Hi, I just finished my GMAT yesterday and got 750 on it. My GPA so far is 3.97 out of 4.00, and major GPA is 4.00. I am wondering if it is realistic to get into a top 20 MBA program with some internship but no full time working experience. If so, what types of grad schools should I aim for. By the way, any master programs related to Financial Mathematics etc., that accepts GMAT scores could also be a consideration. My undergraduate majors are Actuarial Science, Risk Management, and Finance. Currently a senior in UW-Madison.
Hi royce - congrats on that awesome GMAT score!! And the high GPA too - your hard work in school will likely be paying off for you in the future!
There are a variety of specialized MBA programs that are designed exactly for people in your position, including the HBS 2+2 program, the Yale Silver Scholars, and in Spain, the IESE Young Talent Program. Many top MBA programs will accept an application from someone still in college (though some, like Michigan Ross, explicitly will not). However, except for those three that we named at the beginning, it can be really tough to get accepted to a top-ranked program coming straight out of college. The reason is that bschool is geared around furthering the professional career, and most bschools feel you will get the most out of it if you have some real work experience under your belt. They want you to be able to hold your own in classroom discussions with guys (and gals!) who've been working on Wall Street or on important consulting projects for the past three or four years. If you've not yet had enough real-world work experience, then many of the admissions committees feel you won't be able to contribute as much in the classroom, and you also won't benefit from the education as much.
With your basic stats of GMAT and GPA, you are most definitely qualified to try for the Harvard 2+2 program, along with those others -- and you certainly still could apply to a variety of other top MBA programs, though as we said, it's rare for them to accept candidates straight from school (though many of them accept a few each year).
The reason that 2+2 and Silver Scholars are different is that they're designed with a built-in work experience component; they're essentially four-year programs. You can read more about 2+2 here: https://www.hbs.edu/mba/admissions/2+2/a ... ocess.html
Now, there are a lot more factors that go into acceptance at one of these programs beyond GMAT and GPA, but you have cleared a lot of hurdles already with those impressive stats, and you should absolutely explore these options if you're interested.
On the Financial Engineering-type courses, look at:
UC-Berkeley Master's in Financial Engineering https://mfe.berkeley.edu/admissions/index.html
Booth Master's in Financial Mathematics https://finmath.uchicago.edu/admissions/ ... ents.shtml
There are others too, Columbia has a few new Master's programs for example. Most of these prefer work experience but it's not as strict a requirement as at some standard F/T MBA programs.
Hope this helps and let us know know if you have other questions!
EssaySnark
