Candidate:

Mr. International Oil

About Me:

A sucker for weekend hikes and backpacking overseas. Enjoys playing sports, reading books, and brewing (and drinking) beer.

Schools:

Target School: Harvard

Considering: Wharton

See More Profiles For: Harvard

Application Status: Open

Details:

Undergrad School: University of Alberta

Undergrad Major: Mechanical Engineering

GPA: 3.7

GMAT: 710

Age: 26, Ethnicity: White

Other Degree/Certification: CFA - L1, L2, L3

School Name: CFA Institute

Extracurriculars: Society of Petroleum Engineers - Events Committee Volunteer

Work History:

Title: Engineer

Industry: Power / Energy

Company: Global

Length of Employment: 2 yrs, 11 mos

Big Life Wins:

International assignment after one year on the job.
Acing all three CFA exams while working full time.

Post MBA Goal:

Hedge fund, Activist investing, or early-stage VC.

Hopefully not consulting or 120-hour banking work weeks.

Odds:

Join in! Click here to assess the odds of Mr. International Oil

The Experts Rate The Odds At: 5%

See what the industry experts have to say:

John A. Byrne, P&Q Founder & Editor-In-Chief | Odds Assessment: 5%

This is not going to happen. The reason: There is nothing driving you in. While the CFA qualifications are something to be proud of, they aren’t going to offset some other issues with your profile, including a GMAT score that is 20 points below Harvard’s median. Plus your undergraduate education and, I will assume, your employer lack “gold” status and are more like “silver.” Nothing wrong with that, of course, except you are competing against other applicants in the pool who have “gold” credentials. Your post-MBA goal to work in a hedge fund or a VC firm seems unrealistic given your experience as an engineer for an oil company. How to turn this around? You need a higher GMAT score and several examples where you …

This is not going to happen. The reason: There is nothing driving you in. While the CFA qualifications are something to be proud of, they aren’t going to offset some other issues with your profile, including a GMAT score that is 20 points below Harvard’s median. Plus your undergraduate education and, I will assume, your employer lack “gold” status and are more like “silver.” Nothing wrong with that, of course, except you are competing against other applicants in the pool who have “gold” credentials. Your post-MBA goal to work in a hedge fund or a VC firm seems unrealistic given your experience as an engineer for an oil company. How to turn this around? You need a higher GMAT score and several examples where you have stretched your leadership muscles both at work and in extracurricular activities that show you have real leadership potential. And you shouldn’t say you want to work for a VC firm or a hedge fund, without a financial background or any indication where that would make sense. Otherwise, you really don’t stand a chance at Harvard or Wharton.

12 months ago Read the full review