Looking for honest advice on chances at top mba
Hello WSO.
I'm a project manager for a small business consulting firm in Mexico with a few "international" projects (I say "international" because all our foreign clients are in South America - no projects overseas or to the north whatsoever). Even though the firm is small (and unknown outside of Mexico/South America) we have some fortune 500 clients and I've had the opportunity to work on projects with those clients. By the time I start my applications to business school I'd have about 2.5 years of experience (2 as a consultant, 0.5 as a project manager).
I graduated as a Mechanical Engineer in the most prestigious engineering university in Mexico with a GPA of 3 (rough estimate), I got a 720 in GMAT (third attempt, first and second attempts were both 680), and I'm currently involved in a community project in a leadership position since early 2012.
My question is, is it viable for me to apply to the 10-15 ranked schools, maybe even top 10? I was thinking of applying to Duke, Darden, and Tuck as my main options, Booth and Columbia as my "dream" options, and Georgetown as my "safety" option (although I'm aware that going to the latter will cripple my odds at achieving my post-mba goal).
My post-mba goal would be to join a top tier management consulting firm.
I think you're "in play" everywhere except hbs/stanford/wharton. Gpa is a bit low but it's engineering, b-schools love latin american candidates, you have solid project management experience, decent leadership, good gmat. It's going to boil down to what you exactly did at your firm, how much responsibilities you had, quality of recs, and your essays.
If you want mbb consulting, any top 10-15 school will do the trick. So apply to booth, kellogg, tuck, columbia, fuqua, darden.
With a 720 and good work experience, you should have a shot at top 15 programs. Coming from Mexico is good, as surprisingly there aren't that many candidates from Mexico. Your international experience (yes it counts even if it's with "just" Latin America) is a nice bonus. I think your self-evlaution is pretty fair, as is your school list (although I may add one or two schools to it), although it might swing a bit in one direction or another depending on the success of your career, the size of your projects, the extra stuff you have (extra currics, interests, entrepreneurship, volunteer work, etc.)
Alright, thanks a lot!
I think you have shot everywhere, including Harvard/Stanford/Wharton. The GPA requirements do not apply to Engineers. A 3.0 from a good engineering program in Mech E is as good as a 3.7 in Finance.
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