Mr. Wealth MGMT

Mr. Wealth MGMT: Emily here, Master Consultant at The MBA Exchange. I was an Associate Director of Admissions at Columbia Business School so know that your 2.6 will make it very tough to get into CBS. The 740 GMAT they will see as solidly in their range but not exceptional so it will not outweigh the undergraduate GPA. There are a few things I’d recommend to strengthen your candidacy for CBS. 1) Take a quantitatively rigorous class and get an A. These days the class will need to be online but if it’s at a strong institution and they give actual grades, it’s worth doing to prove you are serious about showing your academic prowess. 2) Refine your goals. CBS will want to see you have some grounding for why you want real estate. It usually doesn’t go over well to have zero experience in a field and say you want to pivot just because you are generally interested. How can you tie your RE goals to your past work experience or even maybe an activity? Be clear about what you want to do within real estate–some interesting angle that’s not currently being done and will take advantage of a trend in the industry now. Consider talking to people who do what you’d like to do someday to get a better sense of where you’d fit in. 3) Pick up leadership in a few activities outside of work. You may already have these and didn’t list them but with an empty activities section, or even one without depth, you are at a real disadvantage. 4) Apply early! With a rolling admission school like CBS, it does help to apply at the early part of their admissions cycle. Good luck!

Hi Mr. Wealth MGMT! This is Kate Richardson, Senior Admissions Consultant here weighing in on your profile. First, your three promotions and already making it to the AVP rank are impressive! Especially at a top firm, schools will see you’re on a fast track and are a high potential lader. That said, it’s possible the risk/compliance side of your field will be seen as more cut and dry (I’ve seen this perception with other applicants), so make sure you bring life to your work stories and have examples of times you’ve solved problems creatively, worked collaboratively with diverse groups, etc. A switch to real estate seems plausible, but make sure you can explain the why behind that. What interests you about real estate? Why will you find that meaningful? Those are the questions I’d want to dig into. But your lack of extracurriuclars (or maybe that’s just an omission?) and low GPA concern me. If there’s context behind the GPA, make sure you explain it in an optional essay. Your high GMAT should help, but the low GPA makes it harder to predict your chances at a top school like CBS. If it’s your top choice, show them you’re interested through heavy networking and by applying early decision. Good luck!

Mr. Wealth MGMT – Thanks for sharing your profile. Susan Cera here from Stratus. I’m very impressed with your career trajetory but absent any baseline for how many promotions others typically get, I’m not sure how to evaluate. I’m more interested in the contributions and impact and what your recommenders have to say about how you lead and work with others. A few things to consider as you move forward in the application process:
1) The 800 pound gorilla – your 2.6 may not be a showstopper but you absolutely need to take ownership of it and demonstrate that you are an A student today. Use the optional essay to explain (but not excuse) what was going on during undergrad that resulted in the subpar performance. Consider taking a course for which you will get a transcript to show you are ready for the rigor of a top program.
2) Think about your goals – Why RE? Do you have some sort of side exposure? Perhaps you have made some real estate investments on your own? Or you come from a family in the real estate space. Research post-MBA opportunities in RE and figure out how your work experience to date can be leveraged. There are some big real estate developers that have rotational programs that might be of interest.
3) Leadership and Extracurriculars – based on the limited information I have, I can’t really assess your leadership skills or how you will engage with others. These are things that admissions committee will be looking for. If you don’t have them now, then find opportunities to engage and flex your leadership skills.
4) School list – CBS has great strength in RE. Consider broadening your list (or looking at MSRED) if you want to be in a program next year. I’ve worked with a number of clients in real estate so have dug into resources at UNC Kenan-Flagler (FANTASTIC for RE), Georgetown, USC Marshall and others.

All the best!