Handicapping Your Elite MBA Odds

Mr. Platoon Leader

  • 730 GMAT
  • 3.8 GPA
  • Undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada
  • Work experience includes five years of continued leadership positions that include Afghanistan deployment as engineer team (platoon) leader.
  • Extracurriculars are military-community sports, family events. Also includes some volunteering at special community events such as festivals. Essays/recommendations will include details as to why extracurriculars were hard to define given the military commitments.
  • Goal: To continue move from tactical to strategic leadership in consulting post-MBA with eventual goal to start my own company that utilizes skill sets from military and MBA.
  • First generation Chinese-Canadian, speaks English, French, Mandarin. Extensive travels with global mindset for future employment/entrepreneurship.

Odds of Success:

Harvard: 45+%

Stanford: 30%

Wharton: 50+%

Sandy’s Analysis: I’m pretty sure being Canadian military will not be a drawback, and might even be a plus, and if this were a West Point application with a 3.8 and a 730, and a cross-functional and cross-cultural Afghanistan deployment, I’d say your chances at HBS and Wharton would be pretty solid. Being first generation Chinese is an added plus. You don’t need to explain why extra-curriculars were military related. Schools understand that. Just have your recommenders do the usual rec things.

Work the volunteering at community events angle. Given solid grades and GMAT, and Chinese/Canadian twist, there is a lot to like here. As with many military applications, the trick is expand your accomplishments to include working with locales, working with enlisted guys who have marginal education, and initiating do-gooder stuff for villages, etc. Don’t get caught up in “action-hero” stuff too much. Remember that by and large these applications are read by women. Stanford is always more selective, but you are in the chase there as well. A lot may turn on coming up with a stand-out “What matters most . . .” essay which somehow plays off first generation/Chinese themes and touches on what motivated you to attend the Royal Military College in first place. You can fill in “war stories” in the shorter essays.

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