How to get into a Bschool that would be worth it?

Ended up doing my undergrad at a non target which was fun but I always wanted to go to a target. Got accepted with scholarship at a target but ended up going to a non target(long story but made an uninformed decision & also had to take cost into account). This caused me later in undergrad to want to go to a b school with a name (Harvard, Stanford etc. ) so I could feel that same sense of pride. Ended up getting a a great GPA good IB internships and will be starting at a great boutique for FT.

What are people’s advice for how to get to HBS and such? I know my perspective might be kinda twisted but I always wanted to go to a “prestigious” university and honestly will pay out of pocket for it just so I can accomplish my dream. No one in my family except one member went to college and it was a community school so I really badly want this.

All help appreciated.

 

Time travel back lmao I’m not trying to crush your dreams but it realistically isn’t possible from finance - spots are so limited and those people who go have blue chip backgrounds of top ivy —> BB IB —> MF PE and even then it’s like a small hit rate among those since there’s so many

Hard for me to believe that someone from a non target and at a boutique will compete

I’d just be realistic and if you want an MBA just apply for top 10-15 schools which are incrementally better than your non target school but it just won’t be HSW. You can probably look at USC or UCLA or something along that line

 

I've realized this morning that MBAs just aren't worth it for some people, especially if you're already able to find another path in finance, it really depends on the school, your own circumstances etc

If you really want to go to some of the top and most prestigious bschools, then HBS / Stanford etc are probably good programs, but for places like McCombs or int'l programs like UToronto Rotman or something, you'd possibly be even worse off with a degree from there than not, I think

 

Why do long only asset mgmt. want someone to go to business school? 

 

You’re getting some bad advice here. If you have decent gpa and high Gmat these are in play for you. The first generation student plays welll. And you’ll have an even better chance if you’re not a male and if you fall under any diversity category. I don’t know what any of these people are saying. Just bad bad advice. Right GMAT score and everything is open for you

 

OP you ultimately have to think about what's best for you in an un-biased and objective viewpoint. For me personally I've thought mbas aren't always the best path

Ask your peers, friends, career counselors at your school and/or anyone else you think could give good insight on this type of stuff. Online you just have a bunch of people saying words but they don't know you or anything about you aside from something you posted that they probably didn't even read (i didn't read your post)

 
Most Helpful

 I'm going to HBS this fall (MF Background) so will chime in, but pretty poor (and irrelevant) advice from a lot of the above comments, don't listen to all the naysayers.

There are three (or 4) key things that put you in play for HSW alongside many other things:

  • 1) GPA (to a lesser extent -  prestige of the university)
  • 2) GMAT/GRE 
  • 3) Work Experience
  • 4) Essays

#1 you have locked it down with a good GPA, you may come from a non-target but at this point nothing you can do about it.

#2 (GMAT) is totally in your control to crush it (Get a 760+ and M7 will be a lock).

#3, for work experience, you are in IB. Yes, it isn't GS/Evercore but getting your foot in the door is a good start. Then lateral to the best IB shop and then recruit for UMM/MF PE

#4 Once you're at UMM/MF hire a consultant (we can debate the utility of a consultant on a different thread) and write the best essays you can. If you can get to this point, you are as competitive as any applicant applying.

Now, is this hard? Yes, the odds of you successfully executing this is probably <5% but if you put your mind to it you can make it work. FWIW this is the path I took (albeit coming from a semi-target). Also you don't even need to have UMM/MF and/or GS/MS pedigree, I've seen a lot of people with less stellar backgrounds getting in based on I) essays ii) other factors (e.g., race).

 

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