So what does my profile look like?

To help me get a feel for  how competitive my profile was for the two schools I used Aringo’s odds calculator. As the main driver is your GMAT score, let say I done poorly.

So here’s my take on my profile based the following criteria: academic prowess, work achievements, community involvement, fit. I’ve developed a five point scale: Excellent, Good, Ok, Weak, Poor.

As you may have noticed I’ve not given my profile excellent in any category, but on the other hand it doesn’t have poor either.

Academic prowess

In terms of qualifications.  I have a good undergrad degree in a technical subject. Downside I didn’t go to Oxbridge. But to make up for that I have a Masters in a quant subject from good university which is seen as a leading institution in the field I studied in.
GMAT score is low. Upside I’m reasonably confident that both Duke and Harvard have accepted people with the same GMAT score as me. My risk is that they take one look at my quant score and throw the application straight into the reject pile. To mitigate against this I have provided a factual response in the optional essay.

Work achievements
The most interesting part of my work profile is my public sector experience. I’ve tried to highlight the diversity in both my CV (resume) and essays. I’ve also tried to focus on my technical abilities.
As I have bit more work experience than most applicants I have wealth of experiences to draw on.
Community involvement
I have long-term community involvement in both my church and hockey club. However I have limited evidence of this though from my uni days. So if they need to see university club leadership positions my profile has a definite weakness.

Fit
I have officially no idea what the admissions committee will think of my profile in this area. I believe I could fit into both business school cultures hence I applied. I’ve done my homework and I hope it shows. However this is very difficult to judge and very much in the hands of the admissions committee.