IB hopeful admitted @ Darden & Stern - Reapply or Enroll?
Looking for advice. Details of my profile below.
Background & Context:
- Am a white Male w/ ~4 years of experience at T2 strategy consulting
- Attended a top undergrad b school (think Haas/McIntire/Ross)
- GPA = 3.6 | GMAT score = 740
- Interested in transitioning from consulting into IB post-mba
Outcomes from Current Cycle:
- Applied early decision to CBS full-time MBA last October, at such time that my GMAT score was 710. Was rejected without interview
- Applied Darden and Stern in Round II with the same GMAT score
- Sat for the GMAT again after the round 2 deadline and improved my score from 710 to 740
- Sent updated scores to Darden and Stern and was subsequently admitted to both
Current thinking / Considerations:
- My top choices have always been CBS/Booth/Kellogg/Wharton. However, getting rejected from CBS without an interview last fall was such a wake-up call that, having concluded my scores were too low, I decided not to not even apply to the others after that
- Given that I was ultimately able to solve the GMAT score problem (the main roadblock) but never had the chance to try my hand at these more competitive programs (save for CBS), I am tempted to put off enrollment and give it a go next cycle in Round 1
- Reasons to go for it:
- Would be an opportunity to get into one of my dream school, which I would be more than willing to wait another year for
- I'm not overly excited about either Stern or Darden, and I'm weary of investing 200k in something that I can't get fired up about
- Reasons to throw in the towel and enroll this fall:
- The above programs are super competitive, espec for candidates with my background (I have a good story but relatively dime-a-dozen for M7 applicant pools). Thus my chances of getting in are not overly high.
- Stern does not allow deferrals and Darden does only on a case-by-case basis, meaning I could lose these solid options if I choose to wait
- Both Stern and Darden have sufficiently good reputations and recruiting infrastructure to enable my goal of transitioning into IB
Bottom-line: what would you do in my position?
bumppppppppp
Let me ask you this -
What's more important to you? 1) Your dream business school - which you will attend for 2 years. 2) Your dream job - which you might pursue for your life time?
The thing here is NYU will get you the same result as CBS for IB. Darden as well - but CBS/NYU being in NYC makes it easier to network.
Something else - Most B-schools are not reapplicant friendly - so applying as a first time applicant with 740 GMAT is different than applying with a 740 GMAT as a reapplicant. Add on to the fact that since COVID-19 MBA applications have increased and the seats have decreased due to the deferred applications. So you will be competing for a M7 school with 740 GMAT - as a reapplicant - in a competitive year. Think about it for a second - because you have very low chance of getting admitted - where as you already have 2 admittance in hand.
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