BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Chances at top programs as a nontraditional applicant?

Free advice from the world's top MBA consultants
This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Sep 19, 2015 5:39 am

Chances at top programs as a nontraditional applicant?

by editorialpro » Mon Dec 21, 2015 6:47 pm
Hello,

I'm a book editor looking to make a transition to digital media product management / entrepreneurship with the aid of an MBA. I'm under the impression that my nontraditional background isn't necessarily a problem, and that it might even make me a more interesting candidate. But I also worry that my application is uneven, and that I'm too nontraditional for my target schools, especially as far as my quantitative abilities are concerned.

My first choice is Cornell Tech's one-year MBA program. I'd like to stay in or near New York, so I've also been working on applications to NYU and Columbia, and have been considering Yale as well. However, I'm starting to doubt my chances at these last three.

The positives:
Strong total GMAT score of 710
Strong GPA: B.A. 3.6 / 4.0, M.A. 4.0 / 4.0
Work experience at top-tier publishers
Fulbright scholarship
International experience/language skills (lived in Italy for two years and speak Italian)
Participation in accelerator program for startup project
Volunteer work in technology education
Strong recommendations
Plan to take an econ course at NYU or Columbia starting next month
Writing is one of my strengths, so I feel confident about my application essays

The not-so-positives:
B- in Econ 101 my freshman year of college
Virtually no quant courses on my transcript
Big split in my GMAT score: Q40, V48
I have more work experience and am a little older than average
I was briefly in a PhD. program, but I left after receiving my master's

If my chances are really poor at NYU, Columbia, and Yale, I'd certainly rather find that out now than a few months from now. I've known nontraditional candidates at all three, but it's hard to say what separates a strong nontraditional applicant from a mediocre one (though obviously a fantastic quant score would help).

Many, many thanks in advance for your advice.
Top
Source: — Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant |
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 212
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:07 pm
Thanked: 32 times
Followed by:4 members

by 99Colleges: MBA Admission » Fri Dec 25, 2015 5:35 am
Hi editorialpro,

Some of the things that differentiate strong non-traditional applicants from not-so-strong are:

Exposure to Quant: That's typically a grey area with many non-traditional applicants. In your case, too, B-schools will be concerned about your low Quant score in GMAT and lack of quant-heavy courses in your transcript.

Articulating post-MBA career goals: Schools want to see if you've thought through your career goals. Are your career goals difficult to achieve? Can you leverage your past experience in some way? And so on.

To give you a parallel from publishing industry, even reputed publishing companies expect the authors to pull their weight (through their own blog, email list, or some other network) in marketing the book even though it's predominantly a publisher's job. At times, that could be the decisive factor in getting that publishing deal. Similarly, schools want to make sure, though not to that extent, that a student doesn't become an employment liability post-MBA by looking at factors such as career progression till now, how realistic your career goals are, can you leverage your background in some way, are you too old, brand names in your profile, and so on.

Hope this helps.
Anil, MBA (Wharton)| MBA Admissions Consultant
--------------------------------------
Consulting| Contact at [email protected] for your queries on MBA Admissions
--------------------------------------
And if you couldn't make it earlier, get a free ding analysis
Top
User avatar
MBA Admissions Consultant
Posts: 173
Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2014 6:41 pm
Thanked: 14 times
Followed by:3 members

by Personal MBA Coach » Fri Dec 25, 2015 5:54 am
editorialpro wrote:Hello,

I'm a book editor looking to make a transition to digital media product management / entrepreneurship with the aid of an MBA. I'm under the impression that my nontraditional background isn't necessarily a problem, and that it might even make me a more interesting candidate. But I also worry that my application is uneven, and that I'm too nontraditional for my target schools, especially as far as my quantitative abilities are concerned.

My first choice is Cornell Tech's one-year MBA program. I'd like to stay in or near New York, so I've also been working on applications to NYU and Columbia, and have been considering Yale as well. However, I'm starting to doubt my chances at these last three.

The positives:
Strong total GMAT score of 710
Strong GPA: B.A. 3.6 / 4.0, M.A. 4.0 / 4.0
Work experience at top-tier publishers
Fulbright scholarship
International experience/language skills (lived in Italy for two years and speak Italian)
Participation in accelerator program for startup project
Volunteer work in technology education
Strong recommendations
Plan to take an econ course at NYU or Columbia starting next month
Writing is one of my strengths, so I feel confident about my application essays

The not-so-positives:
B- in Econ 101 my freshman year of college
Virtually no quant courses on my transcript
Big split in my GMAT score: Q40, V48
I have more work experience and am a little older than average
I was briefly in a PhD. program, but I left after receiving my master's

If my chances are really poor at NYU, Columbia, and Yale, I'd certainly rather find that out now than a few months from now. I've known nontraditional candidates at all three, but it's hard to say what separates a strong nontraditional applicant from a mediocre one (though obviously a fantastic quant score would help).

Many, many thanks in advance for your advice.
You have the right approach and the right questions. While your quant skills may not be amazing and you don't have standard business experience, what types of leadership roles have you had at work or outside of work? I know there are a lot of initiatives at publishing houses these days, and some editors get more involved in them than others.

Also, how old are you? You say older than average but the age is important so I'm curious about that.

Depending on answers to my questions above, NYU could be a good program as well as Cornell. Columbia and Yale would be harder with your profile.

Good luck!

Best,
Scott
Top
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Sep 19, 2015 5:39 am

by editorialpro » Sat Dec 26, 2015 2:57 pm
Tremendous thanks to you both. This is very helpful.

The first thing to do here is to take Columbia off the list. I will keep Cornell and NYU, but I'm still unsure about Yale. In many ways, it seems like a great match, but clearly I would need to prove that I'm not a post-MBA employment liability, and that I can handle the coursework. If there's really no way to do that with my profile, off the list it comes.

Anil, to respond to your points, for which I'm very grateful:

Regarding my quant exposure: I plan to enroll in a business/econ course starting next month. I was considering a general econ course at NYU---introduction to finance, microeconomics, something along those lines---but if there's anything you think would be particularly effective in allaying an adcom's concerns, that would be great to know.

Regarding my post-MBA goals: I definitely intend to leverage my domain expertise and current relationships. I've risen through the ranks fairly quickly during my 4.5 years in book publishing, by industry standards, and I have two top companies on my resume.

Given the fact that I'm an older applicant, and that my interests are so niche, would it be wise or unwise to say that I can see myself taking different paths, e.g., digital media entrepreneurship versus working for a technology initiative at a traditional publisher? Should I say that I plan to stay in book publishing, or should I say that I am open to working in other media industries where my past experience might be applicable? I want to make it clear that I'm open to different opportunities, and that my employment goals are achievable, but I don't want to seem unfocused.

Scott, many thanks to you as well. To respond to your points:

I believe I can demonstrate leadership in my resume and essays (I have been overseeing projects pretty much from day one of my career), though there haven't been many opportunities within my company to go above and beyond my role. However, I'm hoping that adcoms will see the entrepreneurial project I'm working on as evidence of leadership, in a way, since I'm researching and attempting to capitalize on industry trends, and have a contact I will likely bring on as cofounder. But we are still very early days, so perhaps this is best left as a sidebar?

If I'm accepted, I will be 31 when I enroll.

Thank you!
Top
User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 212
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:07 pm
Thanked: 32 times
Followed by:4 members

by 99Colleges: MBA Admission » Tue Dec 29, 2015 2:08 am
Regarding Quant exposure, if you're planning to take courses in economics, then it's a good idea to mention it in the optional essay. Did you have exposure to math/ Quant analysis in your professional work? If yes, even that can be mentioned in the optional essay. You may read more about this topic here.

If your post-MBA career goals can leverage some of your past experiences/ skills and if they aren't extremely-hard-to-get-into industry/ organization, then you're on track. And second, those goals should require an MBA degree to fulfil. If not, then why would one pursue such an expensive degree, both money- and time-wise. For example, if you want to continue in book publishing industry after MBA, can you make a case for going through an MBA program? (Could be. I'm less well-versed with this industry.)

Regarding age, you're 3-4 years older than the median, but certainly not too old. And presence of two top companies in the industry in your resume is a sign that you're no slouch when it comes to recruiting skills.
Anil, MBA (Wharton)| MBA Admissions Consultant
--------------------------------------
Consulting| Contact at [email protected] for your queries on MBA Admissions
--------------------------------------
And if you couldn't make it earlier, get a free ding analysis
Top
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Sep 19, 2015 5:39 am

by editorialpro » Thu Jan 21, 2016 8:11 am
Many thanks, Anil. All my applications are in, and I feel like I've made the best possible case for my admission. We'll see what happens.
Top
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Sep 19, 2015 5:39 am

by editorialpro » Tue Mar 01, 2016 12:32 pm
I am pleased to report that I was invited to interview at all three of the schools to which I applied: Cornell Tech, NYU Stern, and Yale SOM. I had my final interview last Thursday, and have one acceptance thus far, to Cornell Tech.

The tricky thing is that I need to let Cornell Tech know whether I intend to enroll by March 18, but the notification dates for NYU and Yale are March 25 and April 1, respectively. So now I'm wondering: Would it be appropriate to request my admissions decisions early, and if so, at what point could I safely make that request? Is it common to receive an admissions decision several weeks in advance of the official notification date, and if you do not, is it safe to assume you've been rejected? I think I'll most likely hear by mid-March, but even then I'll have just a few days in which to make my choice. My gut tells me I will have a choice between Cornell and NYU, but of course there's no way of knowing.

Many thanks, as always!
Top
MBA Admissions Consultant
Posts: 171
Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2016 3:09 pm
Thanked: 21 times
Followed by:3 members

by Edison@VeritasPrep » Wed Mar 02, 2016 5:38 pm
Congratulations!

It should hurt to request for an early decision from NYU and Yale around March 10, in the meantime, evaluate and finalize a decision tree of what you will do if offered or if a scholarship is included, etc., or if they are unable to give a decision by March18.

This way you would not be as stressed out.

Look forward to hearing how this develops, wish you all the best!
Veritas Prep | Veritas Prep Admissions Consultant

Find the expert who's right for you. Meet our team!
Register for a free MBA Admissions Workshop!
Top
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1