Atypical Background - MBA Tiers to consider for future?

Hey Guys,

I know there is a constant slew of "can I get into this school or get x job" but here I am anyway (hopefully one day I'll be able to contribute instead of just stalk this forum).

Looking at getting into a top MBA program in ~2 years, and here is the breakdown:

  • 3.6 GPA in BA from a "run of the mill" European uni (best I could do to get back in the game after flunking a great school in the US due to personal reasons)
  • To have cleared all CFA levels this June
  • 2 internships: one in FX, other in VC
  • 2 years experience as corporate fin. analyst in oil major, Europe - top ranked. Scampering up from the bottom, aiming to hit trading in ~year (I've hauled a** since messing up earlier in life).
  • 2 year Sales in in South Africa
  • both professionally and personally as international as they come

Very aware of how less than ideally marketable some of the above is but it is what it is. Thanks in advance y'all.

 

Firstly, thanks - really appreciate the genuine interest to help out.

Age:28

Schools I consider Top:
HBS, Chicago, Wharton - fully aware that these are reaches for me. Also worth adding that my knowledge of which MBA programs are top class doesnt extend much beyond news rankings and online info such as this forum. Being outside the US for the past 6 years you just dont have conversations about schools at all.

Ambitions:
Stay the course in CF and get into strategic planning sorts of positions. No particular interest in IB (married, have somewhat of a life) but WM is definitely of interest as well.

 
Most Helpful

Hi Marmaduke,

You're welcome.

The schools you are aiming for will really be attracted to your international exposure. HBS will also want to see meaningful leadership in your past. Booth and Wharton will too, but not as much as HBS IMO.

Schools will want to see all your undergrad transcripts so you will have to address what happened at the U.S. school before you attended college in Europe. Please see Mitigating Weaknesses. .

A lot will depend on your GMAT. A 700 will put you in range for these programs, but a 720+ will make you a more attractive applicant at your target programs.

Also consider Yale, etc. When are you taking the GMAT?

Best, Linda

Linda Abraham President, Accepted | Contact Me | Admissions Consulting
 

I would plan to prepare studying for the GMAT after the 2020 June CFA exams are wrapped up. Running with the assumption that I would want to put in 3-4 month of study I would roughly estimate taking it in mid-fall 2020, exactly a year from now.

It completely slipped my mind that US colleges will want even the failed undergrad transcripts. I am assuming that including a year's worth of poor college grades with an an appropriate explanation is better than simply committing them?

Finally, as you know the BA degrees in Europe are only 3-years in length. I know that Yale and Columbia accept 3-year Bachelors but I am assuming that other programs would not. Are there ways to bridge a 3-year into a 4-year?

Sorry for the avalanche of questions.

 

Repellat tempore sapiente fuga est non tempore. Consequuntur eum iusto quae. Iste autem quam quo aspernatur dignissimos.

Linda Abraham President, Accepted | Contact Me | Admissions Consulting

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