Handicapping MBA Applicant Odds by: John A. Byrne on June 01, 2012 | 52,921 Views June 1, 2012 Copy Link Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email Share on LinkedIn Share on WhatsApp Share on Reddit Mr. Cello Prodigy 790 GMAT 4.0 GPA (Bachelor of Music degree) Undergraduate degree in cello from the Juilliard School of Music, graduating at the age of 17 3.23 GPA (B.S. in Marketing) Undergraduate degree in marketing from the University of Notre Dame Work experience includes a year in the Peace Corps in Nigeria helping to build wells and filtration systems to provide clean water to villages; currently work as a market manager in general filtration at Parker Hannifin, leading a team of three direct reports “Toured the world as a concert cellist, performing as a soloist and chamber musician. I was injured in an automobile accident, suffering nerve damage in my left hand, thus ending my performance career. I didn’t want to teach or compose and felt burnt out, so I decided to go back to school and live “the college experience.” Goal: To gain the tools that will help me start my own business, which is to explore advanced filtration technology applications for clean water solutions in Africa and South America Concerns include “my low GPA at Notre Dame (I did have fun though!) and my non-sexy career path (No consulting, or Wall Street)” 26-year-old white male Odds of Success: Harvard: 40% to 50+% Stanford: 30% to 40% Wharton: 50+% Yale: 50+% Northwestern: 50+% Sandy’s Analysis: Phew, injured musical prodigy (my sincere sympathies but just laying this out for you), plus do-gooder ideas for African water wells! Are you in those TV ads for “Go To Meeting” where a band of diverse hipsters teleconference about their unspecified Kenya Water Project, sharing mind burps they have gotten from water balloons and lobster tanks (not making this up folks). This also has overtones of “The English Patient,” great mythos, and the 790 GMAT is such a great add-on, like not only gifted but smart. Man, I don’t know your personal situation, but you should post an email address: lots of readers out there may want to meet you. Both Stanford and HBS go for outlier stories like this, and between you and the bio-pharma guy, Dee Leopold may not need any Pavarotti arias on her Walkman for a month. OK, you got a 3.23 at Notre Dame (how did you pick that place, no offense to its hyper-loyal alum and fan base but it just does not synch-up with the rest of the story). That could be a problem but then there is that 790. And you got a great explanation about being young, gifted and silly and sheltered enough to worship at the bogus shrine of Joe College. Also working for a relatively no-name company is an advantage as Poets&Quants continues to embarrass Stanford (especially) and other schools about their hypocritical reliance on brand name feeder firms. You will give the ever-affable Derrick Bolton a chance to say, “Oh yeah, we took a kid from Parker Hannifin with a 3.23 from Notre Dame, and no, he was not a minority, just a regular guy who had some potential, see anyone can get in.” Bolton likes to tell stories like that. Just execute on your powerful goals and do the diligence about what schools are looking for– you got a real chip on the table. As to explaining the GPA, I’d go with suggestion above (wanted to be normal for a change), which is what you seemed to say in the first place. Wharton, Yale and Kellogg go for outlier stories like yours as well, but you can never tell. Dude, you are in the game, but results could be random. LAST WEEK’S COLUMN: Assessing Your B-School Odds Of Making It 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 Part XXXIV: Handicapping Your Shot At A Top School Part XXXV: Calculating Your Odds of Getting In Part XXXVI: What Are Your Chances Of Getting In Part XXXVII: Handicapping Your Business School Odds Part XXXVIII: Assessing Your B-School Odds Of Making It Previous PagePage 5 of 5 1 2 3 4 5