Rate my odds at Top 10-14
- 3.8 GPA from a top 10 college in a non-technical field
- 750 GMAT
- buyside finance internships in my past
- worked at a well-known law firm as a paralegal
- VP-level at a startup that pays me a salary (but probably isn't going anywhere)
Would ideally like to get a job at a REIT and would be swinging for real estate investment banking or real estate consulting to eventually make the switch.
How many years of work experience? Can you get very solid recs? Do you have any ECs or leadership positions? If you write great essays I would say you are very xompetitive and would advise you to shoot higher.
I was head of an organization in college but it was pretty academic. Otherwise, two years of w.e. as of right now. I could get really good recs from a well-known BigLaw partner and a hedge fund manager. Biggest problem is the current employer rec--my boss would flip if I told him I was planning on leaving, which is why I'm probably sitting this cycle out. Easier to break it to him once I've been there longer.
If you execute well on essays, you can probably get into a top 5. Can you not ask someone else at the startup to write a rec? If at all possible, you need at least one letter from someone you currently work with. However, it doesn't necessarily have to be your boss...it could even be a customer that knows you well.
What about community service? I'm no mba admissions expert but I thought that was pretty huge.
Yeah I should probably do some of that. Kind of tough when you're working 80 hours/week making $50k though.
Being a paralegal is pretty shitty, whether you're at Skadden, Fenwick&West, whatever. I mean, Goldman has a great name, but you're not going to get into GSB from their compliance department.
And "Start-up" sounds good theoretically, but reality is, everyone's a start-up now. It's a euphemism for "small business." Just like every shitty bank is a "boutique". You're a VP? Cool, but titles count for less when there are 10 people working there and everyone makes themselves C-level executives. What do you do? What's the revenue of the firm? You're trying to go to B-School? That's a red flag. It means that start-up sucks.
I dunno brah. Your bio reads like 50 other Ivy League lib arts major who graduated before they lined up actual jobs.
To be specific, the hedge fund where I had a job failed during the spring of my senior year. But basically, yeah.
Current company is legitimately a start-up in that it's growth-stage company. I switched because I was bored at my paralegal job and wanted more responsibility.
Anyway, I know I'm not as competitive as someone who worked at Goldman and then switched over to Facebook. Which is why I said "rate my chances at top 10-14" rather than "rate my chances at HBS."
I actually think you're even competitive for lower M7, given the GMAT, GPA, and school. My comments were directed more at the overly-optimistic college sophomores who, clearly, have never looked into MBA admissions before. Nothing personal. (Plenty of Ivy League lib arts majors who graduate before they line up jobs end up at good MBA programs...)
You're in great shape for M7. Don't listen to these people who have no idea what they are talking about.
Disclaimer: I go to an M7 b school.
Network with alumni at your school and get a legit job. Wait to apply. I think you are set for a M7 type program if you are patient. Pulling the trigger too early and settling would be regrettable.
"Legit Job"? B schools absolutely love entrepreneurship. I will use your word and say, "legit" entrepreneurship. Assuming it is, and your company is venture-backed (given that you have a real salary, I assume it is). You will be able to do some awesome things that will make for strong essays, leadership experiences, and everything else that will quite frankly stand out from most other 3.8/750's. Plus, the fact that you have impressive internships shows that you can do normal jobs, and legitimizes the fact that you want to be working at a start-up (whether you do or not).
This is all contingent that you're actually doing real stuff at the start-up, and not employee #721 at LivingSocial that tries to sell an extra daily deal. I do think that depending on your experiences and your trajectory, another year could only help. You'll also want to get a rec from the startup. If that takes staying another year, do it. It will be the most recent (important), and will make your stories about the startup actually sound real.
Sounds like your other recs will be a bit weak/dated (no one really cares about "big law partners").
Forgot my questions. What employee # are you? What is your exact role? How much VC backing do you have? Revenues?
About $200k in revenues. I wasn't able to negotiate equity--the founder is a control-freak and I took the job because I wanted more career capital, not to get rich. The company is not very scalable and while I'm learning a lot, it's in a very scattered way and most of this stuff I'm having to teach myself.
Moreover, I want to be an investor (and not a VC), so a lot of what I'm doing--basically marketing and sales--isn't directly applicable to the sorts of jobs I want (in short-term--probably useful in the long term).
That's legit, man. Keep doing it. Why business school?
You're a good fit though. Just this morning Wharton tweeted that ~8% fo their class had started a biz, and 90 interns at start-ups this past year. They obviously value that a lot right now.
I revised my comment above b/c I realized I sounded flame. Thinking of b-school b/c no equity (talk of "vesting schedule" but I doubt it will happen), low pay in a high COL city, low barriers to entry in our industry, somewhat sketchy business practices on the part of the founder, and b/c unstable cash flows month-to-month (although not year-to-year) = a panic over finances every couple months.
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