Realistic Choices of MBA Programs & How to Better my Chances
Just graduated from undergrad this year and was planning on applying to grad school sometime in the next five years. Still haven't decided whether to pursue a technical degree (M.S. or M.Eng), a MBA, or even both and was interested in hearing all of your opinions. To give context of my background:
GPA/Major: 3.28 in a honors dual engineering and business program focusing on electrical engineering (my fault my GPA is on the lower end, poor time management during sophomore year)
GRE/GMAT: 161V/164Quant/5 Writing / Currently studying for GMAT
Recommendations: As I just graduated, I don't currently have a good professional recommendation lined up but that'll come with time. Fairly confident in my academic recommendation though.
Work Experience: Currently just started first full time job in a rotational operations role at a bank, but I've held internship roles all over the place from highly technical engineering internships to IB summer analyst roles. To be honest still not completely sure if I want to be in tech or finance.
Extra-curriculars: Actively involved with Alumni group at alma mater, in the process of creating a start-up, and planning on participating in mentorship programs
I know I have a lower GPA than the average of the M7 schools and even some of the T20 schools- was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for me to do in the coming years to better build out my application? Or if there were any interesting dual degree programs like Northwestern's MMM program or other programs like that?
Just a few questions for you:
Did you attend a target school?
Are you an URM?
You mentioned you had roles as a IBD SA, what happened with that? And was it a top bank?
Just looking at your stats, and career aspirations I definitely think you have a shot at an M7 school. It seems like you're not quite sure what you want to pursue, which is fine. Any kind of entrepreneurship role, frankly, looks for Bschool recruiting. Your GRE isn't bad, it's a good score. If you get over a 730 on the GMAT that would be incredible and would definitely increase your shot.
Don't let your undergrad GPA discourage you from applying to a top school. Your experience in the next few years will become incredibly important and it sounds like you're on track to do exciting things.
Unfortunately I did not attend a target undergrad school but I know of many alumni that have gone onto M7 calibre graduate programs. I am not a URM - really depends on the school's definition but I would think not. I did my IB SA role fairly early in my college career for a subsidiary of a BB and had a great experience overall but found that it wasn't for me and I wouldn't want to do it full-time.
You mention that entrepreneurship roles look for Bschool recruiting, could you elaborate by what you mean? I'm definitely interested in emerging tech and would love to continue being involved with it in the future whether it be personally or in a professional capacity. Is there anything that you'd suggest to try and pursue professionally or extra-curricular wise that would help compensate for the lower GPA? Thanks!
Great, if your school has many alumni who have gone onto M7 schools then you're in good shape.
By entrepreneurship, I mean that business schools generally want people who make their institution stronger and more famous. Ideally, someone who shakes up the industry is huge. It's tough if you just want to go on and become a regular worker at any place. Bschools also look for reasons why you want them: a career changer is probably the biggest reason people tend to get their MBA (or at least top 2). Make sure you're reason to get an MBA is clear and your experiences can back up your claims.
Thank you that's definitely some great advice and interesting food for thought. Would you recommend trying to start a business or impactful project whilst doing my daytime job or solely focus on doing well in my daytime job?
Not sure how many hours you'd log typically in your role right now, but if you're genuinely interested in a particular field / want to actually start a non-profit organization or business then I strongly encourage you doing that. Again, it's one of many ways to make you more unique and show that you're trying to make an impact on the world. Make sure that you're still a strong worker at your full time role of course!
I did a podcast on mitigating the impact of a low GPA, and you can find it at 5 As for Your Low GPA .
You may also be interested in M7 MBA Programs: Everything You Need to Know in 2020-21
Bottom line: You have the time to create a profile that would be competitive in the top MBA programs. You may also want to consider, depending on your goals, an engineering management program.
Best,
Linda
Thank you Linda, this is great content and I will definitely look into the engineering management program and similar programs as they seem very interesting. Do you have any suggestions based on my profile, listed above, to better build out my profile for these M7 programs - once again, I think that the insights on what each school looks for is phenomenal so thank you for the resource.
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