Hi,

My profile (27, male, half asian & half white)

Academics: 3.39 cumulative GPA, but with downward trend (got a 3.7 my freshman year at Drew Univ., then transferred to UVA and got a 3.25 there), 780 GMAT with 50Q and 48V. Also went to NYU Law and got a 3.1 there.

Now work as a structured finance lawyer and looking to become an i-banker in structured finance with a long term goal of running an investment fund.

Two questions: (1) What are my chances at the top 7-8 or so schools, (2) will the adcom look at the current news in the structured finance market (subprime meltdown, etc.) and basically decide that my career plan isn't viable?

Asking because I can address this in essays, but the word limits are tight and I'm hoping this is outside the real of the adcoms' judgment.

Thanks!

When I typed "real" I meant "realm"

It's hard to say what your chances are -- it comes down to how well you execute your application and also "the man behind the resume" so to speak. In other words, if you come across as dull and one-dimensional in your essays and interview, your chances aren't good.

As for career goals, what matters is that they come across as sincere, clear, specific, credible and ambitious. All I will say is this: finance folks tend to have a distorted view of what non-finance folks really care about (i.e. if you hang out with finance folks all day, it's easy to assume that the WORLD cares as much as you do about financial markets, which go up and down, and if you're old enough to know - everything goes in cycles). They don't care about the subprime market affecting mortgage traders any more than they do about the change in market share of Colgate vs. Crest toothpaste affecting brand managers.

Alex
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com