Top 3 MBA Programs....

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Top 3 MBA Programs....

by veluch » Thu May 21, 2009 1:51 pm
I'm in a little dilemma - I'll try to keep things to the point because it's sort of long, so disregard the weak GMAT grammar...

Profile:
Just graduated college...

GPA: 4.0/4.0 (top 1%), top 20 undergrad business program
Double Major Finance, Accounting w/minor citation in entrepreneurship

GMAT: plan to take in a month, practice CATs have been in the 730-770 range
Extras: student club leadership roles, won a few business plan and finance competitions, teaching assistant, created a philanthropic website & some volunteer work

Work experience: summer internships: investment banking (at a boutique bank), corporate finance (in a top finance leadership program)

I've also started a business with one partner which has been in development for ~1.5 years. It's a tech start up, with high scalability, but about 2 months out from beta test launch. We have been in a venture accelerator for the past 9 months (during our senior year in college). We are very knowledgeable about our industry and have even generated substantial revenue from consulting individuals in the industry, which has allowed us to bootstrap so far...

Problem is my full time job would start in 6 weeks, not enough time to gauge the potential of my startup accurately, which I feel could be hit or miss to some degree (which is why I've spent so much time positioning us strategically before launch)...


Here's the situation.....

I'd like to go to H/W/S, preferably Stanford, exit to VC

having just graduated, I have 2 options:

1 - Go to work full time in the corporate finance program where I interned, which is a 2 year rotational finance leadership program It's a prestigious program in corporate finance. Honestly, I am not really interested in corporate finance at all. My internship was not very challenging for me. I had wanted to go into investment banking or consulting, but my school is just outside the bubble of wall street recruiting - combined with a tough wall street recruiting season left corporate finance leadership programs as my best job option.

*If I go to work, I'd work part time on my startup with my partner working full time regardless, but the program I am in is >60 hours a week

2 - Go full time on the business with my partner


The technology that we have created lends very well to an acquisition. If things go well, I'd expect an acquisition in 3-5 years, probably sooner. I want to get my MBA after any acquisition, and obviously if it fails.


Sooo...

I know the situation is complicated, so my main question is, what is valued more at H/W/S - entrepreneurship (even if our startup fails), or a prestigious corporate finance program?
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Profile Evaluation

by AppReview » Sat May 23, 2009 8:08 am
Hi,

First of all your profile and experiences seem very well tailored to project you as a good B-School applicant at the schools you have mentioned. Let's do a step by step analysis.

1. Your undergraduate degree and credentials are great. You need not worry about this aspect. Double major from a good undergrad business program will help.

2. Your extra currics seem great as well (need to get into the proper details before passing concrete statements about the same). A good mix of professional, philanthropic and personal aspects. (Our 3-P Extra Curric Strategy).

3. Your internships are great as well. Both of them would be in your favour while a review is done. The fact that you started your own business, and have kept it under your supervision for the past 1.5 years, been in a venture accelarator and generated substantial (very subjective point) revenue will differentiate you from the 'crowd'.

4. About your GMAT, as you mentioned you are scoring between 730-770. Let's say you score 750. You would become a very competitive candidate at all three schools you are targetting. You said you wanted to go to H/S/W (Who doesn't :)) and your overall profile fits what these schools look for.

5. About your job, again it's your personal opinion. You have stressed you are not interested in your corporate finance program. Then why keep it as an option? A school would love to see an entrepreneur on board. You seem to be very focussed about your venture, have a lot of belief in it too. We suggest you give that a shot. You already have generated revenues while you were in college. Hence, if you work on it full time, you should be able to do better. And if you do, the adcom will note that you did so in a tough financial market. We strongly suggest you work on your venture for 2-3 years and then apply (maybe 3-5 if you expect an acquisition as you said). It' better to try doing something you love, than be forced to do something you hate.

All in all, you would make a competitive candidate at HBS, Stanford and Wharton, especially if you follow your entrepreneurial path. We also suggest, you apply to some other good entrepreneurship focussed schools, such as Sloan, Kellogg, Johnson etc. to give you options.

Hope this helps. All the best.
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by veluch » Sat May 23, 2009 12:56 pm
Thanks for the detailed advice! Very helpful in making this difficult decision.