Trading to Top MBA Chances

GS

TheLastCallI hate to be a bearer of bad news, but b-schools in general hate traders. From the information you have provided thus far and knowing nothing else about you, i would say that you are a ding at all the schools mentioned. Your numbers are fine, but unless you can tell a very interesting story about yourself, demonstrate clear leadership and teamwork as a trader, and great reasons for wanting to go to b-school, it will be an uphill battle. I also recommend you talk about somethin non-finance related for career goals, such as consulting. The reason being that for buyside you will have to compete with people with much better experience than you, and during the admissions process, you are being compared to others with similar career goals.

700-750 is a very broad range. Harder to assess until you've actually taken the exam. A 700 is an automatic ding at those schools for a male trader. A 750 on the other hand, puts you solidly in the game. I think 770+ is what you should ideally shoot for if you want to get into wharton/columbia/booth.

Just ignore Brady/LastCall's babble. You have a shot, but you need a compelling story. For more expert advice, I defer to Alex Chu or Betsy.

The one thing he's right about is that traders get a very bad rap at b-schools. There's this mantra of "changing the world" that both HBS and the GSB have adopted in recent years which has led to the number of admits from financial backgrounds decreasing. In the eyes of the adcoms, sales and trading might as well be "jails and hating." There is no societal value created. Obviously we might disagree strongly with that, but such is the perception.

To counteract that bias, you need to have major GMAT and GPA numbers, strong extracurriculars that show you have a heart + interests outside of raping and pillaging the land in the name of filthy lucre, and demonstrable instances of leadership (which can be hard in the context of a trading floor).

Study really hard for the GMAT. Stanford will be a reach for you, but Booth has no problem with quantitative finance types at all and will take you if your stats are there. If you are interested in Columbia, go visit the school two or three times (seriously) and apply ED. The bane of their existence is the trend where people view them as the safety within the M7 and don't apply with the intent of matriculating unless all else fails. If you can show them that you would actually attend if admitted, you'll find yourself admitted. If you're located in NYC, try incorporating the "I want to stay in New York for my MBA" angle in your essays. Haas ought to take you based on numbers alone, your GPA and work experience are very in line with their program and if your GMAT is high, that is an added plus.

Long story short, you need to know each school's idiosyncrasies and how to exploit them. It's rarely the best candidate on paper that gets admitted; it's the schemers who understand how to play the game.