You certainly have the metrics to qualify you for a school the caliber of Wharton. It is hard for me to evaluate your work experience from what you have told me. I do have one concern. You say that you want to go to school because you see no advancement in your company. Schools do not see themselves as refuges from a bad market. You will need to cast your desire for an MBA in a more positive light. Your interest in operations should be a plus. Schools such as Wharton are overrun with finance types and look to other disciplines for balance.

That said, no one can tell you whether you will get in to Wharton. The top schools are a stretch for EVERYONE. They tend to attract top quality candidates and see several times as many qualified applicants as they can accept. We regularly see people get into a number one school and be turned down by number ten - and vice versa. Once you establish that you would be a contribution to the school, the admissions committe may still ahve to cut the pool of terrific applicants by 50-75%. At that point they look for balance and diversity of background, interests, skills amd viewpoints. WHo gets selected is then as much a function of who else has applied as it is of the qualifications of the individual applicant.

In other words, yes, you should be an attractive candidate for a top ten school, but that is no guarantee of acceptance. If you are determined to go to business school next year, you need a safety school or two. Look for a couple of schools that are strong in your area of interest - energy - but less well rated overall. They will still have substantial visibilty in your industry - and therefore provide excellent job opportunities, but be slightly less competitive. One approach would be to look at your dream companies and find out where they interview and hire.


You will need outstanding essays and a strong positive explanation for why you want an MBA. An experieced admissions consultant can be a great investment.