Can you rank my profile please? Specifically for getting into H/S/W/Booth
Hey guys, can you please help rank my chances of getting into H/S/W/Booth? Ultimate goal is to go to a good LO AM post-MBA. Here are my stats:
- CFA Charterholder
- 750 GMAT
- Target undergrad (finance major in the biz school)
- 3.3 GPA (this is my main concern)
- 5yrs experience at a top long-only AM in Northeast (promoted once)
I'm hoping my CFA and solid GMAT can offset my sub-par GPA but not sure. Any idea what my chances are for getting into the aforementioned schools? Also related, how will the GPA affect post-MBA recruiting to those top long-onlies? I don't want to potentially get in only to find out my GPA has screwed me out of interviews
Much appreciated guys
Edit: Forgot to mention I'm a straight Asian male in my mid-20s
Hey Research Associate in AM - Equities, I'm the WSO Monkey Bot and I'm here since nobody responded to your thread! Bummer...could just be time of day or unlucky (or the question/topci is too vague or too specific). Maybe one of these topics will help:
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If those topics were completely useless, don't blame me, blame my programmers...
Your GPA is a little low for those schools but is at least partially offset by your GMAT and potentially your undergrad, depending on what you mean by target. The thing that you didn’t share is your gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other potentially diverse characteristics that can influence admissions and that makes it a little hard to evaluate your profile.
As for recruiting once you’ve enrolled, I don’t think anyone will care much about your undergrad GPA. Only one investment job I applied for during business school even asked about it.
Ah thanks, forgot about that. Added it above, I'm a straight Asian male (mid-20s). Thanks for the feedback! Will the CFA help as well to offset my GPA?
GPA doesn't matter for LO once you're at one of those. Why are you not considering Columbia?
You should have an okay shot at W/Booth depending on other factors like recs/essays etc. Sounds like you have good work experience but 3.3 is tough at H/S.
My gut take is that you're a long shot at H/S. Probably coinflip at W, and a little better than 50% at Booth. If I were you, I'd add in Columbia as well, especially if you want to do AM/IM afterwards. I'd imagine the value investing program would be beneficial experience/branding for you, but I'm not an expert on that world, so I could be wrong.
GMAT is solid, GPA is a little low, but target undergrad is good. Good experience at an AM firm is solid as well. The problem for H/S is that unless you have something that will really help you standout (or you're an URM) I think you'll be too generic for H/S. Wharton takes a lot of solid finance people and then Booth does the same, even a little more so than Wharton.
Based on your goals, H/S would be great for branding, but W/B will most likely let you get to wherever you need to go as well. Wharton/Booth obviously both have strong finance bends. I think you'll be fine, make sure to fine tune your story as much as possible.
Is H really that much more competitive than W? They have pretty similar GMATs and GPAs, and H probably has a lot more yolo candidates who never had a chance anyways. Some admission consultants have told me H's real admissions rate might be around 14-15% if you remove a lot of those applicants.
You could make the same argument for undergrad admissions as well. Probably even more Yolo applicants for undergrads. I don't think Harvard is as tough as Stanford, but I do think it is harder than Wharton. To what degree I can't comment on.
It's also somewhat dependent on your profile as well. Harvard will be tougher if you're a middling Finance profile. Harvard might be easier if you've got a more unique background.
Thanks for the response man. So not interested in Columbia much as I'm a growth investor (my whole career it's been growth & it's the philosophy I ascribe to). Can the CFA help to tilt my odds a bit (or at least offset by low GPA)? How about trying again for GMAT to shoot at the 760-780 range, is that worth the squeeze
Wharton also a great option as you mention, guess that and Booth would be the most likely (though both very hard to get into). Harvard would be ideal for mix of branding + opportunities in LO growth AM
I think spending time on GMAT to get above a 750 is going to provide diminishing returns. You're above the average everywhere and the CFA will help as well. So you should easily pass the intellectual ability checkbox. If anything, I would spend time really crafting your story, writing good essays, etc especially if you want to ensure an admission to at least 1/4. Wharton and Booth are probably a little more susceptible to being swayed by a good interview and a good targeted essay. They know that folks are likely lumping them in with H/S applications as well and frankly, having interviewed candidates for my B-School (non H/S), it's pretty easy to tell when someone is using W/B as a backup versus if they actually did some diligence and have some rationale as to why Wharton/Booth/Kellogg/M7 is actually a compelling fit for what they want to accomplish with their MBA.
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