SBC Scoop: Building A “Quant” Profile From Scratch
Derek was yet another client who was really lacking in the quantitative portion of his application. His undergraduate performance was significantly below par, especially in math and quant courses. This was simply because he was not terribly focused on school as a young adult. He goofed around and did not take it seriously – and it showed.
After graduation, he joined a media company, where he stayed for twelve years. Although he did well and progressed nicely, the roles were not at all quantitative, so he still had nothing to back up those skills. When he took the GMAT, it was another strike – the 620 score was low, particularly in the quant section.
He applied to the UCLA Anderson EMBA program, and was waitlisted. As he was an EMBA applicant twelve years out of school, we knew that they were more concerned with his ability to navigate their program, then they were about him not taking school seriously over a decade ago. His performance at work, his essays and recommendations were proof that he had matured and was serious about his career and about achievement. However, he had no proof of quantitative ability and we knew he needed to do something to boost their confidence in his skills. Unfortunately, the timing and his travel schedule made it so that he was not able to take a Calculus or other quant class, or retake the GMAT.
He ended up signing up for MBAmath.com, a self-paced online course covering topics relevant to an MBA curriculum. He passed quickly, with flying colors, and was eventually granted admission to UCLA. UCLA admissions told him that the course made the difference for them in terms of clearing up their concerns.
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