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| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Financial Services |
Admission to Wharton Business School? |
I am a junior studying economics (minor finance) at a top 50 university (Syracuse). I am a member of several organizations with a 3.5 gpa. I will probably work for 4-5 years after I graduate as a financial analyst in NYC, then apply. Assuming I get several years of work experience under my belt (I already have a "top 10 internship"), what are my realistic chances at getting into this school? Are B-school admissions more based on undergraduate work, work/life experience or GMAT scores? Syracuse and Penn (Wharton) are in entirely different leagues. You are aiming to jump up by about 50 schools which is a very large but doable reach. Syracuse over the years typically has been ranked in the fifties while Penn has been ranked in the top 10 and Wharton graduate school has been ranked from number one to number three. If you look at the mean SAT scores for the two schools, they are significantly different. The average gpa for Wharton is 3.52, but it may be that a 3.8 is required for a graduate of a school in the bottom 50 and a 3.2 is required for a graduate from a school in the top 10. The GMAT score for Wharton grad is 712. The acceptance rate is 20% whereas at the bottom of the top 50 business schools the acceptance rate is 50%. If your SAT scores were not in the 700-800 range, after you graduate from Syracuse, you will want to take a sample GMAT test from a test prep book that has a scoring guide. I would plan to study over a four year period for the GMAT as I don't believe that this test can be quickly mastered. You can set a goal of 725 for your GMAT score and take the difference between your score and 725 and divide by three or four years. Try to improve by that amount each year. Study the GMAT prep books, but also study the underlying subject area if necessary. By obtaining a high score, you will demonstrate that you have the intelligence to function at the higher level necessary for grad school and the upper levels of business. As far as internships go, it's best to be in the top 1 or 2 of the top 10. When you go for a job, I would think that it would be best to go with a big name corporation and to place yourself on the fast track by working very hard. You want to stand out from the average business person. Ask your interviewer what the career path is for someone who wants to work extra hard and be on the fast track. When you interview for various jobs, ask your boss where he/she went to B-school. It may be a good idea to work with bosses who attended ivy league schools so you have recommendation letters from alumni. When I worked in NYC, I found that big banks contained a lot of ivy grads. You might want to visit Wharton placement and tell them you want to interview with companies that hire Wharton graduates as you want your graduate school recommendation letters to come from top-notch schools, perferably Wharton. See if you can find some business-oriented college recommendation letters in recommendation letter books or online and make sure that you could be the subject of the best letter. |
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