Ask mbaMission

Hi there,

Thanks for posting. Congrats on a solid GMAT showing and some interesting achievements and personal and professional experiences and accomplishments.

When all is considered within your profile, I believe you have a lot of layers to your past experiences, which could be very valuable within a b-school classroom and therefore to the admissions committee.

Some strengths that stand out thus far:

-certainly demonstrated quantitative/analytical skills
-sound like someone with drive/determination/willing to 'go for it' and step out of your comfort zone or focus on achieving a specific goal
-exposure to various types of business
-consulting other businesses
-meditation experience in that it's unique, and that you are actually a leader in that area, teaching/mentoring others
-international experience

Potential weaknesses or challenges:
-depending on how you present it and how you tell your story, small possibility of your path being questioned or considered a bit circuitous or unfocused given the various different roles you've had and the recency of your current role... I believe you can present it in a strong light however; just mentioning any potential q's that could come up
-potential to narrow down short term goals
-volunteer/community experience could be slightly stronger
-not sure of GMAT quant score?

Stanford is the most competitive program out there in most regards, with a smaller class size than HBS or Wharton and highest average GMAT score etc... so extremely tough for just about anyone. I would still feel Harvard and Wharton would be very difficult too at this point. I would generally suggest applying to 1-3 top 10 and 1-3 10-20, very roughly, for some options. For more on choosing schools, check out our free download at: https://info.mbamission.com/Selecting-Yo ... ram-E-Book.

Let us know how else we can help, and feel free to sign up for a free consult at any point if you'd like to speak more directly. But additional q's always welcome back here too. Good luck!

Hi there,

I agree, 4 apps is a good amount, more than that is quite difficult to manage and you don't want to sacrifice quality for quantity of applications.

However-- the 'which ones' is very personal. Yes there is the element of 'where will I get in'... and that can vary and be subjective at the end of the day as well.... there is no set 'formula' or quantifiable criteria that will tell you YES you can get in to x, as it is a subjective and holistic process determined by the admissions committee. Top 5 will be a reach but perhaps not impossible-- it may come down to a) how you put your story together in your applications, and b) how you stack up against other candidates in that year and round. Really within top 20 I'd suggest digging in and researching what schools seem to suit YOU and appeal to YOU (vs me just picking some).... that can help too-- the more you can show how you feel this is the best program for YOU, your chances can actually increase as well. And you may want to think about your goals... do you want to focus on schools really well-known for consulting? or entrepreneurship?

What locations are you interested in living in, working in, etc? What size class? Look at class profiles on the websites-- who tends to attend these schools. Look at hiring statistics-- what companies recruit there; what areas do most students go into, etc.

Lots to consider!! Keep us posted!