Handicapping Your Shot At A Top School

Mr. Australia

•  720 GMAT
• GPA in top 10% of cohort
• Undergraduate degree in economics from a top Australian university
• Work experience includes two summer internships in bulge bracket investment banking and a year in a part-time job in regional supply chain operations for a global luxury retailer; three years in consulting for a top firm (McKinsey, Bain or BCG)
• Extracurricular involvement as President of two undergraduate student clubs, one running career and social events and the other running charitable community work projects; involved with my consulting firm’s LGBT network since graduation
• Goal: To use MBA to round out my skill set and launch into a corporate development/strategy career in retailing or consumer goods
• 25-year-old Asian male based in Australia

Odds of Success:

Harvard: 30% to 40%

Stanford: 25+%

Wharton: 40% to 50+%

Kellogg: 50+%

Columbia: 50+%

Sandy’s Analysis: This is a standard McKinsey/Bain/BCG consulting profile and as noted above, your chances at Stanford will turn on how many FODs (Friends of Derrick) you can lasso to push for you at your consulting firm. LGBT extracurrics are OK but not as good as having an impact beyond your own firm with  poor people, lepers, and minority kids. Schools value extra currics more when they have an impact beyond yourself, and while your LGBT work certainly does help others, it also helps you, especially if it is based at your firm.

Your extracurricular involvement in college, helping  “charitable community work projects,” scores higher. Chances at HBS depends on recs from firm and application execution.  Wharton takes guys like you all the time and Kellogg and Columbia are good back-ups.

As noted many times, apply to Columbia before December –and earlier if possible and go take the campus tour, they got a real schnoz for kids, like you, who are using them as a safety school, so that is why they like personal appearances and early apps.

Handicapping Your MBA Odds–The Entire Series

Part I: Handicapping Your Shot At a Top Business School

Part II: Your Chances of Getting In

Part III: Your Chances of Getting In

Part IV: Handicapping Your Odds of Getting In

Part V: Can You Get Into HBS, Stanford or Wharton?

Part VI: Handicapping Your Dream School Odds

Part VII: Handicapping Your MBA Odds

Part VIII: Getting Through The Elite B-School Screen

Part IX: Handicapping Your B-School Chances

Part X: What Are Your Odds of Getting In?

Part XI: Breaking Through the Elite B-School Screen

Part XII: Handicapping Your B-School Odds

Part XIII: Predicting Your Odds of Getting In

Part XIV: Handicapping Your MBA Odds

Part XV: Assessing Your Odds of Getting In

Part XVI: Handicapping Your Odds of Getting In

Part XVII: What Are Your Odds of Getting In

Part XVIII: Assessing Your Odds of Getting In

Part XIX: Handicapping Your MBA Odds

Part XX: What Are Your Odds Of Getting In

Part XXI: Handicapping Your Odds of Acceptance

Part XXII: Handicapping Your Shot At A Top MBA

Part XXIII: Predicting Your Odds of Getting In

Part XXIV: Do You Have The Right Stuff To Get In

Part XXV: Your Odds of Getting Into A Top MBA Program

Part XXVI: Calculating Your Odds of Getting In

Part XXVII: Breaking Through The Elite MBA Screen

Part XXVIII: Handicapping Your Shot At A Top School

Part XXIX: Can You Get Into A Great B-School

Part XXX: Handicapping Your Odds of Getting In

Part XXXI: Calculating Your Odds of Admission

Part XXXII: Handicapping Your Elite MBA Chances

Part XXXIII: Getting Into Your Dream School