Put my life back together after many failures - Are my MBA hopes realistic?
Hi,
Throwaway for obvious reasons. I understand I'm in the presence of those who have done fairly well for themselves, I'm looking to gather some honest and practical feedback about my progress. To provide a bit of background, I've outlined some general information below.
Sex: Male
Current Age: 29
Undergrad University: Top 50, Northeast public institution
Undergrad Major & GPA: Communications, 2.02/4.00 GPA
UG Business Courses Only GPA: 3.1/4.0 GPA
Graduate School: Small private institution in Northeast
Graduate Major & GPA: Masters of Accounting, 3.82/4.00 GPA
Current Occupation: Big 4 Accounting Firm, NYC, Sr. Associate (3.5 years total time)
GMAT: 690-730 (Practice exams)
Certifications: CPA, CFA 1
Volunteer: Coach youth basketball
Current Targets: UVA, UNC, Cornell, UCLA, NYU (Reach), Darthmouth (Miracle?)
Overview:
I did terrible in my undergraduate studies - immature, no direction, unable to cope with undiagnosed depression. By some miracle, the dean of my undergraduate college actually reached out to me and got me the help I needed to finish school. Though I almost flunked school, I was always active - I volunteered and completed two internships with two different, household-named, companies.
Post-college, I landed a job with a major financial services company doing basic service representative work. I obtained Series 7 and 63 at this firm but worked there for less than a year - I had realized I needed to go back to school to really have the opportunity and career I wanted. I enrolled at a small private university in the greater-NYC area and did very well there. I became a Dean's List scholar, was awarded scholarship, and worked as a graduate assistant focusing on research to broaden university curriculum. During this time, I successfully completed an internship with a Big 4 firm and accepted full-time offer in their audit line of service.
It's been 3.5 years in this capacity and I've done fairly well here. I've worked on some top-notch clients and seen some incredibly complex finance/accounting operations. My performance on my teams has always been good, I don't foresee any issue in obtaining my management's letter of recommendations. In addition, I obtained my CPA and have also progressed through some of the CFA curriculum. I have been studying the GMAT and taking some practice exams, scoring in the 690-720 range . I'm working to improve these scores to a target range of 740-770. On a more personal note, I've been seeing a therapist for the past year to address my depression and to work out my own issues - it's really been going well.
My interests surrounding the MBA are obvious. In my opinion, I think I have been establishing credibility and have shown that I can learn from my mistakes. With all of this said, I understand my undergraduate grades will act as a significant deterrence to being admitted to any #10 - #20 MBA program. I will be turning 30 within the next 9 months and the odds are against me. I've read through many admissions books and blogs but I can't shake the feeling that I still might have a shot at all - or I simply missed the boat on this one.
If we could please limit feedback to being positive and constructive, I would appreciate that very much. I've done a lot to get to where I am today. Thank you!
TL;DR - Almost flunked undergrad. Graduated. Got job. Realized I needed more education. Went back to school for Masters. Did great. Got job with Big 4. Working for 3.5 years, got promoted. Considering MBA. Need realistic feedback.
I have no idea what your chances are. My only insight comes from having just gone through this process a few months ago and reading and thinking a lot about it. GPA will hurt, but a GMAT well above the average for some of those schools could help offset it. If you clear that hurdle, you have a very compelling story and you seem to be able to tell it well. You need your resume, essays and interviews to be stellar in order to get a couple of admissions people to like you enough to ignore the GPA. I'd be careful to make the "issues" seem in the past and talk about what you learned from dealing with them. Would be great if that connected to something else you do. (Maybe you coach basketball to help kids gain the maturity and direction you lacked?) The one thing that's not in here is where you want to go afterwards, which obviously needs to fit nicely with the rest.
Good luck!
I don't think you're impressive, but you're not unimpressive either. I think a lot will depend on how your recommendation are, GMAT (you knew) and the quality of your work experience as of impact
should be able to get into top 20, maybe top 15 if you crush the GMAT.
I think you can do top 20. Age shouldn't really be an issue at those schools of other items check the box. You obviously need to overcome the undergrad gpa but I think you can point to your graduate work to show how you've matured and learned about yourself. Good luck!
What do you do in your current role?
You're profile is not much different than mine. I left my first UG after 2 years with a sub 2.0 GPA. Took a year off, spent the next few years earning my degree (graduated Magna Cum Laude from very much a non-target) and turning my life around. Landed in PWM after, so similar to Big 4 in that it is a feeder to MBA programs but not a prestigious one. CFP and had CFA II down when I applied (I'm now done with the CFA). 29 when I applied, matriculating now at 30.
I applied to HBS, Wharton, Stanford and Booth, I got into Booth in round 1 and was placed on further consideration at HBS (outright ding at the other two). If your app is well crafted you should land somewhere.
As a side note I was around 700 the first time I took the GMAT but also felt like I needed to be more competitive there, I retook and scored well above 750 - I have a feeling this was crucial to my app, considering the non-traditional path.
I tutor the GMAT for one of the major prep providers and have recently been through the app process (fairly successfully I'd say considering the weaknesses in my application), feel free to PM me with any questions on either front.
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