Candidate:

Mr. Comeback Kid

About Me:

I have a lower-income background and worked full time while in college to pay my way through college. I performed poorly during undergrad and had a mental health condition that factored in the 2.8 GPA (withdrew for 2 quarters as well). With the condition treated, I had an upward trend in my last year of college finishing on the dean’s list with a 3.7 GPA in my last term. At work, I excelled as a finance and strategy analyst for a Fortune 50 semiconductor company (Intel) and was promoted from Lv1 to Lvl 4 in less than 3.5 years (the average time to reach level 4 is 8.5-11 years). I am working in the heart of the company/CEOā€™s main focus area which is the technology development (R&D) and manufacturing side of the company.

I am also the president of the largest employee club in the company (5500+ members). I am the winner of multiple selective employee awards for the top 1% of finance employees. I was elected for emerging leaderā€™s tuition reimbursement program for the top 0.5% of performers where company-sponsored master degree and paid 50k. Took 12 masterclasses from Columbia University in programming, math, business and received a 3.9 GPA. Transitioned to operations and strategy manager role at Google and achieved a top performance rating.

Schools:

Target School: Harvard

Considering: StanfordĀ GSB, Wharton, MIT Sloan, Kellogg SOM

See More Profiles For: Harvard

Application Status: Open

Details:

Undergrad School: University of Oregon

Undergrad Major: Business

GPA: 2.8

GMAT: 770

Age: 28,  Ethnicity: White

Other Degree/Certification: Masters in Applied Analytics 3.9 GPA

School Name: Columbia University

Extracurriculars: 1. Started as CEO of a Non-Profit that updates resumes for free for low income people and college students. (Managing a team of 20+ volunteers) 2. President of largest employee engagement club (5500+ members and managing 12+ board members) 3. Board member and pro bono consulting lead for an award-winning nonprofit in India focusing on combating student suicide and increasing accessibility to mental health therapy for low income Indian students 4. Youngest board member on alma mater alumni association and part of a subcommittee that hands tuition scholarships to low income students 5. Board member and pro bono consulting lead for an award-winning nonprofit in Uganda that empowers households with children that are economically challenged to grow produce to cover costs at home and to pay school fees for their children.

Work History:

Title: Strategy and Operations Manager (Google)

Industry: Technology

Company: Fortune 100 Top 10

Length of Employment: 2 yrs, 1 mos

Title: Finance and Strategy Analyst 1 -> Finance and Strategy Analyst 2 -> Senior finance and Strategy Analyst -> Lead Senior Finance and Strategy Analyst (Intel)

Industry: Technology

Company: Fortune 100 Top 10

Length of Employment: 3 yrs, 2 mos

Big Life Wins:

– Rapid progression in a career leading to 3 promotions in less than 3.5 years to team lead.
– High job performance rating with multiple selective employee awards.
– Accepted into selective emerging leaderā€™s tuition reimbursement program by my previous company.
– Recognition for analysis to aid VP/head of R&D spending on $4.5B+ capital investment. Reports on capital investments were shown to C suite on monthly basis.
– Supported group of over 3,500+ employees and acting as a ā€œmini cfoā€ managing over 1.5B in capital R&D spends a year. Collaborated cross functioning with operations, engineers, supply chain, finance partners throughout the world in Ireland, Israel, Costa Rica, Vietnam.
– At Google automated data-driven business processes by working with cross-functional engineering, sales, legal, and product management teams and top job performance rating.
– Also proud of all the social venture volunteering for lower-income people/people that struggled with health problems that had similar backgrounds to myself.

Post MBA Goal:

Go back to technology fortune 100 company as a product manager and long-term work way up to become chief strategy officer or the COO of a publicly-traded technology company.

Odds:

Join in! Click here to assess the odds of Mr. Comeback Kid

The Experts Rate The Odds At: 35%

See what the industry experts have to say:

  • John A. Byrne, P&Q Founder & Editor-In-Chief | Odds Assessment: 35%

    Everyone loves a good comeback story and you certainly have one. Given your upward trajectory in undergrad and your explanation for the week overall GPA and especially your super high GMAT and superb work experience, I would say that you have plenty of evidence here to show that your GPA was an aberration and not indicative of your ability to rigorous academc work. It shouldn’t hold you back. It’s important that you are open and transparent about what happened, just as you are here, because that will help to put that low GPA aside. Use any and all opportunties (an optional essay, the regular essay, and/or your interview) to address it. Good luck! I think your chances are pretty good at Harvard and certainly Wharton, …

    2 years ago Read the full review

The Community Currently Rates The Odds At: 75%

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