Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

Hey experts!

I think I have a bit of a unique situation and am just looking for an outside view on the best path forward. I never attended college after high school but instead travelled for a few years and started bartending in nightclubs. I am originally from Canada but ended up in Sweden after meeting my wife in Mexico. Here in Sweden I worked my way up from a regular nightclub bartender to managing partner in one of the largest nightclubs in Sweden with turnover in the 3-4 million £ range. I was in charge of overseeing staffing of upwards of 35-45 people in peak season, customer facing sales solutions and service as well as lead contact for VIP's, bookings and business development opportunities. When my daughter was born a few years ago the nightclub industry started to get really old really fast and I decided to take charge of creating a new career.

At 30 I entered full-time studies for a BSc (hons) Mathematics & Statistics degree at The Open University which is a UK distance research university and the only way I could study due to not being fluent enough in Swedish to attend university here. I am currently just over halfway through the degree expecting to finish with either a high 2:1 or a first. I will be 34 when I apply for postgraduate options and having taken a few practice GMAT's I should be good for a score in the high 600's/low 700's. Having worked in the nightclub industry I believe my skillset is perfect for investment banking but understand that I am probably to old to get in so I am also considering management/strategy consulting.

So my exact questions are the following:

I know its unusual to go straight onto an MBA after undergrad, but will my story work for me or against me in terms of meeting the work experience requirements? I don't have any true "corporate" work experience, but I am very ambitious and trying to figure out the best angle to sell my background from because I do believe I have a very strong skillset to work with in a new corporate career.

Being ambitious, I am planning to apply to what I perceive to be the best MBA programmes in the UK that will give me the chance to get in front of recruiters (LBS, Imperial, Oxford, Cass, Warwick). I have checked out the admission requirements to each individually and believe I have what it takes but am just wondering on your various expert thoughts. Also, I am willing to go anywhere in Europe so if there is a different school that you think would be a better fit for my background and goals please don't hesitate to add it.

Last question doesn't have to do with MBA admissions but is more about recruitment on campus. I understand at most top programs many students end up with job offers but what I am wondering is for someone that would like to go into IB (long shot) or management/strategy consulting do recruiters look for people with previous backgrounds in that same area or in your opinion is it heard of for them to take people coming from what can be perceived of as a non-traditional background even at the advanced age of 35? I can assume this is a very difficult question to answer as its so subjective but am just moreso looking to hear that its definitely possible to use an MBA at 35 to re-invent your career and perhaps my goals are not so unusual.

Thanks a lot for your time.
Malcolm