H/S Chances?
Hi all - I’m beginning the MBA application cycle and looking to get a sense of my chances at H/S. I understand these are incredibly competitive, so wanted to see if I had a strong chance of acceptance given the following background
- Asian male
- Undergraduate: Econ major at top 5-10 college (Columbia / UChicago / Penn), 3.7 GPA, phi beta kappa
- Work Experience: 2 years investment banking in NYC at mid tier budge bracket, 2 years corporate private equity at large NYC fund ($40-$50bn AUM)
- Test Scores: have not taken GMAT but expect 700+ (received 2400 on SAT if helpful)
- No significant volunteer or charity experience
My sense is that H/S in particular have shifted away from hiring the “cookie cutter” finance guys, so curious to hear people’s perspectives, as well as what I can do in the meantime to help bolster my application over the next year. Thanks!
Based on what you provided alone basically 0 chance of H/S. It really is too cookie cutter as there are plenty of 3.8+ pe or top IB guys applying to H/S.
I think the advice anyone could give you is the typical advice. Try to differentiate yourself from the cookie cutter. I think you might have a chance for W but to me if you don't truly differentiate yourself this seems like a lower M7 candidate with a 750+ gmat.
Thanks. What are the ways to differentiate yourself? I see people with these stats and backgrounds who do get into H/S, so curious what you think makes these people differentiated?
You are not even applying W? That’s risky bro, HSW is a crapshoot, and there are plenty of MF PE folks at W (we are talking Carlyle, KKR, etc.) so take that as you will.
You definitely have a chance but would widen your pool to include Wharton + Booth. Given your SAT score, you should be fine on the GMAT but ideally you can get a 760+.
Plenty of people with your profile get into H/S, majority don't - whenever you have an ORM with good stats coming from PE, it's pretty much rolling the dice, no matter the extracurriculars. Tons go to Wharton so I'd say you have a pretty good shot there. Second adding Booth and another M7 if you're dead set on going to B School. Focus on the story, hire a consultant, and just set your expectations low.
There are like 8-10 Carlyle folks at Wharton 1Y alone (also some BX/KKR as well). I think H/S is consciously cutting down on MF PE folks in favor of VC.
Just went through this process myself - at your point, you are a great candidate for any top school but there are so many other great candidates such as yourself so it legitimately is a crapshoot. I would focus on securing that exam score cause worrying about this will drive you nuts. Once you get that killer exam score I hate to say this but I would maybe talk to an MBA consultant if you're sure this is what you want to do. They will help you twist a nice story up to help you stand out from being "cookie-cutter" which I feel is all BS anyway but honestly say the recruiter rn costs you fu***** 8k for their package or whatever its a drop in the bucket considering the total cost of school and what you're making coming out. Just something to think about. I didn't do it because I was late in the cycle but if I could do it over would have and I would have hit it in the early application rounds too.
Don't want to be a dick, and maybe you're starting to realize this, but you're just not that impressive/unique within your group. I mean, why don't you tell me. What do you think makes you unique? What makes you better than any other banking to PE guy?
Echo all the above, impressive profile, but nothing that really stands out. Given you're an ORM, almost not chance at Stanford, small chance at Harvard, probably a little less than a coinflip at Wharton, and then solid chance at Booth and rest of M7. To be more of a target for H/S you would need upgrades across the board, GPA is fine, but from an Ivy league school would be better, WE would have to be 2 years at top BB or EB and then a brand name PE fund, GMAT would have to be a ~750, and ECs would have to be something strong as in, founded a charity, great athlete, 1st gen story, etc.
Unfortunately, not a ton you can do in the next year to improve your chances at H/S. If you decide Wharton or Booth or one of the other M7s will help you achieve your post-MBA goal, I'd try and spend some time outside of work developing yourself, pick an EC and go deep on it, do some meaningful volunteering, and then spend time and show interest in the school. I'm a believer that the rest of the M7 and Wharton (Wharton to a lesser extent) pay attention to how interested candidates are.
Lastly, think a little bit about why you're going back for an MBA. Wharton will be better for PE in general, but if you're aiming to just end up at a UMM/MF in a VP role, the competition is going to be fierce. The concentration of H/S runoff, ex-MF kids at Wharton is going to be high. Booth limits your big fund options, but you'd likely stand out more given your strong PE experience. You'd have to be ok with a little bit more of a regional focus though. If you ended up at a good fund in the midwest, is that ok? Or are you NYC or bust. Maybe you're completely done with investing and want to do Tech, MIT might be a good option for that then. Comes down to what you want to do after and why an MBA. Plenty of kids just do it because it's the next logical step, but I think a little bit of pre-thought will go a long way.
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