MBA profile evaluation for consultant, aspiring to become a banker

Schools: Booth, Sloan, Columbia, Stern, UCLA
- 26 year old, Asian American male (1st gen college student)
- 750 GMAT (49Q, 43V)
- 3.5 from UChicago, major in Management Studies, minor in Economics (major-only GPA is 3.8, lower grades are from pre-med classes that I didn't do well in). Co-president of entrepreneur club, started two student-run businesses on campus
- 1.5 years at in-house strategy group at a large US bank (top 10 in US) after graduation
- 2.5 years at boutique strategy consultancy (75 people) focused on financial services. Promoted after 1.5 years, now managing a team of two associates. Very involved in internal organizational dev work (recruiting, marketing projects, website redesign, training redesign)
- Extra-curriculars: junior board member at education NGO, started a small tutoring business using an app to match college grads with students, private k-12 tutor on the side
- Post MBA short-term goals: technology investment banking (preferably middle-market IB)
- Post MBA long-term goals: Ed-tech PE, starting own tech venture

Not sure how much my personal stories impact your diagnosis, but will be speaking predominantly about the power of education and mentorship in enabling people to escape dire situations and transform their life trajectory.

 

Really solid profile both quantitative and qualitatively, I imagine you'd be a good fit for all of those programs assuming you write up a compelling story. Someone more knowledgeable can correct me if I'm off here, but I'd consider leaving out the long-term PE goal, as post-MBA IB isn't known for producing buy side exit opportunities.

 

Really appreciate your feedback.

Your point on the long-term PE goal is duly noted - though, what exit opportunities usually follow from post-MBA IB? I've heard a lot about the typical internal corp strat/corp-finance role at F500, but that doesn't sound very appealing on an application.

 

A lot of post-MBA IBers are looking to stick around for the long run, but I believe you're correct in that there are opportunities to enter into corporate finance/strategy. If you're looking to get into MM tech banking, a realistic long-term play may involve joining the industry in some capacity or perhaps looking at tech focused VC roles.

 

Hi Linda - thanks for the response! I heavily considered Wharton but thought they'd be out of reach. My work experience isn't particularly fancy, nor is my GPA that high. Additionally, I did poorly on some of my advanced Econ classes in college (the quant ones I did well in, the theory-based classes I did not). I very well might include Wharton when Round 2 comes along, but still think my chances are quite low.

 
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