Admissions Success Stories

Please help me assess my chances to get into Harvard for a full time MBA or into Wharton for an EMBA:

The Good things
GMAT: 730 (41V/49Q)
BACKGROUND: Black African from Subsaharian African Country/ Non-Native English Speaker
LEADERSHIP: Involved in professional associations activities, spoke at international conferences in my field and had a few things published. Coaching lot of my schoolmates in my home country for their professional carreers.
WORK EXPERIENCE: NONPROFIT Top international development organization at a Professional position in the US. 10 years of experience. Experience in Accounting, auditing, risk management.../ Extra-professional activities-Teacher in auditing and international accounting standards at a college in my home country.
OTHER: Lot of Professionnal certifications (CPA, CIA, CFE...)

The Bad things
Current AGE: 32
GMAT essay: 4.5
Managerial position: Current position not managerial but worked as team leader in previous positions

Hi JWMIT123,

Your profile is quite unique. Thus, your chance to get into top Business schools is not so dim.

Moreover, I think that age and GMAT essay are not disadvantages. Adcoms seldom care about GMAT AWA score as long as your admission essay is well writen. And age? "It's never too late to learn"

The turning points for your application, in my opinion, are you answers to adcom of questions: "Why do you want to get an MBA?" and "Why Harvard, or Wharton?".

NONPROFIT background is also a strong point; and if you know how to ultilize it, you'll be paid off.

Good luck with your application.