Chances at top 5 b-school
My Background:
- Non-target undergrad; 3.3 GPA, business major; several significant leadership positions in ECs
- 3 years MM IB with associate promotion then lateral to elite boutique (think Perella, Evercore, Greenhill, etc) as associate (have been there one year so will have a total of 4 years experience when applying)
- Founded successful charity of which i've been president for the past 2 yrs
- 750 GMAT
Recognize that my undergrad GPA is a big ding against me but think I have a pretty interesting story to tell through the leadership positions i've held and the roles i've played on various deals/initiatives at work.
What do you think of my chances at a top 5 b-school? Given that I plan on applying this fall, what can I do, if anything, to improve my odds at this point?
You should have a shot at the Kellogg/Chicago/MIT Sloan kind of top 5, certainly a good shot at the Tuck and Columbia range, and it's worth applying to Wharton. The only schools that would have a problem with a 3.3 are Stanford, HBS and Berkeley.
I think Joe Perella is on HBS's board. If you're in PWP, I am sure you can get some help there.
I am wondering why you're looking to go to business school though. If you wanna stay in banking and move to a BB, I would imagine you would be able to do that right now (given your level of experience). If you're looking to move to mega fund PE, won't it be helpful if you get some PE experience (non-mega fund) first and then go to business school?
For what it's worth, I just finished a graduate degree and am trying to break into the industry (and having a hard time). You obviously have a lot more experience than I do, so you'd probably have a better idea of things. I was just curious about your thought process.
I'm not looking to stay in banking and have absolutely no desire to go to a BB. If anything, banking would be more of a fallback post-bschool. Honestly, for me, it's much more about taking a couple years off to do the things I've completely neglected (travel / drink / generally have a good time) bc of my job for the last few years and hopefully salvage some of my 20s from being nothing but a haze of spreadsheets and ppt slides. The way I see it, if I can go somewhere for 2 years where I'll have fun, meet interesting people, and hopefully become a more well-rounded person (in case you didn't know, banking doesn't exactly nurture that) and my worst case is to go back to banking and make 300 or 400k while I figure out my next move, that's not half bad. Ideally though, would like to do something a little more entrepreneurial post-school.
Dude you should have no issues. You look like you got your shit together.
Hello,
Congratulations on your GMAT score.Since you are aiming for top schools then a score above 700 is desirable However GMAT alone won’t determine your chances of admission; beyond that academics,ECs and work experience will also help you in determining your candidature. Generally most of the applicants have a good 4-5 years of work experience. Although it is not just the work experience that counts but also what you did there like-what were your achievements, what initiative you took, what changes you drove in your workplace etc. So if you can show that in 4 years you have demonstrated the skills business schools are looking for you could put in a strong set of essays. Although you might need to prove to the admission committee that your GPA won’t be an issue. If you can tell in your application about the skills that you gained at work and beyond, in the areas you had scored low ,would put you in better position. You need to indicate a positive learning from your bad experience. If you took any extra classes or courses in the subjects that you didn’t do well and highlight your zeal to learn and improve it could also improve your low GPA situation. Make sure you follow the ‘show rather than tell’ principle so that the admissions committee could really understand your strengths and differentiating factors.
You have a great shot at any top 10 school. Go for it. H/S/W will be a crap shoot, and all else I think you have some game.
Let's start something up
Absolutely no reason why you shouldn't get in. Worth the money and time to apply to all of them. My best friend go into Wharton and Booth with Arizona State U udergrad, low 3's GPA, 720 GMAT, and couple of ECs but nothing major. He said GMAT, essay and interview were the drivers that got him in. Best of luck...
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