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I’m a 26-year-old, LGBTQ+, with a very nontraditional background in fashion/creative entrepreneurship, and pageantry/live entertainment. My undergrad is from the top fashion school in France, specializing in haute couture and lingerie.

I founded a couture/creative company and co-founded a fashion brand in partnership with one of the nation’s largest pageant platforms. My work has grown from pure design into creative direction to leading one of the biggest national events. I was also selected for one of Thailand’s prestigious national recognitions for artisans.

Pageantry is a major cultural industry in Thailand and Southeast Asia, especially for the lgbtq+ community, intersecting with tourism, creative economy, entertainment, and the country’s growing medical/wellness economy. Thailand is also a global center for transgender pageantry. As a trans woman working in this ecosystem, I’ve had an opportunity to meet and work alongside my community leaders from around the world. This shaped how I see pageantry as a platform that can influence how people and communities are perceived.

EC: I also founded a nonprofit initiative using my expertise in creative media and entertainment to expand professional opportunities for trans sex workers and shift public perception, recognized by and partnered with leading national nonprofit and government institutions advancing transgender inclusion. I’ve also volunteered with UN-affiliated initiatives supporting LGBTQ+ youth entrepreneurship across Southeast Asia.

LORs: One is a senior executive leading one of the world’s largest pageant organizations, who has worked closely with me and can speak directly to my progression, leadership, and impact within the industry.

The second is a senior Thai government leader/former Director-General of the Ministry of Culture, who can speak in depth about my leadership, broader national impact, and the significance of the pageant industry to Thailand’s culture and economy.

Long term: I want to build businesses around pageantry/live entertainment and the wider creative economy. This is why I’m pursuing a traditional MBA rather than a fashion/luxury degree: the problems I now want to solve are business problems, which is how these cultural platforms scale, capture value, and create sustainable economic opportunities across adjacent industries.

I will be attending Fall 27 as a U.S. permanent resident through the EB-1A extraordinary ability green card, based on sustained national and global recognition, leadership, impact, and original contributions in my field.

GRE: 323 (165Q/158V). With HBS CORe, “Pass with honor.” For GRE, with another retake, I think I could reach roughly 325–328, but I don’t expect 330+ this round. Given R1 timing, further test preparation would take time away from other parts of my applications, particularly translating a very nontraditional career into an MBA context. I’d appreciate thoughts on whether a few additional GRE points would materially change my prospects at HSW, or whether the 323 is sufficient to focus elsewhere.

33, Male, Indian. I have a bachelor's in Pharmacy and a double masters in Pharmacy and Liberal Arts.

Work Experience: 8.5 years across Healthcare, Consulting and financial services

Credentials: Project Mangement Professional (PMP), Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certified, published research papers in international journals in college, got selected for several national level fellowships and scholarships

Extra Curriculars: I'm into running marathons, long distance endurance cycling, involved in community service through Robin Hood Army and career support initiatives for underprivileged through Global Mentorship Initiative.

Career trajectory:
My career has been somewhat unconventional. Started as a medical representative in the healthcare industry and pivoted to Project Mangement and Consulting roles in financial services industry. Worked with fortune 500 clients and their CXOs for driving enterprise level scale transformation projects involving Agentic, AI, ML, RPA, Data Analytics, process re-engineering across finance operations. Currently working as a Digital Transformation Consultant by driving Hyper automations and emerging Agentic AI solutions for clients at Accenture (Implementation heavy)

Why MBA at this juncture? From execution heavy roles, I want to move towards strategy focused roles at firms like Big 3 or get into product roles in the tech industry. I'm looking to change geography.

Demographics:
- Male, 27 straight, international
- My country usually sends 10-15 candidates (mostly sponsored MBB) to T15 MBA programs every year, so not an ORM, I guess
- Best domestic school, BEing, GMAT 695

Working experience: quite a job hopper due to the startup nature
- Ex- consultant at a T2, top 5% performance for 2.5 yrs
- Started my own lending fintech, received seed fund from a banking-VC arm (

Profile: I’m an African applicant currently working in consulting at a Big 4 firm in London. I am planning to apply in Round 1 and Round 2.

Education:

* Top University in my country GPA:3.83/4.0 in Accounting and Finance
* GRE: 322 (Q163 / V169)
* I also have a second GRE score of (325) Q166 / V159 and am debating whether to submit both due to my quant score.

Work experience:

* 2 years in Financial Services Audit in Africa
* 2 years as Finance Lead for a global environmental services company in Africa
* 4 years in consulting at a Big 4 firm in London, with two promotions
* My consulting experience has focused on Finance transformation, IPO readiness and Pre/Post merger integration mostly for financial services firms

Extracurriculars:

* Teach and mentor underprivileged children.
* Director of an NGO focused on African youth development

Post-MBA goal:

* Investment Banking, ideally focusing on financial services coverage

Target schools:

* Harvard, Wharton, Columbia, Booth, Darden, Yale, Duke and Tuck

What I’d appreciate feedback on:

1. How competitive is my profile for my target schools.
2. How should I position my career progression and leadership experience to differentiate myself from the large pool of Big 4 consulting applicants?
3. Should I submit both scores or just the Q163/V169 score

Profile: I’m an African applicant currently working in consulting at a Big 4 firm in London. I am planning to apply in Round 1 and Round 2.

Education:

* Top University in my country GPA:3.83/4.0 in Accounting and Finance
* GRE: 322 (Q163 / V169)
* I also have a second GRE score of (325) Q166 / V159 and am debating whether to submit both due to my quant score.

Work experience:

* 2 years in Financial Services Audit in Africa
* 2 years as Finance Lead for a global environmental services company in Africa
* 4 years in consulting at a Big 4 firm in London, with two promotions
* My consulting experience has focused on Finance transformation, IPO readiness and Pre/Post merger integration mostly for financial services firms

Extracurriculars:

* Teach and mentor underprivileged children.
* Director of an NGO focused on African youth development

Post-MBA goal:

* Investment Banking, ideally focusing on financial services coverage

Target schools:

* Harvard, Wharton, Columbia, Booth, Darden, Yale, Duke and Tuck

What I’d appreciate feedback on:

1. How competitive is my profile for my target schools.
2. How should I position my career progression and leadership experience to differentiate myself from the large pool of Big 4 consulting applicants?
3. Should I submit both scores or just the Q163/V169 score