarding my profile and share what schools would be a good match/stretch/impossible to reach with regard to my profile.

I was born and raised in Germany, graduated high school here. After HS graduation, I went to the US on a student visa, completed my undergraduate degree in Economics at UCSD. I started out at a community college then transferred to UCSD.
My UCSD GPA was only a 2.9, my cumulative GPA from both CC and UCSD is a 3.15.

Career Track:
After graduation (during my practical year for F-1 students), I completed a marketing internship at the leading US media corporation. After that, I took on a job as an account executive at a PR firm in LA and worked at major events within the entertainment industry (Oscars etc.)

After the year was done, I went back to Germany and have since worked for one of the best consulting firms for two years.

Overcoming my weak GPA:
Since back in Germany, I got a MSc in Economics (3.8 GPA)from a German university and completed an online Finance certificate at UCLA extension (10 courses) with a 4.0 GPA.

I just recently took the GMAT and scored a 760.
The whole last two years was the busiest I've ever been, but I felt like I needed to overcome my weak undergraduate performance. Getting my masters, a good GMAT score and finishing my certificate at UCLA almost drove me crazy, but I got it done....

I've also been working on a book for over 3 years now, and I hope to get it published within the next 6-10 months..

Now it's time to start thinking about what schools I should apply to, so any input you possibly have would be extremely valuable! My biggest concern (aside from my weak undergrad GPA) is the fact that my career track doesn't seem particularly linear. My degree is in Economics, I then did an internship in marketing and took on a job in PR before working in consulting (even though all of those jobs were at great companies.)


What schools do you think are within my reach? How about the best (H/S/W)? Haas, Columbia, NYU?
What, in your opinion, should I do to increase my chances at this point?

Thanks in advance for all your help, I really appreciate it.

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by ApplyMBAApp » Wed Nov 09, 2016 11:01 pm
You have an interesting profile and have good chances in top 15 colleges, but H/S/W may be a stretch. You haven't mentioned your post MBA career aspirations. The school you select will depend a lot on that.

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by Michelle@ARINGO » Mon Nov 14, 2016 6:13 am
fslcal wrote:Hey everyone!

I'm looking to apply to business school in round 1 of next year. I'd really appreciate if you guys could give me some input regarding my profile and share what schools would be a good match/stretch/impossible to reach with regard to my profile.

I was born and raised in Germany, graduated high school here. After HS graduation, I went to the US on a student visa, completed my undergraduate degree in Economics at UCSD. I started out at a community college then transferred to UCSD.
My UCSD GPA was only a 2.9, my cumulative GPA from both CC and UCSD is a 3.15.

Career Track:
After graduation (during my practical year for F-1 students), I completed a marketing internship at the leading US media corporation. After that, I took on a job as an account executive at a PR firm in LA and worked at major events within the entertainment industry (Oscars etc.)

After the year was done, I went back to Germany and have since worked for one of the best consulting firms for two years.

Overcoming my weak GPA:
Since back in Germany, I got a MSc in Economics (3.8 GPA)from a German university and completed an online Finance certificate at UCLA extension (10 courses) with a 4.0 GPA.

I just recently took the GMAT and scored a 760.
The whole last two years was the busiest I've ever been, but I felt like I needed to overcome my weak undergraduate performance. Getting my masters, a good GMAT score and finishing my certificate at UCLA almost drove me crazy, but I got it done....

I've also been working on a book for over 3 years now, and I hope to get it published within the next 6-10 months..

Now it's time to start thinking about what schools I should apply to, so any input you possibly have would be extremely valuable! My biggest concern (aside from my weak undergrad GPA) is the fact that my career track doesn't seem particularly linear. My degree is in Economics, I then did an internship in marketing and took on a job in PR before working in consulting (even though all of those jobs were at great companies.)


What schools do you think are within my reach? How about the best (H/S/W)? Haas, Columbia, NYU?
What, in your opinion, should I do to increase my chances at this point?

Thanks in advance for all your help, I really appreciate it.
What are you looking to do after your MBA? That is a deciding factor here. I am assuming you are only looking at US schools, is that right?
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by fslcal » Mon Nov 14, 2016 7:47 am
Michelle@ARINGO wrote:
fslcal wrote:Hey everyone!

I'm looking to apply to business school in round 1 of next year. I'd really appreciate if you guys could give me some input regarding my profile and share what schools would be a good match/stretch/impossible to reach with regard to my profile.

I was born and raised in Germany, graduated high school here. After HS graduation, I went to the US on a student visa, completed my undergraduate degree in Economics at UCSD. I started out at a community college then transferred to UCSD.
My UCSD GPA was only a 2.9, my cumulative GPA from both CC and UCSD is a 3.15.

Career Track:
After graduation (during my practical year for F-1 students), I completed a marketing internship at the leading US media corporation. After that, I took on a job as an account executive at a PR firm in LA and worked at major events within the entertainment industry (Oscars etc.)

After the year was done, I went back to Germany and have since worked for one of the best consulting firms for two years.

Overcoming my weak GPA:
Since back in Germany, I got a MSc in Economics (3.8 GPA)from a German university and completed an online Finance certificate at UCLA extension (10 courses) with a 4.0 GPA.

I just recently took the GMAT and scored a 760.
The whole last two years was the busiest I've ever been, but I felt like I needed to overcome my weak undergraduate performance. Getting my masters, a good GMAT score and finishing my certificate at UCLA almost drove me crazy, but I got it done....

I've also been working on a book for over 3 years now, and I hope to get it published within the next 6-10 months..

Now it's time to start thinking about what schools I should apply to, so any input you possibly have would be extremely valuable! My biggest concern (aside from my weak undergrad GPA) is the fact that my career track doesn't seem particularly linear. My degree is in Economics, I then did an internship in marketing and took on a job in PR before working in consulting (even though all of those jobs were at great companies.)


What schools do you think are within my reach? How about the best (H/S/W)? Haas, Columbia, NYU?
What, in your opinion, should I do to increase my chances at this point?

Thanks in advance for all your help, I really appreciate it.
What are you looking to do after your MBA? That is a deciding factor here. I am assuming you are only looking at US schools, is that right?
I want to get into investment banking, then eventually private equity.
I completed MSc Economics to make up for some of the low under grad grades.
Furthermore, I took the finance classes at UCLA so I have SOME specific finance knowledge (DCF etc.. you just don't learn that in Economics for all the obvious reasons) and can therefore prove my interest.

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by fslcal » Mon Nov 14, 2016 7:56 am
In terms of what schools I'm looking at -
I eventually want to move back to the US, preferably New York or California.
I'm fine with Europe for now, but eventually, I want to end up back in the US.
I read in several articles that it is already hard enough as an F-1 international student to be sponsored for an H1B, even after getting a US MBA... and that it is next to impossible for an international student (from a European MBA program) to find a job that sponsors your visa in the US...
So I'm torn.

Of course I would consider European MBA programs, but only if there is a great chance of me actually being able to get a job in the US afterwards. I would consider a European MBA program for the cost factor alone as it is much cheaper.
But in the end, I just don't want to work so hard and then not reach my end goal. I don't want to go to a US school, not find a job, have at least $100k student loans and having to leave the country (again.) On the other hand, I don't wanna pay less for a European MBA if it means that I will have an even smaller chance of getting a top US job after graduation.