MBA Odds?

Hi, I'm looking for some guidance around my chances at a top 10 school? I'm aware right off the bat nothing is guaranteed given my GPA, but it would be great to get some help from the group?

3 years of MM IB including Analyst to Associate promotion (got this w/ purely hustle and a shit ton of luck) Graduated low end of top 25 university with ~2.7 GPA (nothing lower than a C, there's no reason/I was just more concerned with the social aspects of college) Took multiple finance UCLA extension courses and received A's in all to make up for this Took GMAT in last year and achieved 760 White Male Average Extra Curriculars - did year round entrepreneurship mentoring at local universities, have some entrepreneurial ventures that I had very modest success with (nothing to write home about however) Recs will be good

Top 3: U Chi, Columbia, Wharton Others considering NYU, Ross, Duke, UCLA, Kellogg, HBS (BC why not), Yale, Tuck, Georgetown

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"PeoplesChamp" Hi, I'm looking for some guidance around my chances at a top 10 school? I'm aware right off the bat nothing is guaranteed given my GPA, but it would be great to get some help from the group?

3 years of MM IB including Analyst to Associate promotion (got this w/ purely hustle and a shit ton of luck) Graduated low end of top 25 university with ~2.7 GPA (nothing lower than a C, there's no reason/I was just more concerned with the social aspects of college) Took multiple finance UCLA extension courses and received A's in all to make up for this Took GMAT in last year and achieved 760 White Male Average Extra Curriculars - did year round entrepreneurship mentoring at local universities, have some entrepreneurial ventures that I had very modest success with (nothing to write home about however) Recs will be good

Top 3: U Chi, Columbia, Wharton Others considering NYU, Ross, Duke, UCLA, Kellogg, HBS (BC why not), Yale, Tuck, Georgetown

FWIW, I had a somewhat similar profile to you:

Top 30 university, 3.6 GPA MM IB --> Corp. Dev. (5 years total experience) Meh ECs 760 GMAT White Male

Got dinged at HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, and Tuck (I was surprised by Tuck). In at several 10-15 schools. White, male, finance kids are everywhere. Will be a tough road to get into any of your reach schools.

 

Sounds like you have realistic expectations, and you're doing the right thing by taking extension classes to make up for the GPA. Your GMAT is strong, and as a white male finance guy from a decent college, adcoms know that if with a semi-decent MBA under your belt you'll have no problems getting a good job (regardless of industry) post-MBA - and employability matters a lot now these days for their rankings stats (not to mention the immigration uncertainty these days will only give Americans like yourself an even greater advantage both in admissions and recruiting than years before - that's my sense at least).

You have enough of an outside shot at the top 8 that it's worth at least applying to 2-3 schools. It's not a long shot like the Knicks beating the Golden State Warriors in a 7 game playoff series, but more like the Knicks beating the Warriors in one regular season game (odds are still against you but entirely possible). With that said though, I think HBS is a long shot in your case, but throw in an application once you've gotten a few schools under your belt and you can frankenstein portions of essays from other schools into the HBS essay and submit.

But where you'll likely land (and where you should definitely focus on) are the top 16 schools on your list.

Alex Chu www.mbaapply.com
 

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