Should I apply to Wharton MBA or am I wasting my time?

Columbia and Wharton apps are so similar I don't think it would be too much time overlap, plus they only have one required essay and one optional.

I think we'd need to know more about your sport because that will obviously be your selling point with average (probably below average tbh) W/E and GPA. You're also a career changer so I would imagine they are looking for a top gmat score to somewhat make up the lacking GPA. How were your grades in quantitative classes in college?

It was in tennis. I will have worked for 3+ years by the time I matriculate. The only quant classes at my school were econ or math classes. Regretfully, I didn't take any. At the time, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Since then I've taken an online Wharton class in accounting and marketing and received two As. I'm considering taking the microecon class as well but I don't think I'll have the time before round 1.

At this point the only thing I can do is crush the GMAT. I'm hoping a 730 + gmat score might give me a small shot at Columbia, Uchicago, or Wharton. ( 48 M, 40 V) Initially I wasn't even considering Wharton as I thought I had no chance. But after talking to a friend, he's made me reconsider applying to Wharton. Obviously it can't hurt to apply to a school, but if I didn't apply to Wharton I'd probably apply to UCLA for my 6th school instead.

i'd retake the GMAT and apply ED to Columbia if I were you. It's definitely a reach but ED will increase your chances significantly. Wharton is going to be very tough unless you can get a 750+ on the GMAT. You should be able to get into 2-3 of Cornell, Michigan, Duke and UCLA.

You don't have a decent chance of getting into any of the programs you listed besides Michigan. Cornell and Michigan should be your target schools alongside Olin WUSTL, Vanderbilt and Georgetown. Should also apply to Notre Dame. I know that Michigan is ranked very high but they seem to accept everyone (40%+ acceptance rate).

Yea I definitely feel like Uchicago, columbia and especially wharton are reaches. But you never know with Uchicago and columbia if I could boost my GMAT a little bit.

I also don't know if legacy helps at all with MBA programs. I am legacy to columbia ( pretty weak legacy). Also very strong legacy to Cornell.

If i dont get into any of my round 1 schools then I'll probably apply to schools that do well regionally such as UT Austin, UNC, and USC in round 2. I don't think Vanderbilt or Georgetown would help me as much but i would definitely consider them in round 2 .

Legacy doesn't seem to help too much with Columbia. I'm a strong legacy (going back to great-grandparents) with similar stats and didn't get in.

That said I've heard from current students that "legacy" in the sense that your parents made large donations to the school goes a long way.

I wouldn't bring up to the adcoms that you are trying to get a buyside job, or use post-MBA IB as a stepping stone to the buyside as both of these things are not realistic. Seems like Michigan, Duke, Cornell are probably in your reach - Wharton will be almost impossibe.

Yes unfortunately not the legacy that donates a shitload to the school haha. @ Jss, what would you recommend saying the my essay then? Just mentioning Equity research in general and IB / corp finance as a backup? Thanks

No. Most schools prefer it if you have crystal clear career goals written down. Pick one (either IB or ER), write a draft "why?" story and bounce it off a few people in your network to get feedback.

For other schools look at Kelley, Emory, Vanderbilt and McCombs especially if you're regionally flexible. McCombs places strongly into Dallas and I've heard great things about quality of life in Dallas if you can stand the heat. Ditto for Emory and Vanderbilt, which are target schools for SunTrust IB in Atlanta....again, great pay in a decent city and in both cases the amount you keep in your bank account will probably beat NYC IB(especially given SunTrust's strong comp). Vanderbilt also does a "New York Interview Day".

The hard thing against you is that Emory's program has a reputation for favoring "diversity" applicants such as minorities and international students more than other schools. My own impressions of their program were consistent with that reputation.

Kelley is a bit more of a "niche" school since they're not really a finance school, but I got to visit them and I can attest that every student in the classes of 2015 and 2016 who went through IB recruiting got good internships or full time offers.....including someone who was a professional musician before starting the program. Just be prepared to hustle hard. One thing that works in your favor is that Kelley seems to prefer students who have a significant "cool" factor in their background. Being a division 1 athlete ( or NFL in one case) is a good example.

how is your work experience and recommendation? Lots of things smell good on your personal side, but I don't know how your profile looks to AdCom from 3rd parties.

I think 3.0 is not a bad thing considering your other significant achievements. however, it makes my above comment probably much more relevant.

I'm more worried about your work experience than your GPA for those schools. Wharton could be tough, but I know a number of people that have gotten in with a 3.0-3.2 GPA from top schools (I'm hoping the GPA is above 3.0 and not anything with a 2 at the beginning, because I do think that scares people off more), so let's move on from that for a minute. And let's assume you get a 730 on the GMAT, just to make it easier.

I don't totally get your story. Healthcare marketing to mortgage hedging to IBD, I guess? That flow kind of sucks. Why health care in the first place (just cause it was a job out of college is not a good answer for b-school purposes). And why marketing? Would also be curious as to whether or not this was a brand name or not (e.g. marketing at Pfizer versus marketing at some random 50 person biotech that makes one drug). Then how and why did you switch to mortgage hedging, which is literally a total 180. What have you done since you've been there? What skills? Why is that leading you to b-school and then banking?

I think that story is actually doable with the right spin, but your one sentence about your work history worries me. It's hard to have accomplished that much in three years at any job, let alone two totally disjointed jobs. What are you going to write your essays about? How will you answer interview questions about experience? I got some really good advice when I was considering applying the year before I actually applied, which as to go through some of your top schools essay and interview questions and see if you have multiple strong answers for each. If you don't, you should probably wait. I ended up getting the bulk of my best stories in my last year of work.

I'll put it this way: the GPA can be overcome for top 10 schools, but you need to be as strong as possible everywhere else. One other quick question: did you fail to mention that you were a captain, or were you not a captain? Four-year AA should probably be a captain, so I'd be curious as to why not (and so will AdComs).

Disclaimer (or why my opinion may be relevant to you): Current student at a top-10 that got into three top 10's with a 3.16 GPA and a 730 GMAT. Top 10 LAC and four-year athlete/captain. Similar profiles, so trust me, it's doable. Did not get into Wharton though, to answer your original question (doesn't mean you can't…).