Does Salary Matter?

Somewhat it matters, especially at the time of getting placement in a good company and on a higher package, at the time of admission it doesn’t matter.

This REALLY worries me. I worked in finance, but my compensation was low due to various issues with the firm. I'm worried that this will hurt my chances at top schools. I had thought about asking my recommender to talk about it but decided against it since it might come across as defensive.

ksc1940 wrote:This REALLY worries me. I worked in finance, but my compensation was low due to various issues with the firm. I'm worried that this will hurt my chances at top schools. I had thought about asking my recommender to talk about it but decided against it since it might come across as defensive.

I work in finance and my salary is on the lower side too (I work in investment management and not I-Banking!). I'm only two years out of school, and I would say judging by the statistics I've seen, my salary is about the same or slightly below the average of most of the programs I'm applying to (top 10-15). I've had a few raisees since I started working, so I included that and emphasized my progress where I could, but otherwise I'm not worrying about it too much. I don't know if it would be wise to draw a lot of attention to your compensation, especially if it isn't something all adcoms pay a lot of attention to (judging by the mixed feedback here).


On the bright side--if your compensation is low, you'll likely have a much higher ROI for your MBA! So all is not lost. Try not to stress about it too much!

if you received an extraordinary bonus AFTER submitting your application, should you try and give this information to the adcom? In my case, this bonus is really out of the ordinary and aside from the dollar amount it's really the reflection of my work/leadership I'm trying to show.

any thoughts much appreciated!

Yes, I would try to communicate something that material even after the formal application date. Can't hurt and may really help.

That said, for others reading this with potential info to share, make sure it is really worth the adcom contact. Getting a new project probably won't move the needle, nor will 10 points more on the gmat. But a promotion and big raise coming with 3 direct reports or a large bonus is worth the effort. Bottom line, don't annoy them. But try to share the big stuff! Each school may have a separate process for this or direct your contact in a different way.