Canadian Military Officer - Low GPA with Top MBA aspirations
Just looking to get feedback on my profile with radical transparency.
TLDR: my stats are at the bottom of the post, you can skip the back story.
Bit of a back story....
I moved to Canada at the age of 14 and it was difficult as I had to reintegrate myself into the new society. I spent the next 8 years of my life going down the wrong path tbh, lost myself trying to fit in. Was able to get into an OK university in Canada where I played Varsity Football for the 1st 2 years. My grades were horrific in those 2 years tho, failed a bunch of classes and was Ultimately required to withdraw. Around the same time my mom was diagnosed with a life changing disease that eventually led to her being legally blind, but that was my wake up call. In the year I was required to withdraw, I joined the Navy Reserves as an intelligence Officer and began to regain my confidence intellectually. I came back to school and began to do decent in my classes with the goal to finish university but still not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. I did ok but not great, think mid to low 70 average till I graduated. I would still drop classes I had absolutely no interest in occasionally but before the final drop date, although they still show on the transcript as a voluntary withdrawal.
Even though I now love philosophy and psychology as I find them intellectually stimulating, I would still describe myself as a doer, someone who throws themselves into experiences. So when a buddy of mine ventured into a tech logistics startup, I naturally busted my as for him and got equity in the company, and was eventually given the strategy and operations functions of the business to manage (it was quite the ride and experience, I still miss it). This was the first year I returned to university after taking the year off. We grinded the startup up for the remainder of my time in uni, but Ultimately had to shut it down due to covid ( we had ok media coverage and did low 10s of thousands in Rev). I also have a minor in business and had to take some accounting classes. Taking financial accounting was a game changer for my life, it threw me headfirst into the world of finance. I began searching for ways to get involved at my school and joined the finance association, the following year which was technically my last year I was able to join the student investment fund which managed ~ $150k USD (keep in mind I am a general arts student who had to out compete like 40 other finance, economics and accounting majors for the 20 spots on the fund ). I also got out of the Navy and joined the Army Reserves as a Combat Arms Officer - Armoured Officer, just thought i would get more leadership and strategic thinking skills . So I kept quite busy my second stint at uni because I wanted to gain more hands on experience than just relying on the books/academic grades (I was still able to pull 6/7 A's but overall have low 70s average for those last 3 years)
Fast forward to my current situation - I have been working full time as a Reserve Armoured Officer since fall 2020 and have had a lot of time to reflect on what I want to do with myself and I am sure an MBA is the route. I am currently stationed in the middle east for a 8 month deployment and have been thinking that the time is now to go for an MBA, but I really want to go to a T20 or INSEAD/SAID. Dream schools are Fuqua or INSEAD tho.
With these current/potential stats what are my chances at INSEAD or T20 or T25
URM - Black African Immigrant
Age - 27, turning 28 in Dec
School - BA - General ( minored in business and another humanities) at average CAD Uni with 68% CGPA. Got low 70s in my Fin and Managerial Acc classes and 69 in Business Finance. (Not good IK, considering alternate quant transcript). Was also catering for my mom with a blinding eye condition while in school and doing all the ECs.
Work Experience - 4 years FT Reserve Armoured officer work experience at time of Apps
ECs - 2 years student athlete, 2 years Startup, Finance association and Student Investment Fund, Volunteering with minority youth organization for 2 years at the time of MBA Apps and will do big brother when i finish my deployment.
GMAT - 640 1st attempt, after 2&half months retested and scored a 680. I am still studying now on deployment, aiming for 700 or higher when i go home, I am not a quiter, so I will keep retaking till I get it.
Career goals - Management/ strategy consulting(hopefully at T2 firm) and exit to a corporate strategy role (M&A) 3 -5 years post MBA. Location agnostic.
Reach - Fuqua, Darden, Ross, Oxford
Target - INSEAD, McCombs, Emory, Georgetown, IESE
Safety - Ivey, Rotman
Give it to me straight up please
I'm literally just commenting for the sake of bumping your post - I'm not an expert in this matter.
You've got a compelling story, but I think location matters the most. Questions that come up to me:
Thanks for the kind gesture and feedback, I really appreciate it 🙏🏽
I am a Canadian citizen.
In the short to medium term, I'd preferably like to work in the US, but very open to most if not all locations across the US. However, I an also open to international experience, on the caveat that the pay and experience are exceptional, for example, if I can land MBB in Asia or Europe I will take it and make the most of it.
And no the Canadian military unfortunately doesn't pay for MBA programs, there's a way to be entitled for grad school funding but I am not eligible for it, and they only cover up to 30,000 is USD.
Are you a current MBA student or applicant, if so, how did things pan put during your own experience. A bit of background would be nice, if you can. Thank you
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