Hi,
I would love some input on my chances for top 10 schools - I'm looking at Columbia, NYU, Booth, Harvard, Wharton and a few others. Thanks!
GMAT: 710 - Q48/V40
GPA: 3.75 from Ivy (English Literature)
Grad. 2010, 6 years experience
Experience:
2 years at a law firm
1 year in strategy at an unknown Real Estate investment firm, and
Last 3 years - COO small (15 person) eCommerce retailer, which I sold last month
Re: GMAT - Oddly I performed worse on Verbal than I ever had in practice tests, let alone the degree in English. By far my worst verbal performance. I won a few awards including one for my thesis and graduated w/ honors in English Literature. Not sure how that plays with my GPA.
Re: work experience - I was originally interested in a JD/MBA track, which is why I took the job at the law firm. I decided against law and went to work for a Real Estate company, which was a client of the law firm. I was able to walk away with investments that I currently manage, which is great, but I would understand the question mark as far as trajectory. An opportunity arose to revive my ailing family business, and I jumped at the chance. I took over a failing eComm. business, managed to turn it around, and sold it last month.
I'm 100% committed to starting my next business either in b-school or directly after. I expect it to be in the eComm. space, probably retail, CPG, technology, or logistics.
I realize the GMAT score is sub-optimal, but I have no time to re-test and I am coming from having run my own small business, which puts me in an under-represented group, does it not?
Questions:
1. Where do I stand for the schools mentioned?
2. Any input on my narrative? I'm a bit concerned the lack of clear trajectory will work against me and how to handle it.
Thanks!
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CriticalSquareMBA
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Hi there,
Thanks for sharing your background. As far as your academic track record, doing well at an Ivy and your decent GMAT put you in the conversation at most of these schools. HBS and Wharton will be the toughest of the bunch, but I think you have a compelling profile that warrants a go at least one if not both of these programs. The way I see it, the strength of your application depends on the size, scale, and rigor of your start up. Given that it recently sold, it sounds like a successful run and that should put you in strong standing, but it's tough to get a true sense of what you did and the level of complexity in this forum (not your fault).
Another component you'll want to focus on is your goal after business school. Now, it's completely fair to not be 100% sure of where you'll end up. So, instead, I'd focus on what you truly care about and what you want to do. I'm not sure I get a sense of what you're passionate about. The type of business you come up with later on could take 100 pivots, and the AdComm gets that, but they need to be convinced that you're committed and that you know what you want in the end.
Hope this helps! All in all, I think you're right to go after these programs, and it's important for you to position yourself to fit in as each school has their distinct culture - see our school profiles to learn what makes each school unique. If you'd like to chat more about which schools are right for you and how we can help articulate your story, feel free to sign up for a free consultation below. We'd love to connect! In the meantime, take a look at some of our free resources.
Best of luck!
Thanks for sharing your background. As far as your academic track record, doing well at an Ivy and your decent GMAT put you in the conversation at most of these schools. HBS and Wharton will be the toughest of the bunch, but I think you have a compelling profile that warrants a go at least one if not both of these programs. The way I see it, the strength of your application depends on the size, scale, and rigor of your start up. Given that it recently sold, it sounds like a successful run and that should put you in strong standing, but it's tough to get a true sense of what you did and the level of complexity in this forum (not your fault).
Another component you'll want to focus on is your goal after business school. Now, it's completely fair to not be 100% sure of where you'll end up. So, instead, I'd focus on what you truly care about and what you want to do. I'm not sure I get a sense of what you're passionate about. The type of business you come up with later on could take 100 pivots, and the AdComm gets that, but they need to be convinced that you're committed and that you know what you want in the end.
Hope this helps! All in all, I think you're right to go after these programs, and it's important for you to position yourself to fit in as each school has their distinct culture - see our school profiles to learn what makes each school unique. If you'd like to chat more about which schools are right for you and how we can help articulate your story, feel free to sign up for a free consultation below. We'd love to connect! In the meantime, take a look at some of our free resources.
Best of luck!
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Hi CriticalSquareMBA,
Thank you very much for your response. I appreciate the insight. Very helpful!
Re: post-MBA goals - I agree that focusing on something concrete - what I'm passionate about - is going to be more effective than generalizing about being an entrepreneur. I didn't see it before, but I will definitely factor this into my essays. I'll also be sure to elaborate on the scope and scale of the business, and contextualize it in my career path.
Thanks!
Thank you very much for your response. I appreciate the insight. Very helpful!
Re: post-MBA goals - I agree that focusing on something concrete - what I'm passionate about - is going to be more effective than generalizing about being an entrepreneur. I didn't see it before, but I will definitely factor this into my essays. I'll also be sure to elaborate on the scope and scale of the business, and contextualize it in my career path.
Thanks!
GMAT/MBA Expert
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CriticalSquareMBA
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- Posts: 1088
- Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 3:29 pm
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Great, glad we could help! Best of luck!
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