Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

Hello,

I would love if an expert could evaluate my profile:

*3.77 overall GPA from University of Washington, Business Marketing Major, graduated Cum Laude from Honors Program, transcript also has a lot of math and science courses (a year each of calculus, chemistry, physics, and biology)
*Was in a sorority for all of undergrad and was VP of Recruitment my junior year, also studied abroad in Athens, Greece for a quarter
*710 GMAT - 49Q and 38V (also have a registered score of 600 from 3 years ago when I bombed it)
*Have been working for a Fortune 500, high-end fashion retail department store since I graduated from UW, promoted twice within the first year of working there before landing into my current position - lots of leadership examples in my current position, including being promoted to interim manager for a little while this year when my manager needed to take a leave of absence, as interim manager I oversaw a team of coordinators execute all of the marketing activities for two full-line store openings
*Not a ton of extracurricular activities since college, but one fairly unique volunteer position - for over a year I was an advocate for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, in order to be an advocate I had to complete a 65-hour state certified crisis intervention counseling course and then for 8 hours a week I would answer calls coming into a rape hotline and respond to hospitals to support victims who were brought in for examinations and treatment
*I'm a decent writer, so I think I can make my essays above average and my letters of recommendation should be really good

I want to focus on Marketing and I'm applying part-time to University of Washington, UCLA, and USC, and then full-time to Northwestern, NYU, and Columbia. I believe I'm competitive at those programs because my numbers are somewhere around the schools' averages and I don't think I'm part of one of the overrepresented demos - am I on the right track? If I wanted to add Harvard to the list, would I have a shot?

Thanks so much for your time!

Your scores, experience and demographics make you a strong candidate for the schools mentioned. There are never guarantees, but you are targeting a well-chosen list. You might want to add Ohio State or Indiana for their outstanding marketing and product management programs. Ohio State has particularly strong ties with retail, including The Limited. AS for Harvard, they turn down an enormous number of highly-qualified individuals, individuals that they would love to accept if theiy had the room. Nevertheless, if that is a dream school, go for it. Check out the retailing faculty and their research. In my day they had several of the top names. Staples actually came out of an HBS group and has had several faculty on its board. Check out the Harvard Business Review for articles in your field and use those insights to bolster your case for wanting to attend the school.

In fact, try researching your dream post-MBA employers and seeing where they interview and hire. Most schools will tell you where their graduates end up and you can certainly find out who interviews on campus. Some of my clients have been successful contacting the HR departments in target companies and asking for short informational interviews. Some companies will be happy to tell you where they hire and why.

Good luck,

PS - don't worry about a 3-year-old "bomb" score. Schools will be much more interested in your recent work.