M&A/PE background, no extracurriculars. Odds of MBA offer?

No one can comment on the importance of extracurriculars to get into top schools? If your resume is perfect bar these extracurriculars, do they understand you work 100 hours a week and cant do much outside of your job?

If the only thing you are missing is EC I believe you still have a chance at W and Insead plus columbia and chicago. Not sure on Harvard since it seems that they like those who have different profile and ECs and Stanford. Didn't you play any sports at hs and college? Nothing at all at college? Any leadership somewhere?

Thanks for your reply. No all my campus ECs are complete bullshit made up to get interviews. I havent done anything decent outside of getting a degree and good jobs. This forum actually scares the shit out of me. It seems like even the kids from the most unknown b-s schools now working as janitors in the local swimmingpool also manage a multibillion dollar start up outside of work and regularly run a marathon around the moon.

Take this with a grain of salt, as I am still in school, but my friends currently going through the process tell me that candidates are generally judged against other applicants in their field. If that's the case, you'll be put up against the other applicants from an IB/PE background. Most of the guys I know, even the ones in IB and PE, tend to find time outside of work to do extracurriculars or volunteering of some sort, so you might be at a slight disadvantage against them. Other than that, you seem to have great work experience so you'll definitely get in to some top schools, but it just might not be H/S.

EgoBackedStupidity,

My personal opinion is that you're facing an uphill battle at H/S/W despite your great educational background and work experience. I know a LOT of people who applied this year (including myself). The reality is that having stellar work experience is simply not enough on its own. Globally, a TON of people go through rigorous investment banking programs each year, which means your investment banking experience is hardly a differentiator. The quality of your buyout shop will be a huge factor. If you're not at a globally recognized fund that frequently sends its associates to H/S/W, I think your chances at these three are low. I'm not saying don't apply, just that you should add some backups. Some other things to consider:

1) A 730 GMAT is average at best compared to your white / male PE competition. The few folks I know that scored sub 720 got rejected from the M7 completely. They ended up at the likes of Duke / Tepper / NYU. 2) Despite working in PE, a lot of applicants have pretty extensive extracurriculars. It sounds ridiculous, but they find a way to slot it in between work and sleep. If you truly have absolutely nothing in this category, that's going to hurt. 3) International experience helps. However, I don't think you get many points for the U.K. or Western Europe. This is just a personal guess. Almost all of my classmates that I've met so far have a pretty meaningful international element to their story. Many speak multiple languages. If you're missing these, it will be an even bigger struggle. Since you're considering INSEAD, I assume you already speak a second language well. 4) Financial services has been dragged through the mud a LOT in recent years. The statistics show fewer people from financial services going to the top schools. It is unclear what the root cause is, but I suspect the schools are taking fewer PE/IB kids into their programs these days.

Based on what you've shared so far, I'd recommend applying to the following five schools. Obviously these are my personal opinions so take it for what it is worth...

Wharton -- Reach. They seem to care a lot about brand names. Depending on the strength of your PE shop, this may be attainable. Booth -- Semi-reach. You'll really need to convince them why you want to go. International experience is important so you'll want to have some of the international elements I spoke about above. Columbia -- Fit. They like finance guys. Care a lot about scores (GPA / GMAT), which you seem to have covered. I bet if you applied Early Decision you'd get in pretty handily. INSEAD -- Fit? I don't know too much about their admissions standards despite almost applying. I'd reckon you'd be a strong contender for a spot at the school though. Duke -- Safety. You're in the high end of the range for their GPA and GMAT, and well above the average. If you don't mind going to Raleigh/Durham for two years, I think Duke would be a strong backup.

Thanks a lot for the all the answers so far. they are very helpful.

Hire an admissions consultant. Half their job is to help you come up with BS to put as ECs.