Columbia - 08-23-2022 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

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August 22, 2022 6:05pm ET

Applying: Columbia, Dartmouth / Tuck, Northwestern / Kellogg, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2023

Pre-MBA Career: Investment Banking, Private Equity

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey

GRE: 312

GPA: 3.5

Years of Work Experience: 7

Notes:

Background:

28 years old, will have seven years of work experience at matriculation

3.5 GPA (finance) at top 5 public undergrad

1 year in capital markets at bulge bracket bank, 2 years in IR at UMM PE fund, 3 years in middle market M&A

Dual citizen (U.S. & Eastern European country), went to high school in Eastern Europe, have a unique story and worked full time at an asset-backed finance firm freshman and sophomore years of college to pay for school before my BB internship

Served on the board of a multi million dollar charity committee for over a year

Goals:

Short term goal is MBB for operational experience, then pivot to private equity operations

Letters of Rec:

Founder & CEO of PE firm I worked at, worked closely with him on a multi-billion dollar fundraise

Current direct supervisor and head of industrials investment banking at my firm

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Show Comments (3) Last: August 29, 2022

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 There’s a lot to like here, but one big issue, the 312 GRE score. Are you planning a retake? Is there any realistic chance you can push it to the mid 320s? I’d target round 2, with a GRE retake undertaken, and you should have a decent chance at top programs. With the 312, that’s likely going to be your weakest area of your profile, and therefore dictates where you end up? (0)

grichmond Verified User. Likes Earned: 1237 I second Alex's comments here. The GRE is your limiting factor at the moment, given that the averages at your target schools are a full 10-15 points higher than your result. If you have only taken it once, most admissions readers will wonder why you didn't push to retake and secure a score closer to their average. While your personal background is certainly interesting, I'm not sure that it will be strong enough to overcome the GRE result. I'm also curious as to whether or not you have more details on your current (post-collegiate) outside activities? And finally, on a more minor point, your goals with MBB, while certainly common in the applicant pool at large, don't necessarily strike me as the traditional path into PE - especially for someone who has already built a career in finance? Feel free to provide more details here and we can chime in. Best of luck and thanks for posting!
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alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2022/08/wire-taps-249/ (0)