Currently at WHYPS going the standard top group BB/EB -> (hopefully) MF PE. What can I do now and in the future to get as close as possible to guaranteeing HBS/GSB (other than acing gmat, graduating w great GPA, grinding once starting to actually land MFPE, getting solid rec, etc…). Don’t give me the bs donate 10M or date the deans daughter pls lol. Open to unorthodox methods.
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Be a good candidate
As someone who went to h/s/w, I'll answer this. The answer is to be incredibly compelling and unique, and to have a clear life arc and vision of the impact you want to make.
Harvard is venture investing in talent, they are looking for outliers that are going to make it big. Having some pedigree (good school and job) is a good filter to start (especially if you are from a non-US market) but then after that they are looking for people who are going to truly make an impact in the world.
So the question isn't which PE firm you're going to work for. It's what are you going to do in 20 years with that experience?
Incredibly compelling and unique? How do the swathes of MBB consultants differentiate themselves exactly?
Time-travel back to the 60s? Lie and check the “B” box in LGBT? Get perfect scores and hope the wind is blowing in the right direction that day?
The best method is to recognize that MBA’s are largely useless these days and save yourself the time, effort, and money.
Your biggest issue isn't that you are a straight white male, its your mindset and the fact you think going to MF PE will get you H/S. 'Top group BB/EB -> (hopefully) MF PE' ain't prestigious no more to adcoms, it just shows you are good at picking the most risk averse career option.
No, I am pretty sure being White is the main detractor of his application. It's a real issue my dude.
Everyone loves to make excuses rather than any introspection or self-betterment
God bless SCOTUS.
I agree with you. However, why don't adcoms understand that "BB/EB -> MF PE" is by far the most difficult career path out of all careers, and the person who did it is by far strongest candidate and deserves the spot much more than anybody else, especially if they're a straight white man without nepo connections. Anybody has ideas?
They don’t care about difficulty. They care about picking future stars which is a combination of your aptitude, grit, and marketability.
Unfortunately in the new era transaction experience proves grit but isn’t quite as marketable as it used to be.
It’s still great experience. But it’s 85th percentile good whereas 20 years ago it was 99th percentile
This kid is going to flame out in 6 months or be the bane of multiple management team's existence in 10 years. It will only be one or the other.
This is too funny, but in a wow that's true in a sad way type of humor
If that is really your goal, the Boston and Palo Alto / Menlo Park offices of some of the top UMM firms have historically had very high placement rates. It does seem to be more common now to get promoted without an MBA vs. 20 years ago.
Develop an interest in men
Be a good candidate...
MBA programs disclose almost everything you need to know in order to position yourself as a good candidate
Assuming you care about literally anything outside of work and hoeing yourself out for prestige (big assumption here), you should figure out a way to make an impact in that thing that you can then fold into a narrative that ties together with the rest of your profile.
Let’s say for argument’s sake that you’re some sort of die hard basketball fan. What are you gonna do, professionally or otherwise, to show you’re doing something with this interest? Maybe you join a fund or group that does entertainment investing that touches streaming/monetization/events? Or you do something basketball-related in the local community, not just playing pickup but start raising money for a cause. Maybe hit up your Media Banking MD to try to put together some panel or something on the industry. In your essay, you talk about wanting to ultimately help lead basketball operations or maybe invest in new teams. I don’t know, but something that shows that you actively did work outside of cranking out IC memos.
At the end of the day it’s all bullshit, but there has to be some kernel of truth to your story to where there’s SOMETHING to exaggerate on. So if whatever narrative you’re weaving isn’t you at all, at least they know you’ve committed a bunch of years to at least create that narrative, which frankly is more than most PE Associates care to do.
I gamble during pencils down. It’s honestly an amazing story to tell (especially if your interviewers are normal gambling enthusiasts). By the end of our conversation, we are all shaking with excitement and I typically see them at the casino later that night living in the moment.
By the way I’m a first year but I love gambling and I hope I can fit that into my MBA application
army
Haha was going to say similiar.
Join the military. Serve for at least 3 years. You’ll get full GI bill benefits that you can use to pay for the majority of the MBA, if not all of it.
Also top MBA programs tend to lower their admissions standards for veterans.
And I can say that because I am a veteran.
Had a friend who was waitlisted at one of the top 3 MBAs. He went on a visit to presumably see friends but wanted to "check-in" and hooked up with one of the main admissions coordinators (guessing on actual title) and got accepted the next week.
In WW2 my grandfather applied to be a pilot just after Pearl Harbor. He got hit at screening with a bad vision test. He was otherwise qualified. He asked the woman running the test to go out that night for dinner and then for a retest tomorrow. She told him she signed off for him the next morning. He did 2 tours in Asia as a bomber pilot and always had substandard vision but flew his own plane into his 80s.
My whole point is that there are always ways to bypass things with some thought and effort. Relationships and people liking you are way more important in the long run than your ability to pass the AI scanner.
My Japanese father got into Harvard on a scholarship they give to the disabled victims of incidental civilian bombings.
That was a horrible war. Glad that Harvard tried to do something, not that it makes up for the losses that so many suffered.
You could have just said your friend got waitlisted at Wharton man
Don't be a bot (which if u are following this prescribed path to a T, you probably are)
Coping off the bat, you’re not a victim dawg. It’s not going to be your applicant demographic holding you back here.
You don't need an MBA to progress in IB or get into PE FYI, it's mostly just a check in the box for consultants who are forced to get a graduate degree to avoid being counseled out at their firm or for people trying to make an industry change. If you plan to stay in IB/PE, there is no reason for you to do an MBA besides if you want a 2 year break from work.
If you are serious about wanting to get in though, pm me. I can tell you about an unorthodox way two of my friends (straight white guy non legacy and an asian guy, so even worse off than the white guy) used to get into GSB. What they did was really specific so I don't want to give them away by posting in a public forum, but anyone who actually wants to know dm me.
EDIT: If you are applying for the 2+2 program do not PM me, what I have to say about my friends will not be relevant to your situation.
Bro just shuuuuuut uppppppp
- Another Straight White Male
Go back to Reddit anime boy
touch grass
stop doing "the standard" thing, obviously?
join the army & start a company doing something off the beaten track, or jump into a portfolio company leading something gritty - think managing an actual retail sales force or production crew to achieve leaps and bounds improvement in results, something few other applicants will have on their resume
stanford especially is tired of seeing 10,000 striver profiles with no evidence of taking initiative in a unique direction
HBS ‘26 is 55% male and 62% White. Stop making excuses.
This. DEI hate has gotten in the way of reality, which is that these school primarily accept legacy students. OP should have named this "How does a straight white male who is not a legacy student or related to a donor or staff member get into H/S MBA?"
Don’t be fucking average.
I am a male from an overrepresented demographic at HBS now, and came from PE. I’ll echo what WestCoastChimp said. IB to PE experience is a dime a dozen. For good reason, HBS doesn’t want a class full of PE people, and to add to that, going back to climb the never ending PE ladder is not the outcome HBS is trying to select for. What is your vision for your life that is unique, different, and ambitious? What will you bring to the classroom beyond your already-well-represented PE experience?
lol just do it, at least you're not an asian male (chinese/Indian)
If HBS or GSB is your goal, I'd suggest you do something other than PE after IB. You'll already have BB/EB experience so a second similar-ish finance job isn't going to do anything for you from an admissions perspective.
Working for a well known company overseas after doing a couple years at a top IB in the US is your best bet, but I realize not everyone can / wants to do that.
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