Who HBS Dinged In The First Round

Mr. Financial Services

• 710 GMAT
• 3.23 GPA
• Undergraduate degree from a top 20 liberal arts college in the U.S.
• Work experience includes strategic planning for a top-tier financial services firm
• “I wrote about finding my voice through adversity – domestic violence, immigration, coming out. I manage to be a vocal leader in my community and professional life. I am committed to share my stories and value to help other find their voices”
• 25-year-old gay Asian immigrant

Sandy’s Analysis: Your GMAT score looms as very important given your low grade point average. A 3.23 is hard to overcome in most non-minority cases, and a 710 is not enough to overcome the low GPA!!! Silver not gold job (in most cases, financial services is considered OK but not in the same league as investment banking, or even banking in general). As noted, financial services is often a feeder firm for URMs, which an Asian immigrant is not.

You have a powerful adversity story, and leadership story, but as often noted, the First Commandment of HBS is ‘Show me the GPA!’