Ask AdmissionsConsultants

[AdmissionsConsultants]

Hi and thanks for your inquiry.

From some of your previous posts, I’ve gathered that Management consultants are in competitive pool. I have an offer from a big 4 consulting firm, as well as offers for entry level analyst positions in Supply Chain and Operations divisions from other companies. I’m fresh out of undergrad, and think that I’ll apply for an MBA 2-3 years down the line.

1. I can see myself having an excellent experience in any of these positions. For MBA schools, however, will any of these positions give me a better chance than the others?

Unfortunately, this medium doesn’t allow for the type of in-depth discussion you need to get these questions definitely answered. I can just tell you that any of these options can be viable for a competitive MBA candidacy. The decision you reach should be based on your personal preferences and both your short- and long-term career goals.

2. With consulting, especially in the Big 4, there is a limited career progression in 2-3 years. Also, with all the travelling, there is little room for extra-curricular activities. So what can I do to set myself apart in the next two years?

The schools will have a good understanding of your situation given that they see so many similar applicants every year.

Exactly what you should do will depend upon your most likely story themes, wow factors, etc. It should definitely be something personalized to your candidacy if it’s going to be most effective and that’s beyond the scope of this thread.

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

David Petersam
President
AdmissionsConsultants, Inc.
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com

http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/mba/blog.aspx

AdmissionsConsultants
703.242.5885

[AdmissionsConsultants]

Hi and thanks for your inquiry.

Once offered an invite to interview, what are your chances of acceptance in R3?

Depending upon the school and your level of interview preparation, it should be north of 50%. The fact it’s R3 doesn’t mean too much. Once you received that interview invitation, it more or less “leveled the playing field.”

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

David Petersam
President
AdmissionsConsultants, Inc.
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com

http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/mba/blog.aspx

AdmissionsConsultants
703.242.5885

[AdmissionsConsultants]

Hi and thanks for your inquiry.

Hi david,
Read a lot about you and your advices given to people. I have recently taken toefl and am planning for future. Hope you have something in store for me too! My profile is as follows:

GMAT: 710(Q50,V36)
AWA: 5
TOEFL: 104(25,29,22,28)
CGPA: 3.8
Work ex: 41 months by aug.2007: 14 months as merchant navy officer on a foreign going vessel,rest as maths teacher at a local school:

Community service: 30 months as an NGOist :

EC: house captain at school, school topper: cleared prestigious IIT exam, organize sports tournaments at college: captained medical committee for four years: college cricket team member: organized vaccination camps: organized fund raising programs on many occasions.

Work place: appreciation for outstanding performance while the ship was at peril recently,several appreciation letters: organized sports tournaments onboard: safety committee representative at ship: served at higher rank than allotted( got a certificate with regard to this), organized a few cultural fests at district level.

Target school: Stanford,duke,kellog,isb,oxford,darden,annarbor

Query: should I retake gmat as I recently tried one of the sets and there was a difference of 50 points than earlier time?what about toefl? May be you can help me with your insights regarding the admission process ,preparing good application packet etc.please do mention references,links or any thing else you find helpful. Please comment on my selection of the schools. thanks and in anticipation.

* please ignore the mail sent under general forum category.

You can start by reading through more of this thread if you want some additional insight into the admission process. The post I made about 2 months ago about the David’s Corner topic on questions you will never get an answer to is a good starting point.

Just based on what I see here, I don’t see you as being competitive at the top b-schools. Retake the GMAT if you’re confident you can boost your score by at least 50 points.

I really think you need to do some more secondary research before you have a good base to begin short listing schools or devising specific positioning plans.

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

David Petersam
President
AdmissionsConsultants, Inc.
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com

http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/mba/blog.aspx

AdmissionsConsultants
703.242.5885

[AdmissionsConsultants]

Hi and thanks for your inquiry.

Hi Dave,

Very informative site! Many Thanks!

My pleasure!

Just wanted to ask what the general attitude towards experience in family business is?

Use this with caution. It’s been very “overplayed” and I announced in the spring of 2006 that we greatly reduced the number of applicants we encouraged to use it the previous fall.

A little on my background.

1)Ivy league undergrad Econ Major GPA 3.0
2)GMAT: 700
3)2.5 years at AT&T as business analyst – assessing financial impact of strategic decisicions made by senior execs
4)3 years of experience at family business managing a team of 5 people – business development work (developing new markets around the world + overseeing pricing, costing, and marketing functions)

My reason for pursuing a MBA is to acquire more knowledge and ideas to help build, improve, and expand my existing family business.

How do MBA admission boards view experience in family business? Which schools view candidates with management experience (+ prior work experience in large, global firm) favorably?

As I mentioned above, it could conceivably work for you if you sincerely want to return to the family business and you adequately demonstrate how the MBA will help your family’s business achieve its goals.

All schools view applicants with management experience favorably. It’s usually an excellent indicator of senior management potential.

Thanks for the help.

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

David Petersam
President
AdmissionsConsultants, Inc.
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com

http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/mba/blog.aspx

AdmissionsConsultants
703.242.5885

[mba_help]

Hi,

Thanks for so many helpful posts. Important questions on positioning:

1. Is it a good idea to create an alternate transcript if you studied abroad?

2. Why is taking too many classes in creating an alternate transcript a bad thing? Does the same apply for a person who has degrees from abroad? What if you feel that you really do need to take considerable classes (~45 to 60 credits) to come up to speed in USA? For example, say you studied accounting / commerce abroad. Obviously the rules and procurement of how finance works here differs substantially from how it might work in say, Asia. In the end, can a lengthy alternate transcript be justified?

3. When creating this lengthy alternate transcript, is it generally viewed positively if created at a community college? In other words, when applying to business schools, will it matter if the courses were taken at a local community college vs. some state or a well known private university? Yet to put in another blunt way, does attending a community college harm your chances at a good business school?

4. If indeed a community college does lower weight, how about a state school such as SUNY to take the basic prerequisites for MBA (i.e. Macro/Micro Economics, Calculus, Statistics etc.)?

I can’t afford $40K/yr for a private university. What and where does my best option lie? I’m in NY with eventual goal (2009 or 2010) to attend a top 30 business school in the region.

ALSO
====

Is doing an undergraduate internship at a non-profit more favorable at admission committees over a traditional financial or insurance institution? Assume both would offer equal entry level experience in business/finance.

Please help!
Thanks

[BeamerM3]

Hi,

Some great advice here.

I’ve been having a rough time figuring out where I fit.

I’m currently a law student, inches away from graduation. I’ll be graduating with a 3.4, and thankfully little debt thanks to a full ride. Next year I will be clerking for a judge.
Prior to law school I worked as an analyst for a recently-torpedoed sub-prime mortgage company for two years.
My undergrad GPA was a 3.0 from a very solid university. I was a dual-major English and Computer Science. I will openly admit that, like many college students, I didn’t work hard enough, but that’s changed considerably.

I did very well on the GMAT, a 760. Since then I’ve been receiving a steady stream of information in my mailbox, mostly from excellent schools that I’d love to attend.

I had initially been planning on doing a JD/MBA, but the JD program I attended didn’t have a very good MBA. This has been the goal from the start, however.
Given the amount of debt I’d be sure to incur I’m thinking I should be considering top 10 or top 15 exclusively, and if I get universally dinged try again when I have more experience.

Are my aspirations realistic? Do the information packets I’ve been receiving have any bearing on the type of school I could get into? Most recently I received from MIT, which is a very highly desirable program, obviously.

Thanks.

[elan1216]

Hi, I am a undergrad who just graduated college. I was thinking about going to grad school for my mba. But my GPA is only a 2.552. Is that too low, am i just wasting my time looking for different grad schools. I mean I have a lot of work experience. If I do well on the GMAT’s, would that help my chances.

Thanks.

[AdmissionsConsultants]

Hi and thanks for your inquiry.

Hi,

Thanks for so many helpful posts. Important questions on positioning:

1. Is it a good idea to create an alternate transcript if you studied abroad?

It depends on a number of circumstances, not the least of which would be your performance while you were abroad.

2. Why is taking too many classes in creating an alternate transcript a bad thing? Does the same apply for a person who has degrees from abroad? What if you feel that you really do need to take considerable classes (~45 to 60 credits) to come up to speed in USA? For example, say you studied accounting / commerce abroad. Obviously the rules and procurement of how finance works here differs substantially from how it might work in say, Asia. In the end, can a lengthy alternate transcript be justified?

A lengthy transcript is often a waste of time and money.

3. When creating this lengthy alternate transcript, is it generally viewed positively if created at a community college? In other words, when applying to business schools, will it matter if the courses were taken at a local community college vs. some state or a well known private university? Yet to put in another blunt way, does attending a community college harm your chances at a good business school?

4. If indeed a community college does lower weight, how about a state school such as SUNY to take the basic prerequisites for MBA (i.e. Macro/Micro Economics, Calculus, Statistics etc.)?

I can’t afford $40K/yr for a private university. What and where does my best option lie? I’m in NY with eventual goal (2009 or 2010) to attend a top 30 business school in the region.

It’s really tough to answer such general questions. Feel free to call our office to discuss your situation in more detail.

ALSO
====

Is doing an undergraduate internship at a non-profit more favorable at admission committees over a traditional financial or insurance institution? Assume both would offer equal entry level experience in business/finance.

This depends on a whole host of factors including your post-MBA career goals.

Please help!
Thanks

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

David Petersam
President
AdmissionsConsultants, Inc.
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com

http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/mba/blog.aspx

AdmissionsConsultants
703.242.5885

[AdmissionsConsultants]

Hi and thanks for your inquiry.

Hi,

Some great advice here.

I’ve been having a rough time figuring out where I fit.

I’m currently a law student, inches away from graduation. I’ll be graduating with a 3.4, and thankfully little debt thanks to a full ride. Next year I will be clerking for a judge.
Prior to law school I worked as an analyst for a recently-torpedoed sub-prime mortgage company for two years.
My undergrad GPA was a 3.0 from a very solid university. I was a dual-major English and Computer Science. I will openly admit that, like many college students, I didn’t work hard enough, but that’s changed considerably.

I did very well on the GMAT, a 760. Since then I’ve been receiving a steady stream of information in my mailbox, mostly from excellent schools that I’d love to attend.

I had initially been planning on doing a JD/MBA, but the JD program I attended didn’t have a very good MBA. This has been the goal from the start, however.
Given the amount of debt I’d be sure to incur I’m thinking I should be considering top 10 or top 15 exclusively, and if I get universally dinged try again when I have more experience.

Are my aspirations realistic? Do the information packets I’ve been receiving have any bearing on the type of school I could get into? Most recently I received from MIT, which is a very highly desirable program, obviously.

You ask some excellent questions!

The information packets are simply based on the information the school received about you. Hence, these packets just mean you would clear their academic qualifications hurdles if you applied. (Most of these schools’ applicants do clear these hurdles.)

If you have well-prepared applications and can show some decent career progression, there’s no reason why you can’t be competitive at the top b-schools.

Thanks.

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

David Petersam
President
AdmissionsConsultants, Inc.
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com

http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/mba/blog.aspx

AdmissionsConsultants
703.242.5885

[AdmissionsConsultants]

Hi and thanks for your inquiry.

Hi, I am a undergrad who just graduated college. I was thinking about going to grad school for my mba. But my GPA is only a 2.552. Is that too low, am i just wasting my time looking for different grad schools. I mean I have a lot of work experience. If I do well on the GMAT’s, would that help my chances.

If you’re targeting the top b-schools, you are most likely going to need a tight alternative transcript in addition to a strong GMAT to mitigate the low UGPA.

Thanks.

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

David Petersam
President
AdmissionsConsultants, Inc.
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com

http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/mba/blog.aspx

AdmissionsConsultants
703.242.5885

[dd]

Hi and thanks for maintaing this helpful blog. I could get most of the information i required to start with.
One thing which i still want to know is, how are the grades converted to gpa for international applicants? I did my engineering from India and we get percentages and not grades. My insitute does give a letter telling how to compute the cgpa. So do the universities here calculate based on how my institute recommends or do they have their own methods of calculating it?

[dd]

Moreover my college doesnt even consider marks (as i told we dont have grades) obtained in all the semesters for computing the percentage awarded for the degree.

[bpappa]

Hello thanks for your great and informative responses.

I was wondering if you know anything about top schools accepting applications after their final deadlines in order to fill open spots (if applicable)?

[nyrberg22]

Hi David and thank you for reviewing my profile.

I want to know if I stand a chance at a top 15 school, preferably Columbia or NYU as I am a native of NY.

Here is a summary of my profile. My first two semesters of college were done at SUNY Stony Brook and a local community college with a gpa of 3.33 and 2.6, respectively. I then transferred to Northeastern University, majoring in pre-med biology, where over the next 4 years my gpa was 3.84 (major gpa of 3.9). I have a pretty good quant background as I have 3 semesters of calculus, 2 of physics, 2 of chemistry, and 1 of analytical chemistry. I did not get less than an A- in any of those classes. I am expecting a gmat between 690-720.

Work experience includes part time work all through college. I also participated in a 6 month coop during my sophomore year doing vitamin research that had clinical significance. This contributed to an academic publication in which I was acknowledged. Since graduation in 2005, I have been working in an academic breast cancer laboratory at one of the leading biological research centers in the world. I am expecting an authorship in a top journal by the time I apply. I am thinking of applying with 3 years work experience. Recs should be very good.

Extracurricular includes 2 organized athletic leagues as I value staying in shape. Not sure if that is relevant. I also volunteered at a hospital over a 3-4 month period as most pre-meds do.

Does having an academic biology background hurt me or does it help differentiate me? Do you think I would be competitive at top schools? Thank you again for your help.

[limete13]

Hello. This forum seems to be really helpful. Thank you in advance.

1. Making an alternate transcript in Math
I am a Math/Econ major from top public school in the US with a gpa 3.2/4. Haven’t taken GMAT yet but supposing I get 700+, the question is:
Most of upper div math courses were B+/A-. However, for lower div math courses I got Calc II – B+, Multivariable – B, Linear Algebra&Differential Calc – B-, Discrete – C-. Also, I have 2 C’s in my Econ classes (international trade, labor).

Do you recommend making alternate transcript and if yes, in what courses? I think I can easily get an A now if I have to retake math, but seems time-consuming.
You said somewhere that the courses should be taken from a 4 year institution. Do admission boards know what is the equivalent of 4 years institution in other countries (Korea)?

2. Applicant pool
I am a Korean citizen from Korea. Just attended college in the US. How competitive are people from Korea in admissions. I saw a lot of posts saying Indian applicants with IT background are really competitive w/respect to GMAT and gpa. Is it the same for Korea?

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