Update: Admissions Results for Shitty WE, Good Raw Stats (y'all tore apart my profile. thanks for the brutally honest feedback)
Hi all, here's a follow-up to a profile review I gave a while back (shitty WE, good raw stats). Since I can't link my old posts, here's what I wrote: "So I graduated from UCLA with a Sociology degree, and got a 3.9 GPA. But I sucked terribly at networking and finding jobs, and I didn't have the most marketable degree. I worked in a dead-end retail job for 2 years (in Minneapolis), one year at an art museum, 1 year at a golf course, and one year as an administrative assistant/receptionist.
I got a 740 GMAT. I'm very academically smart, I'll give myself that. I'm thinking about maybe going to law school too to boost my earnings power given my high GPA. I was considering law school earlier, and got a 171 on the LSAT right out of undergrad. My manager said he's fine vouching for me and writing letters, and I'm a pretty good writer academically, so I could try to spin my story somehow, but idk."
Anyway, I got absolutely torn apart and destroyed on my MBA profile review on both WSO and reddit. Y'all said I'd make a terrible MBA applicant, that there's a very low chance I'd make M7/t15, and that even if I got into a t30 school, a pretty low chance I'd get a proper "t30-level" job with subpar WE. Y'all said you knew people who were dumber than me with way better jobs, and top MBAs would pick them in a heartbeat over me, and that I wasn't cut out for "business."
I was aiming for management consulting, preferably MBB but tier 2 or boutiques would be fine. Y'all said my WE was too shitty for that.
And honestly, I thank you all for that, and the brutally honest feedback. Way more useful than giving me false hope or wishful thinking.
For MBA apps here were my results:
I got dinged w/o interview at Michigan Ross, NYU Stern, and UVA Darden.
I got dinged w/ interview at UT Austin.
I got into the last three I applied to though (Emory, USC, and Kelly). All fine schools, but not nearly as good as a t5 law school in terms of ROI imo.
I didn't get any MBA scholarships.
However, I decided to not pursue the MBA route, and applied for a JD as well to see if I could do better there, like many of you suggested. I used my 171 LSAT Score from a few years back and 3.9 GPA to get into very topped ranked programs, including UPenn, Columbia, Berkeley, UVA, Cornell, and Duke, with decent scholarships from some. Got rejected from Harvard law, Stanford law, Yale law, and UChicago law.
I'm glad to be attending Columbia Law School next year (ranked 5th in the nation). I just wanted to appreciate the honest feedback many of you gave me, and telling me pursuing an MBA wouldn't make the most sense given my particular background. Even though many of you were critical of me and heavily tore apart my app, I really appreciate the "tough love," it helped me hone in what I really wanted to do.
My goal now is to do the best I can in law school and snag a $160,000 biglaw job in NYC. I also know some CLS people who went straight into MBB consulting, so that's an option too.
Thanks! Best of luck to all of you in your endeavors, MBA or otherwise :)
Good for you man. I was in a similar spot back in 2014. Worked mainly in retail but had excellent academic and raw stats. I went down the MSF route, hustled my way into a corporate development gig, and will be attending a top MBA program (part-time) on my employers dime. Feels good man.
why do you feel you need an MBA after obtaining an MSF? Just curious as I have an MSF and would like to avoid the MBA.
Thanks for the update. Glad you found your way. Good luck and most of all enjoy your JD experience.
Thanks a lot for this. I'm actually in 100% the same shit place u are in. Good chance at top law schools, bad chance at the top MBA. I have some more work experience, however, and can spin a good story (I think).
I am really thinking of law. But fuck it sounds so fucking awful. I was on to-law-schools discussion board, and lawyers come across as really miserable people. And the work is a bunch in law school.
But yeah, a top law school would offer a better salary than a shit MBA. Maybe I'll work for another year and see what happens.
Really cool though: 100% same situation.
Congratulations! :) I'm in NYC too - always happy to make a new friend!
Big Law pays $180K in NYC now. As an MBA student, it feels kind of ridiculous that law grads, some of whom are only 3 years out of undergrad, make more than nearly all elite MBA grads, but such is the way of the world...
yeah but those law grads will most likeley be making significantly less than a top MBA grad 10 years down the line. Even 5 years down the line.
In fact, MBA grads who go into IB most likely get around 200k total comp in year 1, but their base salary is probably around 100-120k, so it is not as reflective on the the school's career pages. those going into PE (small amount, but still some) are making much, much more than that. in law, base is like 160 but bonus is only 20. So really, they make about the same, and MBA's have significantly more potential (if we are comparing a top MBA to a top JD)
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