Chances of HBS 2+2 / Stanford Deferred program

First of all, thank you for taking the care to read this little paragraph and for your advice on this. Could you please evaluate my profile for these programs? I have read that is very focused for STEM, but I wanted to apply to maximize the chances of getting to these programs as they do not affect my future chances to apply directly to their MBA programs.

Relevant Academics: * Top European Master in Finance (LSE/Oxbridge/HEC Paris): GPA 3.7/4.0 * 1 Year Exchange program US (Ivy League/MIT/UChicago/Stanford): GPA 3.7/4.0 * BSc in Economics at Target uni in Spain (GPA 8.5/10 - Top 5% of Class)

Relevant Work Experience: * McKinsey & Company (full-time Business Analyst) starting Sept 2020 * GS/JPM/MS/LAZ/EVE/MOELIS/PJT - M&A Analyst (Summer 2020) * Top Strategy Consulting Boutique in Spain (Summer Business Analyst 2019) * Past internships in Strategy Consulting and in Corporate during Bachelor (2016-2018)

Extracurriculars: * Start-Up Founder: €200k valuation at seed-round (€25k funding) + lead Start Up to become finalist of major European Start Up Event * GMAT: 710 * Participated in various university Clubs * Languages: Fluent in English, Spanish, Catalan and Intermediate in French

Goals: * Access a top Managerial role in corporate with the MBA on which I can make use of the knowledge I acquired in McKinsey + Corporate Finance knowledge acquired in my MIF

5 Comments
 

Impressive background, congrats on your success so far.

But, it’s important to consider the fact that Harvard specifies that they give preference to i) 1st gen. college students, ii) students from low-income backgrounds, and iii) individuals on non-traditional paths.

If you don’t fit into those buckets, it’s even more of an uphill battle. In addition to that, a 710 gmat isn’t very competitive (especially considering deferred admission programs have higher gmat/act averages than normal mba processes)

Nothing wrong with waiting for standard mba processes. At that point you’d have a significantly better chance

 

Hi! Thank you very much for your feedback. The reason for which I would like to apply is because as far as I am concerned applying to HBS 2+2 would not hurt my chances if I later apply to HBS MBA directly. Thus, applying could only increase my chances.

My question is, given my profile which are the chances you believe I would have into getting into the HBS 2+2 program. I might consider retaking the GMAT if I have time to aim for a 730-750 as I do agree in that it might be a weakness in my app,

Thanks again!

 

I believe 2+2 acceptance rate is usually around 10% (rate trending downward as it becomes more popular). I’d guess, if you don’t follow into at least 2 of those 3 buckets Harvard’s looking for, your odds go down significantly. No idea.. maybe you have a 1-2% chance? Haha. But if you do fit into some of those buckets, I would think you’d have a good shot even though you’re on a traditional MBB path

Just my unqualified opinion. I didn’t apply to 2+2/Stanford deferred, but had a bunch of friends that did (all with either BB IB or MBB experience and 700+ GMATs). Only friend that got in was a female URM (non-business major) with a 760 GMAT

 

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