Profile Evaluation - 730 GMAT, Chinese/Singaporean, Female

[minesuave]

Dear Manhattan Team,

Would appreciate if you can help with my profile evaluation. I took the GMAT on 16 June 2013 and I am considering the following options:

1) Master or MBA? Which schools?
2) Apply for MBA/Master asap or apply in 2-3 years? ( 26 years old now and I plan to finish the degree before 30)
3) If apply in 2-3 years, change job or stay with the current company?

Any constructive feedback are welcomed! Here is my profile:
- Mid term goal: consulting in strategy or oil & gas industry, in Asia

- GMAT: 730 (Q49, V41, AWA 5.5, IR 8, first attempt)

- Bachelor of Business in Banking & Finance + Human Resources from a university in Singapore. GPA 4.3/5 (took more demanding courses including Financial Modelling, also took final year subjects in advance, as well as spending time on extra-curricular activities including business case club)

- 3 years of working experience. 1st year after graduation as Operations analyst in a hedge fund overseeing the front to back operations for trading, and involved in a few risk management/research projects; another 2 years until now as Middle Office in a very large US oil trading company, liaising between traders and various support functions. Implemented an overhaul of Middle Office processes at the current company that improved accuracy and efficiency.

- Volunteer experience: regular event volunteer at a local charity organisation for children with long term illness

- International exposure: born in China, came to Singapore on scholarship 11 years ago; 2 weeks training and meeting with colleagues in the US headquarter this year

Thank you!

[mbamissionjenK]

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing your profile info with us, and congrats on a very strong GMAT score!

Overall it sounds like you have a solid profile for reputable business schools, and as you may know, schools are looking for strong female applicants and diversity within their classrooms, so you may get noticed within the female applicant pool as someone from China/Singapore who has demonstrated strong quantitative ability and solid work experience, if you are able to support your application with very strong essays and explain more about who you are, what you hope to contribute to the program, and more about how the degree fits into your long-term goals.

The questions you ask are important ones (Masters or MBA, which schools, now or in the future, change jobs or no).... but they are all very personal in nature and depend so much on your overall career vision. It sounds like an MBA would serve you well with the career goals you mentioned and it certainly can be used for so many different capacities, but if you were interested in a very specific masters degree for a specific job function that can work too. In terms of now vs in the future, I would say you are probably in a solid position to apply now, but if you feel you would gain some important additional experience in the work place by waiting another year or two then that could be appropriate too. If you don't feel that much will change for you in the meantime, then maybe you'd like to apply sooner. As far as schools, you will want to research more and think about what you are looking for in a school, considering aspects such as geographic region, class size and profile, teaching style, specific program strengths, etc. For more info on choosing schools, check out our free e-book at: http://info.mbamission.com/Selecting-Yo ... ram-E-Book.

Let us know if you have more specific questions, and wishing you the best in the application process.

Jen Kedrowski
mbaMission
www.mbamission.com

[minesuave]

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing your profile info with us, and congrats on a very strong GMAT score!

Overall it sounds like you have a solid profile for reputable business schools, and as you may know, schools are looking for strong female applicants and diversity within their classrooms, so you may get noticed within the female applicant pool as someone from China/Singapore who has demonstrated strong quantitative ability and solid work experience, if you are able to support your application with very strong essays and explain more about who you are, what you hope to contribute to the program, and more about how the degree fits into your long-term goals.

The questions you ask are important ones (Masters or MBA, which schools, now or in the future, change jobs or no).... but they are all very personal in nature and depend so much on your overall career vision. It sounds like an MBA would serve you well with the career goals you mentioned and it certainly can be used for so many different capacities, but if you were interested in a very specific masters degree for a specific job function that can work too. In terms of now vs in the future, I would say you are probably in a solid position to apply now, but if you feel you would gain some important additional experience in the work place by waiting another year or two then that could be appropriate too. If you don't feel that much will change for you in the meantime, then maybe you'd like to apply sooner. As far as schools, you will want to research more and think about what you are looking for in a school, considering aspects such as geographic region, class size and profile, teaching style, specific program strengths, etc. For more info on choosing schools, check out our free e-book at: http://info.mbamission.com/Selecting-Yo ... ram-E-Book.

Let us know if you have more specific questions, and wishing you the best in the application process.

Jen Kedrowski
mbaMission
http://www.mbamission.com

Thank you Jen! If I decide to do MBA eventually I will definitely contact you for admission consulting service. Have a good day!

[mbamissionjenK]

You are welcome, wishing you the best!

Jen

[RiverstoneT70]

Riverstone Training will be holding a series of Smart Training Classes in Singapore for Investment Banking in coming month. Interested attendees will need to contact directly for class.