Handicapping Your Shot At A Top School

Mr. Big Four Consultant

 

  • 730 GMAT
  • 3.12 GPA
  • Undergraduate degree in economics from a public Ivy (UNC/UVA/UT/Michigan)
  • Work experience includes three years at a Big Four management consultant (think Accenture or Deloitte) with a focus on energy and
  • some experience in aerospace and healthcare; promotion received
  • Extracurricular involvement helping to set up a program with my firm that works with a VC arm of my university; supporting students who work with early stage companies as a part of their coursework, and leading recruitment for my firm within my major at my university; also help to raise money for diabetes research through the alumni association and manage events during football games
  • Goal: To move into a Top Three consulting firm or to work in venture capital, with a focus on clean tech or software
  • 26-year-old white male

Odds of Success:

Harvard: 15%

Wharton: 20%

Northwestern: 30% to 40%

Chicago: 20% to 30%

MIT: 20%

Columbia: 20% to 30%

Stanford: 5%

Berkeley: 30% to 40%

Sandy’s Analysis: This is lightening in a bottle as profile because your stats and story starkly reveal what is missing for white boys trying to get into Harvard, Stanford or Wharton.

What we got here is a 3.12 GPA from a public Ivy, 3.5 years of work experience at a Big 4, a 730 GMAT, and some solid although silver (not gold) extracurriculars. As often noted, Big 4 consulting firms (Accenture/Deloitte) are where HSW look for diamonds in the, well, not the rough (they never do that) but in rougher parts of the fairway. The Stanford B-School/ Big-4 minority woman was an annual item for several years running, I’ve lost track. And if you, dear writer, were a black woman, and had passionate backing from your Big 4 firm, with your very own 730 GMAT and the rest of this, with some blah, blah story for Stanford Essay One (“What I Hope Really Matters Most to You, Derrick Bolt-on”), well, you’d be in the running at Stanford, too. Ditto for any black male, and ditto for HBS and Wharton.

But you ain’t getting into those places because you got 1. A good but not great job (based on selectivity and track record of placing white boys into HSW), 2. A really low GPA and, well there ain’t no more, that is enough. If you think your promotions and desire to go into clean tech or software is going to change this, well, it ain’t.

Let me spend some times on your extracurrics as well since this is often misunderstood. Powerful extracurrics are those which have an impact beyond yourself, far beyond yourself. You got real solid extracurrics, and I am impressed, but not great extracurrics because they are not outcome changing extracurrics.

Let me count the ways.

“1. Help set up a program with my firm that works with a VC arm of my university – Supporting students who work with early stage companies as a part of their coursework.” This is all good, and probably more valuable in some version of the real world than helping group X in devastated country Y but not to adcoms. It will get filed under good work at work and good schmoozing back at school. B+

“2. Lead recruiting for my firm within my major at my university.” Who cares? B.

¨3. Member of an alumni organization that raises money through social events for diabetes research.” Getting warmer but one notes that all of these orgs are somehow connected to your university. B+

“4. Help manage the events during football games.”  At public Ivy again?

Friend, we get the picture. You are a deeply normal and red-blooded American guy who enjoys work, enjoys football, loves your college, and likes to join teams and help people with diabetes. The fact you sent this profile in under the rubric “Mr. College” says it all.

Public Ivy is fine, by the way, and if you had a 3.6 and worked for an elite consulting shop, well, guys like that get in or get dinged at HSW depending on execution, luck, and recommendations. White guys like you at Big 4 firms get into HSW with a ~3.9 from Public Ivies and probably some extras with just a bit more juice to them.

Kellogg, Booth, MIT, Columbia, Berkeley? I’m not seeing this as MIT, they could use a regular U.S. guy like you, but they don’t think so. Similar story at Columbia but odds are that you are a bit better there.  Booth is also a short reach, just because they actually have normal guys like you with better stats. Kellogg is your best shot at the inner circle. You are their type. Berkeley is in range as well. The fact that you have so many extracurrics and have done very, very good work at a Big 4 could sway Columbia, Berkeley, Booth, or Kellogg and that is what you need to count on.

Phew, that 730 really helps. If anyone at those schools likes you for the obvious reason that you are likeable, they don’t have to get on both knees to convince others.

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