Which Box Do I fit?

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Which Box Do I fit?

by Charlie9 » Sun Dec 21, 2008 8:50 pm
I am 32 and will receive my bachelor's degree in May 2009. I have attended two colleges and did not finish the first college due to a couple difficult circumstances. I spent 5 years putting things into perspective before essentially starting college over in 2006.

In those interim years, I gained experience in Investment Banking, Corporate Banking and Economic Research, although didn't stay at any one place for longer than 15 months. I also spent some time in an entrepreneurial role as a private fitness trainer. I loved that job by the way, despite the sometimes discontinuous income stream.

Since starting college over I have compiled a 3.96 GPA(previous college grades were around 2.5; no excuses there. simply gain in maturity, focus, discipline and determination) Finally, I am in the in 700+ range in current GMAT prep course(diagnostic test results.) For what it's worth, I am a black American man.

The MBA will enable me to manage the leap to a career as a buyout entrepreneur. Given the certainty of my post MBA plans and frankly, my age, I want to start an MBA program in Fall 2009.

Hopefully, I have provided enough context for the following questions:
1) Which box do I fit? Am i an older applicant, college senior etc...?
2) All my work experience came without a college degree, so does it count?
3) I am applying in R3 to following places: HBS, Stanford, USC, Wharton, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. What insight can you share, here?

Thank you for your indulgence. I look forward to your responses.
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by Lisa Anderson » Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:22 pm
Dear Charlie9,

All work experience counts and is evaluated whether it is before or after your bachelor's degree. However, in terms of years of experience you report on your application (and is then reported on rankings), that is usually professional, full-time experience post-bachelor's degree. Whether or not you should report any years depends on what you were doing in this time--if you were in jobs that did not require a college degree, than you are in a gray area. If your jobs had folks with college degrees in them, then I would report those years--especially if you were not in school at the same time. You are most definitely not going to be considered a "college senior" though.

Round 3 can be a risk as there are few seats left at most top 20 programs. As a result, you need to present a compelling application that will make the admissions committee want to offer one of those few seats to you over the competition. It is not enough to have a strong GMAT/GPA; you must also have a solid rationale for why you want your MBA and how it is a necessary step for your career goals. Your career goals must also be realistic and the schools you are applying to much be a good match.

Best of luck,
Lisa
Lisa Anderson
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Stacy Blackman Consulting

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