Hi,


GMAT: currently preparing
Undergrad: Currently undertaking - Bachelor of Financial Services. UCD, Institute of Bankers. The number 1 business school in Ireland. 2 years to go...
GPA year one: 3.67
Age: 31
Nationality: Irish


From what I have been reading on the forum I would not appear to rank as a typical business school applicant. Right now I am preparing for the GMAT. Perhaps if I provide some personal history some of you can direct me a little on what business school would be a good match and/or most realistic for me to apply to.

My medium term career objective is to move into another industry. Financial services and property development are my areas of interest. More long term I would hope to run my own business within those industries. In the short term I would hope to acquire the skills to grow my business to sufficient scale that I could exit with enough capital to do something myself, or change industry post MBA and pick up some experience in an area like banking.

Entrepreneurial experience
First off I'm 31. My 12 years of experience have been entirely in the fitness industry. I am a personal trainer by trade but during my career I’ve started several businesses; gyms, a fitness ecommerce site, nutrition education business etc... Up until recently I was running two gyms, both of which I started myself. I have just sold one facility in order to open another larger one, which is 6000 square feet or so. All these businesses have been started on a shoestring budget. The actual story behind some of these would make your hair stand on end. These startups extend all to way back to about the age of 7 and I pretty sure that any section on overcoming difficulties in my application letters should blow the socks off an admissions officer!!

Anyway prior to owning my own facilities I was an operations manager for a large corporate fitness provider (a company that fits out fitness facilities in large corporate offices and provides management thereafter) I was also a strength and conditioning coach for the IRFU. That’s the Irish rugby football union here in Ireland, we have a very high standard of rugby here. I was also the fitness and nutrition advisor to the Irish Everest expedition in 2008. I've spent much time on TV and giving media interviews on the subject of nutrition and exercise. On a professional level one could say I have gone about as far as I can go as a personal trainer and am now really focused on building a business within the industry. One stand out skill can say has attributed to succeeding in the industry has been my curiosity for knowledge, I have done my best to assimilate as much information as possible on the subject.

Academics
I do not hold an undergraduate degree. I do hold a number of diplomas in personal training, nutrition, life coaching and an area called NLP. I over the years have consumed more books, and information on exercise science and nutrition than anyone I know! I really made an effort to create an informational advantage you could say.

Right now I am doing an undergraduate degree in financial services. 2 years to go. So far my grades have been good. This summer I will complete the ACCA diploma in business and accounting. Its like year one of an accounting degree. I really want to get comfortable with accounting before I enter the MBA.

Sport
From the age of 14 to 19 I competed for Ireland at the sport of archery. I was the number one ranking archer in Ireland for 6 years. I had a good European ranking and still hold many national records today. For the past 5 years or so I have competed at triathlon. Right now I race ironman distance triathlon and have competed internationally. I would tend to place in the top 20 in my category at international races. I really enjoy endurance sports and feel that they have thought me a great deal about work ethic and discipline.

Mountaineering
I have also climbed a number of high altitude mountains in Europe and Africa and had a lead role in preparing the climbers for the Irish Everest expedition in 2008. I trained for 12 months with the climbers both in Ireland and around the world.


Community work
As a part of the mountaineering the climbers and myself decided to raise money for a Christian charity which was responsible for building school in Uganda. We raised over €70,000 and a new school was completed in 2009. As part of the project I spent some time in Entebbe, Uganda working with the charity.

I did note brevity in the requirements so I apologize for the length here.



I would really appreciate some good honest feedback here. If a personal profile like mine puts me right out of the top 50 just say it! I would really like to have some direction on what is realistic.



sincere thanks for the help



Kind Regards


Eoin McKenna

Hi Eoin,

Wow you've done quite a bit in your life! Congrats on your success in the nutrition and fitness field - very impressive.

You are certainly right that you are a non-traditional candidate, but I do think that the admissions committees could over look some of the 'flaws' in your profile. I think you definitely have a chance at a top school if you score well on the GMAT.

You'll be 33 when you apply - and you'll have just completed your undergrad degree. Though it's an atypical path, I think it shows commitment to education, strong work ethic and also respect for the process. Just focus on getting strong grades and keep focusing on finance/accounting to demonstrate that you are taking steps towards your career goal.

You'll have a wealth of leadership stories, setback stories, etc. to draw from in your application and fantastic community and extracurricular activities/stories to include. The mountaineering treks and school building will really show leadership, commitment to community and all those good things.

All in all, I think you should focus on getting good grades in school right now and on getting a high score on the GMAT. In your essays, use your atypical background as your strength and showcase your depth and breadth of leadership and interests. The only other thing you might think about doing is to start taking up some activities/gigs that start to get you a footing in the financial services and/or real estate development area... this could really help to strengthen your career narrative and justify your new path.

Of course - it's never a certainty with top schools, so I do recommend you select a couple safety schools to add to the mix.

Hope this helps -- good luck!
Mili Mittal
Senior Consultant
http://www.mbamission.com

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Mili,


Thank you kindly for your reply. I really appreciate it.

If I had more time I could write some stories that would either land me in jail or at very least make for good entertainment. Unfortunately living on the edge doesn't necessarily lead to success in business. Right now that is all I want to do though.

I do thank you for noting that I have a good chance if I continue with study and new ventures within finance and property.

Just finally do you think if i really polish up my story I would have a shot at a top ten? contingent on good GMAT of course

Hi Eoin,

Yes, I do believe you have a shot at a top ten school if you polish your story, score well on GMAT and do well in school, but I also think you should apply to a range of schools (including some lower tiers) -- you're a bit of a wildcard applicant, so it's difficult to say which way it would go!

Good luck,
Mili

Excellent Mili thank you