Hey Guys. I was wondering if there was anything you can do over the course of 3 years to meaningfully improve your chances at HBS/GSB. I feel as though I have a good profile, but I am missing something "special".
- Harvard Undergrad with Applied Math degree, minor in econ (low GPA - 3.2)
- Athlete in Undergrad (All-American, All-Ivy)
- 2 years of BB (Barc/DB/CS) in a front office markets/IB position. Decent amount of responsibility for an analyst.
- Good undergrad internships
- Foreign Born (Former Soviet Union Country, immigrated when very young, Fluent in Russian)
- Haven't taken the GMAT, but typically do very well on standardized tests
After being in the role for 2 years, the hours have relaxed and I think I can take on some sort of volunteer/leadership experience. I'm not looking to go to business school to "break in" to finance. Quite the contrary.. I actually want to do something along the entrepreneurship route and see business school as an amazing opportunity to meet accomplished people and share ideas. I've thought about doing an MPP/MBA
Any advice in terms of extra volunteer experience or career progression? I like my role and expect to be promoted on the usual schedule (2.5 years analyst --> associate). Doesn't seem like there is much room to speed this process up. Should i just go do something unique for 2 years before I apply?
Love this forum. Thanks in advance
UPDATE: I Switched jobs. I now work at a "mega-fund" asset manager type (PIMCO/BlackRock/Wellington) doing a high profile front office function. I still haven't taken the gmat and was wondering if this gives anyone any insight on my application. I think the diversified experience is good and I'm having a super positive experience with lots of immediate responsibility.
if your main goal is to get into HBS/GSB, go work at a megafund and you'll more or less be a lock to get in assuming you execute on the GMAT (740+)
How is he a lock with a 3.2 GPA?
On an unrelated note, cheers to you fellow Slav.
if op goes to work at KKR/Apollo/TPG etc and crushes the GMAT, he's a lock
Disagree. No one is a lock anymore at those two.
He's probably a lock for HBS in that scenario, but I think i agree that no one is a lock at GSB. Frankly if OP works another 3 years he might be a grizzled old man compared to most of the GSBers.
In any case, think you have a very solid background. Should be able to use Wharton/Booth/CBS as backups and shoot for the moon. Good luck!
that's fair, GSB class size just makes things tougher as not everyone from a MF can necessarily get in like they can at HBS
I think Sandy Kreisberg offers some service for people like you that want to kind of map out the best way to position yourself. Maybe email him?
With a 3.2 you need some kind of outlier-level stardust. Even more if you're in S&T instead of IB. (HBS and Stanford love high GPAs even more than the GMAT, and they hate S&T).
For my sport, I was a pretty high profile athlete and the commitment was intense. I still chose to study a difficult STEM major, but my GPA suffered with the competitiveness at class and my athletic distractions. Is this a valid "excuse"?
They won't doubt your intellectual abilities, they will like the STEM major, and will like the athletics. Most of us here would like you. But remember that they are shooting for a 3.7 average, so to them a 3.2 is an eye sore, and I don't think they'll be thrilled with your job (and won't be fussed either way about an Associate promotion). You're also missing the do-gooder stuff, which is important at HBS and sine qua non at Stanford. I know someone with a similar job fresh out of college (and from your alma mater/direct peer), and is at HBS, but added some more do-gooder stuff, easier major (so probably higher GPA) and a double URM. So as it stands you have quite a lot of tangible achievements to add to your profile and that will take at least a year, probably two.
agreed that this is MUCH tougher if OP is in S&T and not IB
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