The Second Round Ding Report

Mr. Healthcare Consultant

• 710 (49Q/38V)
• 3.6 GPA
• Undergraduate degree in engineering from one of “the better Big Ten Engineering Programs”
• 4.0 GPA
• Master’s in education from top-tier, non-Ivy school during a sting with Teach for America
Work Experience includes two years as a Teach for America teacher; less than six months as an analyst at an investment research company, and a little over a year in present job as a healthcare consultant at a mid-tier consulting firm (think Navigant/Deloitte/FTI)
• Extracurricular involvement as a charity project coordinator at current company, TFA mentor for current corps members, monthly soup kitchen volunteer coordinator with friends, and external consultant for a free clinic
• “I’m thinking if I can score 750+ GMAT, reconnect with TFA for community leadership and get a work promotion, it might be worth applying next year?”
• Goal: To work on internal strategy at a large hospital system and long-term to become the CEO of a hospital system and thought leader in health care
• 25-year-old South Asian American married male

Sandy’s Analysis: The easiest explanation for why you were dinged is that you have had one too many jobs, three instead of two.

It is okay to do TFA to find yourself, and then do some select corporate gig–that is the TFA/HBS admit DNA. What we got with you is TFA plus some silver not gold corporate gig, and then a move to some silver but not gold consulting gig. That, and silver but not gold stats (although perfectly okay). Well, if you put a gun to my head, that pattern would be the ding explanation.

As to reapplying, a 750 GMAT won’t move the needle that much at H but it would help, for real, at every other school, including the blushing GMAT ‘street-walking’ trio Stanford/Wharton/Columbia. What would help most in your case is better luck and more solid work experience/promotion/success at the same HC consulting company–since you seem to be doing what you want to do. Two and one-half years at the consulting company could be enough to erase the six months at investment research.

As to stated goals in hospital administration, I dunno. You might think about being an HC consultant and impact maker or at least start doing that post MBA, such as healthcare at McKinsey. I don’t think that was a big issue, but you don’t have any experience in hospital administration.