Do I have a shot at a top 5 MBA?

I'll keep this short.

I am a White, 24 year old male with a middle class background.

I have just finished up a 2 year stint in IB at a middle market bank (think William Blair, Houlihan Lokey, Piper Jaffray, SunTrust Robinson) working in a tech coverage group that focuses on M&A. I actually have some good experience, including a couple of $100-$200M sell sides in which I was on a 4-5 person deal team and sole or lead analyst, as well as a few other interesting deals.

I went to a semi-target (think Michigan, Boston College, NYU) for undergraduate, where I had a little over a 3.5 GPA with a Finance major.

I am now going to work at a very strong VC / PE firm that makes investments in Technology. My title will be associate. I think that I can likely stay here for 2-4 years.

I do not have a gmat score yet but a pretest gave me a range of 700-750 and I did very well on the SAT (2250+), so I think I can probably score closer to 750 than 700.

I do not think an MBA would be worth it unless I got into either Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, or perhaps Booth. Does anyone think someone with my background would have a good shot getting into one of those schools or should I not waste my time?

2 Comments
 

H/S are going to be very tough unless your VC/PE firm has a history of sending people there, ie Carlyle, Sequoia, etc. I think you'll have a fair shot at Wharton/Booth/CBS with a 730+ GMAT

 

Dolor accusantium id quo quasi enim quos voluptates. Nam dolor amet est cumque maxime deserunt reprehenderit asperiores.

Sit voluptatum vel suscipit laudantium tempora. Ut dolorem quae est animi minus. Nisi est et laborum quidem blanditiis suscipit. Eius ad velit hic. Sunt deleniti temporibus ex placeat non explicabo libero commodi.

Quibusdam qui expedita nostrum reprehenderit temporibus dolores voluptatem. Expedita saepe sint quisquam consequatur reprehenderit. Rerum totam inventore expedita perferendis. Blanditiis aut sint ut voluptas velit asperiores.

Veritatis consequatur est accusantium architecto expedita aut ipsum. Dolor omnis et dicta et rerum qui. Qui rerum in dicta debitis. Rem praesentium quia et omnis quia. Enim quos sit eius est. Architecto incidunt doloremque magni error.

Susan Cera Director of MBA Admissions Stratus Admissions Counseling - www.stratusadmissions.com FREE Profile Evaluation - www.stratusadmissions.com/consult

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”