Profile Eval

[Guest]

Can someone please let me know if you think I have a chance at one of these schools: Harvard, Stanford, MIT, or Tuck?

Male, White, 2.97 GPA, 710 on GMAT (48 Q, 40 V). age 32

Work exp: 10 yrs in Computer Networking IT. Started successful IT company and sold to VC, Started Restaurant and have provided coaching for the start-ups.

Others: interesting life story - blue-collar family with money issues. pursuing MBA to find like-minded entrepreneurs to build socially focused company, ultimately start Angel investment company

Thanks for your input!!!

[MBAApply]

MIT and Tuck - if you put in a stellar application, you should have a fighting chance

Stanford - you'd be a wild card candidate; even if you put in a stellar application that shows you to be a real maverick/vagabond (if you aren't blue chip, they like the mavericks), you still need a lot of luck on your side.

HBS - slim to none; Stanford is more willing to take a flier on outliers/mavericks like you than HBS will

Good luck

Alex
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com

[MBAApply]

MIT and Tuck - if you put in a stellar application, you should have a fighting chance

Stanford - you'd be a wild card candidate; even if you put in a stellar application that shows you to be a real maverick/vagabond (if you aren't blue chip, they like the mavericks), you still need a lot of luck on your side.

HBS - slim to none; Stanford is more willing to take a flier on outliers/mavericks like you than HBS will

Good luck

Alex
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com

[Guest]

Alex,

Thank you for the reply. Concerning HBS, is it the GPA or the age or both? I thought they were looking for leaders and risk takers? FWIW, my average for my junior and senior years was over 3.5.

Heck, if HBS is just looking for conformity, I think you convinced me not to apply... ;) On the other hand, slim is better than the probability of most of my ventures.

Thanks again for taking the time.

Cheers,

JB

[MBAApply]

Your GPA, age and industry (IT) collectively work against you. Each one in isolation won't kill you, but you simply have too many strikes against you. I recognize that your IT experience may have been entrepreneurial, but HBS and Stanford simply aren't jazzed about IT.

Although schools claim they like risk-takers, in reality they really don't. They really prefer blue chip types but will "encourage anyone to apply". There is a token diversity at play here -- you'll hear about the Buddhist monk, the pottery maker, and the Uzbekistani sheep herder in school, but the bread-and-butter kids are those who come from good schools, and who have spent some time at a well-established firm that is "hard to get hired into". Schools like HBS aren't full of superstars, but a large chunk of the class are from a very specific and dare I say narrow segment.

I'm not going to tell you not to apply - but just know that your chances at some schools are better than others. If you apply to HBS, just know that it's a hail mary (but like any football hail mary, it *can* happen).

Alex
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com