Columbia - 04-18-2023 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

April 18, 2023 8:48am ET

Applying: Columbia, Duke / Fuqua, Harvard Business School, Northwestern / Kellogg, NYU Stern, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton

Intake Year: 2024

Pre-MBA Career: Couple years in healthcare strategy at major companies in addition to investment experience at new PE backed reinsurer

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Investment Banking, Private Equity, Undecided

GPA: 3.8

Years of Work Experience: 6

Notes:

I have untraditional experience, haven woven healthcare strategy at major healthcare companies with investment experience as an early employee at PE backed reinsurer. I have had 4 jobs since graduating 6 years ago and promotion at current one. It's also worth noting my story would lean towards my difficult upbringing, etc and explain my interest in healthcare, insurance, experience, extra circulars, etc. I can also switch jobs for consulting, corp dev, m&a, or promotion to another company before applying to MBA later this year. I am apart of 5 healthcare nonprofits, and on the junior board for two. My undergraduate degree is from a top ~130 public university in the business school focusing in insurance. Undecided on post MBA plans, but essay would cater to one of consulting/pe/banking with ultimate goal of starting company catering to value based care and improving health of others. GMAT would be a major shortcoming for me I'm terrible at standardized tests. What schools would I have a good chance at since my goal would just be top MBAs and could switching jobs to one of the opportunities listed would help my background? Would I lose out to other candidates with more traditional backgrounds? Please mention anything else you think would be helpful.

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Show Comments (5) Last: May 2, 2023

anon10385 Likes Earned: 0 White male (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1587 Not sure switching jobs, again, would make too much sense. Focus on showing impact and growth in the roles you’ve had, and have. The same with your ECs. Target one post MBA goal, likely consulting. Steer clear of PE, because it’s very hard to access, which makes your story less plausible. Obviously try to target your best GMAT, leave yourself enough time for a retake. (0)

34422445 Likes Earned: 0 Thanks. Which schools from above do you think I should have a good chance gaining admission? (0)

grichmond Verified User. Likes Earned: 1155 Thanks for your post! I agree with a lot of what Alex said here. I would like to emphasize that four jobs in six years is quite a bit of moving around, so staying put from now until you start b-school (and seeking out opportunities for growth, leadership, promotion at your current firm) is likely the right call. As to the GMAT, I would buckle down, take a class/get a tutor, and do whatever you can to give it your best effort. I say this because while your GPA is pretty stellar, it's not from a top school, which means the GMAT may be used to sort of gauge the true reading of the GPA if that makes sense. In short, a low GMAT could end up casting some doubt as to how challenging your undergraduate work was. I also think that picking a single path for your post-MBA goal would be wise (either consulting or banking could work well with your background)...or if you are passionate about healthcare, that could be an interesting angle to pursue. In answer to your comment/question, it's hard to say where you'll have the best odds without knowing your test result and without having information on the challenges you refer to with respect to your upbringing. I can say that all of the schools on your target list are highly competitive and routinely report average GMAT's at or near 720-730. Best of luck to you and keep us posted!
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alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1587 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2023/05/mba-wire-taps-289/ (0)