Dear Stacy,

I have read your board for a while and found your insights to be extremely helpful. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.
I have decided to join the fun. Can you please take a look at my profile?

I am thinking about applying for business school for R1 in Fall 2010 (for matriculation in 2011). I come from a pretty poor background so I would only consider spending the money for a top business school, such as Stanford, Harvard, Penn & MIT (no offense to other schools).

As such, what do you think my chances are at these schools? Which part of my profile needs the most work?

My background:

GMAT: 760

Undergrad: Engineering major in an Ivy

GPA: 3.7 where engineering average is ~3.0

WE: 2 years (3 at matriculation) at top tier management consulting firm; 2 summer internships at JPMorgan sales & trading

Age: 25 at matriculation

Career goals: entrepreneurship in emerging tech / clean energy (both on the startup side and the VC side)

Citizenship: Canadian - so international?

Other circumstances:

- Paid my own way through college with various part time jobs
- Presidential research scholarship - conducted research all 4 years in college in engineering / econ
- Decent community involvment in college, such as leadership in fraternity and in solar power engineering teams; had not had time to be more involved after graduation
- Had some national and international wins back in high school (not sure how much this helps), such as
- USA Math Olympiad qualifier (top 200 in US)
- National math gold medals (inclding #1 ranking in Canada)
- Made onto team Canada for international science fair (Intel ISEF), won international 4th
- Top 15 in Canada for computer science, qualified for national team training camp

As you can see, much of my experience has been quantitative. I have really tried to develop more soft skills at work - which is where I think MBA would help me the most.


Thank you in advance for your help!