cRRRUm

07-28-2003, 02:42 AM

Dear cRRRUm,

Thanks for your interest in Clear Admit. My thoughts on your candidacy are below.

Academics
This category consists of GPA, GMAT, quality of undergraduate program, course selection and any extenuating circumstances (like whether or not the applicant worked part-time while pursuing their degree, whether or not they paid their own way through school, etc.).

The key to your GPA will be whether or not it is above or below 3.0. This is the line that some schools deem as the lower limit (not an automatic elimination from the process, but certainly a negative factor). In addition, I am curious if you pursued quantitative classes as an undergraduate - like calculus, statistics, economics, etc. Your Asian Studies major will be of interest to the schools, but they will also like to be comforted by seeing some strong grades in quantitative courses.

Your GMAT of 690 is certainly in the general neighborhood of the average scores at the top 20 MBA programs. Unfortunately, your quant score is just below the 80th percentile that some of the programs use as a benchmark to determine an applicants potential for success in the quant courses at school. The best way to address this is to have strong marks in college (in relevant quant courses), pursue outside courses (by taking an evening class in calculus) or retaking the GMAT and improving your score.

Work Experience
This category sounds strong - although you will need to be careful to emphasize the managerial and communications aspects of your roles over the more technical elements. Remember, MBA programs are looking for future CEO's, not quiet 'techies' who are uncomfortable dealing with clients, etc. I am also curious how many firms you have worked for in the last six years - since the schools often shy away from candidates who work at a new firm each year, etc.

Extracurricular Activities, Career Goals
These are two important areas that you did not comment on. It would obviously be great if you had a variety of outside interests that you pursue as well as a unique, focused set of career goals.

Overall, you have some positives and negatives in your profile. As you can see from above, a lot of my opinion about your chances at a top program will hinge on some of the information you did not provide. In the end, I would assume that with a strong set of applications, you should have a chance at a top 20 program - but there may be some steps that you need to take to increase your chances (outside coursework, thorough school research, etc.).

Please contact us via email if you are interested in signing up as a client. We are offering a reduced consulting rate to any client who signs up before July 31st: www.clearadmit.com/earlydiscount.html

Best of luck,

Graham Richmond

Sorry to ask more questions, but I really do need to know this if I am to bother applying at all (thus taking advantage of what Clear Admit has to offer).

I forgot to mention that I already took a statistics course at NYU which I aced. The quant courses I took at undergrad are actually the reasons why my GPA is so low. Not because I am not capable of math, but I took those courses during a time when I did not really care about grades. Should I still take a calculus course even though I already aced a statistics course? And do I have time for one? All the classes start around september, after the applications come out. Will I be able to send them the results when the classes end or should they be done already?

Knowing that I guess I should take the GMAT again or take a calculus course if you think the statistics course wasn't enough.
Groan.

I don't have any current extracurricular activities worth mentioning since I also worked doing consulting on top of the "9 to 5". But I do have some career goals. My plan is to concentrate on International Business and Technology with a sprinkle of Finance. Then join my father's Banking/Software business in Korea to see what I can do there. After that will depend on a combination of what I learn from b-school and what I learn working at my father's business. I would like to some day be in control of a business that deals with the US and east asia.

My job history is pretty simple. I joined Zurich Capital Markets as a developer simply to learn more about wall street. I have now left Zurich as it is facing some problems of its own.

Previous to Zurich, I was lead developer for a small dot-com dealing with email privacy. We worked on a product that many people still use today and something I am quite proud of called Spamex. Even though the dot-com has disbanded, I and the founder of the company are still keeping it alive and hope for a brighter future for the product. It already has enough paying customers to keep it alive, if not thriving.

Previous to that was a lot of jumping around from dot-com to dot-com. It was all the rage back then :)

I am also Korean-American with decent ability in Korean and a very beginners grasp of Chinese (Mandarin). Both of which I am currently studying on my own. I study both in preparation of doing business in east asia.

Please tell me if any of the above gives me a better chance. Otherwise I fear I will just be wasting time and money. BTW, Kellogg is my dream school, I hope its not out of my reach.

Dear CRRRUm,

Thanks for the additional information. Your stats course at NYU is a real positive, although you might also look at getting into a summer session calculus course as well - with the aim of completing the course prior to the end of October. You can always supply a transcript and a mid-term grade up front, with a final result once the application process has begun.

As for your XCs, this concerns me, since there is such a focus on this sort of thing. Most often I find that my clients do in fact have outside interests (and it doesn't have to be volunteer work) - but they merely do not understand how to promote them in the process. I would need to speak with you about this to really assess the situation.

Your goals sound interesting and your career path to date sounds relatively solid. Are you currently employed?

Overall, you certainly could be competitive at a top program - but there are items that will need to be addressed - and the schools you ultimately target will depend on how you address the current weaknesses in your profile. Please contact our offices directly to set up an initial free phone session. It probably makes sense for us to at least have a basic discussion.

Best of luck,

Graham Richmond

I am currently on an extended vacation in Korea so am not capable of taking a summer course in calculus unless its online.

I am currently self employed as a consultant since I am on this extended trip.

XCs generally consist of doing something with other people, correct? Most of mine are solitary. Reading, writing, yoga, working out, motorcycle riding, are the things I do in my spare time. Generally things that are not dependent on a schedule and I can do at a moments notice.

I will call to take advantage of a free session. When is a good time to call you there?

Roy.