You Won’t Believe Who Harvard Business School Just Rejected

Mr. 2+2 Investment Banker

• 750 GMAT (49 Q, 44 V, 8 IR, 6.0 AWA)
• 3.92 GPA
• Undergraduate senior majoring in economics at Ivy League (Columbia/Dartmouth)
• Work Experience includes internships at multiple top investment banks (Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Blackstone, JP Morgan); Full-time offer from Investment Banking group at one of them after summer internship
• Extracurriculars: Four-year varsity athlete (think heavyweight crew, track, soccer); President of school student-athlete group; founded an LGBT organization that has established mentoring programs and charity events; President of school Finance Society; work on team for renewable energy work/research at school
• Goal: Hope to be CEO of a renewable energy company after MBA (consistent with group I’m joining at top bank)
• Essay: Wrote about my experience coming out as gay and its impact on my values/goals in life; was well-written, concise, and powerful
• 21-year-old white male, 2+2 applicant

Sandy’s Analysis: This is a really solid profile. I believe the 2+2 program is more targeted toward STEM applicants. With such a profile and two to four years of solid experience in IB, I believe you will be able to get into any school

One annoying reason might be that cohort of white, male IB/PE types was already full–you are supposed to apply Round 1. If not that, or if only partially that, 2+2 is often, after a certain point, random. You should be a very strong applicant in two to four years, lots of 2+2 dings like you wind up getting in.