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Hi,

A bit of background. I never considered a full-time MBA program as part of my career goals as I've had very strong growth and couldn't justify the idea of putting my career on halt. That said, I see the value from building a close, diverse, network and I'd like to have a more formal background in subject areas I hadn't studied in undergrad.

Thanks in advance.


Undergrad: Ivy League Engineering (double major) - GPA 3.0*
Post-Bacc Classes: NYU (Stern & Continuing Ed) - GPA 3.9 (four courses while working)
GMAT - 760 (Q47/V48)

* There are some extenuating circumstances explaining a year which drove my scores down significantly, after that point I showed consistent growth ending with 3.9 GPA senior year.

Extra Cirriculars:
Alumni Admissions Interviewer for my undergrad school
Mentor for talent development
Fundraising runs

Professional Experience:
Entrepreneur within a corporation - I started my career in Consulting, spent 2 years at a big IT Strategy practice and left to create a new innovation department within a major global corporation (strong name recognition). We develop new solutions and ways of doing things to improve service quality and create value (process/organization reengineering, new technologies, etc.). I've helped grow the department to about 40 people (including a few top MBAs and an MIT PhD), with global management responsibilities and 5 direct reports in US and abroad. Have lived/worked in US, UK, and Asia. Have been promoted 5 times in 6 years since graduating (including time in Consulting).

Goal for an MBA/EMBA:
I'd like to take the framework I've developed innovating tech solutions and apply it to front office by growing business/revenue - either internally developing to COO/CEO or in a PE firm building and turning around distressed businesses. I think an MBA/EMBA will provide the formal background needed to clear any hurdles with assumptions on my knowledge, experience, and relevance to business, and by learning from peers be able to expand my horizons to issues other companies are facing and how they're addressing them.

Prior to my GMAT, I was pretty sure I could only get into a mid-tier program because of my undergrad GPA, but I'm wondering whether I can get over that with strong GMAT and experience. I also still think the EMBA makes the most sense as the professionals I'd interact with are likely more at my seniority than those at full-time programs (not to sound pretentious), but I'm thinking I can target Penn/Columbia/NYU and perhaps HBS full-time as a long-shot. Any feedback would be more than welcome, thanks again!

Thanks Jon, I really appreciate your feedback and quick response!

One follow up question, in your experience what's the biggest development gap between pursuing a full time or executive MBA? I recognize full-time offers far wider ranges on changing jobs/industries, but I expect the jobs seeded by full-time programs are generally more junior (e.g. associate or mid-management). Would someone have similar opportunities in the executive program through networking and the career services departments, but perhaps with more senior positions?