I would love any opinions and/or advice regarding my chances of admittance to Harvard Business School:
Personal
27 year old white male (single)
Lived 2 years as a religious missionary in Venezuela (from 2002-2004)
School
730 on the GMAT
Graduated with a degree in accounting from BYU (Provo, UT) with 3.71 GPA in 2007
President of 200-member choral group for two years during college
Recipient of University Award that recognizes 3 students/year for outstanding service, integrity, and honor.
Work
Worked as a financial analyst for four months before starting a mid-end sit-down restaurant
Have owned a restaurant that produces about 400k/yr in revenue since Oct 2007 (1 year of construction, funding, etc., 2 years of operation)
Restaurant has a current net income of about 30k/yr
Member of 3 business networking groups
Questions and Concerns
Will the fact that I have only owned my restaurant for almost two years (by the time I apply) seem to premature to HBS
Admissions?
By how much will my chances improve at getting into HBS if I can retake the GMAT and hit 760+?
I have been completely invested in my company for the past two years, but had strong leadership experience during college. Will the fact that I have not had strong post-college community involvement be a big hurdle to gaining acceptance to HBS?
Will the fact that I my restaurant has not been extremely profitable show weakness?
Any ideas for who to use as referrals/references? I have a choral director whom I worked with for 4 years who can write about my college leadership experience, but being self-employed, I don't have a boss or even "clients" whom I feel could address my strengths and weaknesses well.
Thanks in advance for the help!
Personal
27 year old white male (single)
Lived 2 years as a religious missionary in Venezuela (from 2002-2004)
School
730 on the GMAT
Graduated with a degree in accounting from BYU (Provo, UT) with 3.71 GPA in 2007
President of 200-member choral group for two years during college
Recipient of University Award that recognizes 3 students/year for outstanding service, integrity, and honor.
Work
Worked as a financial analyst for four months before starting a mid-end sit-down restaurant
Have owned a restaurant that produces about 400k/yr in revenue since Oct 2007 (1 year of construction, funding, etc., 2 years of operation)
Restaurant has a current net income of about 30k/yr
Member of 3 business networking groups
Questions and Concerns
Will the fact that I have only owned my restaurant for almost two years (by the time I apply) seem to premature to HBS
Admissions?
By how much will my chances improve at getting into HBS if I can retake the GMAT and hit 760+?
I have been completely invested in my company for the past two years, but had strong leadership experience during college. Will the fact that I have not had strong post-college community involvement be a big hurdle to gaining acceptance to HBS?
Will the fact that I my restaurant has not been extremely profitable show weakness?
Any ideas for who to use as referrals/references? I have a choral director whom I worked with for 4 years who can write about my college leadership experience, but being self-employed, I don't have a boss or even "clients" whom I feel could address my strengths and weaknesses well.
Thanks in advance for the help!
