Which Box Do I Fit?

Free advice from the world's top MBA consultants
This topic has expert replies
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 12:46 am

Which Box Do I Fit?

by Charlie9 » Sun Dec 21, 2008 8:53 pm
I am 32 and will receive my bachelor's degree in May 2009. I have attended two colleges and did not finish the first college due to a couple difficult circumstances. I spent 5 years putting things into perspective before essentially starting college over in 2006.

In those interim years, I gained experience in Investment Banking, Corporate Banking and Economic Research, although didn't stay at any one place for longer than 15 months. I also spent some time in an entrepreneurial role as a private fitness trainer. I loved that job by the way, despite the sometimes discontinuous income stream.

Since starting college over I have compiled a 3.96 GPA(previous college grades were around 2.5; no excuses there. simply gain in maturity, focus, discipline and determination) Finally, I am in the in 700+ range in current GMAT prep course(diagnostic test results.) For what it's worth, I am a black American man.

The MBA will enable me to manage the leap to a career as a buyout entrepreneur. Given the certainty of my post MBA plans and frankly, my age, I want to start an MBA program in Fall 2009.

Hopefully, I have provided enough context for the following questions:
1) Which box do I fit? Am i an older applicant, college senior etc...?
2) All my work experience came without a college degree, so does it count?
3) I am applying in R3 to following places: HBS, Stanford, USC, Wharton, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. What insight can you share, here?

Thank you for your indulgence. I look forward to your responses.
Source: — Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant |

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 590
Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2008 3:51 pm
Location: New York
Thanked: 47 times
Followed by:7 members

by Cindy Tokumitsu » Tue Dec 23, 2008 5:33 am
Hello,

Thank you for sharing your profile. To answer your questions:

1) You’ll fit in a few “boxes”: tending-toward-older applicant (I’d view older as 33 and over), under-represented minority, nontraditional applicant (because of the sequence of work/study and the break in the undergrad studies), to start.
2) Yes, it will count, though it’s unusual – you’ll have to make sure they see it that way, through your essays. Your essays will be critical, to demonstrate the substance and depth of your experience.
3) Interesting selection and range. I think it makes sense to target some top schools but I question HBS because of the age factor, which tends to weigh more heavily there. With an absolutely stellar application that truly demonstrates your perspective and learning/growth from your unconventional path, Wharton and maybe Stanford could be a reasonable reach—but they are definitely reaches. For any program it also will be important to show that you have a clear path to your goals, and that you will not rely solely on the school’s recruiting, which is always important for older applicants and unconventional applicants (because the schools are cognizant that the recruiters might not welcome people outside their “mold” of age and experience). Your next-tier programs are good choices. I suggest if possible adding 1-2 more schools in this range. Round 3 is a slightly tougher competitive climate, so it’s all the more important to highlight not just the factors that distinguish you, but your perspective and insight gained from those factors, which is what truly you will be contributing to the program.

Best wishes for your MBA efforts!

Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
www.Accepted.com