Handicapping Your MBA Odds

Mr. MBB

• 760 GMAT
• 3.65 GPA
• Undergraduate degree from a top five U.S. university in economics
• Work experience includes two years in consulting at MBB in a major U.S. office (think NYC, Chicago or San Francisco) and two years at a large private equity firm (one step below KKR, Blackstone or Carlyle)
• Extracurricular involvement co-leading recruiting strategy for region while at an MBB, tutoring students from refugee backgrounds, involved with fundraising for supporting education in inner-city programs
• Short-Term Goal: Return to private equity
• Long-Term Goal: Either continue in PE or become leader in a large financial services firm
• “Already admitted to a deferred admissions program at a M7, but hoping to target one of the three schools listed above (side note: is it worthwhile listing the admission on a resume when applying?”
• 26-year-old Indian-American male

Odds of Success:

Harvard: 30% to 40%

Stanford: 20% to 30%

Wharton: 40%+

Sandy’s Analysis: Your profile is real solid but you are in a super hard bucket of 3.6/760 male PE guys. So outcomes for you at HSW often depend on execution and a bit of luck, and not blowing the admissions interview.

I would not mention deferred admission to any of the schools you want to attend. There simply is no upside for you, and they might think (and it might be TRUE) that you promised that school you would attend, if admitted early. 😉

Current EC’s are better than most PE guys. If they are ‘real’ and substantive versus

you once helped a kid do his homework, they are really worth highlighting

Alas, a good deal of the your differentiation is based on your grades, GMAT and beyond that

1. Where you work [and this is super important because if your PE employer is a feeder firm, and is international, and getting hired there is ultra selective, you are a very good shape). All PE firms are not equal.

2. Where you went to college. This also comes back to how selective the school is.

3. I also disagree that many many white/Indian male PE applicants will have similar stats.

4. For the sake of argument, let’s assume two guys do have similar stats and work backgrounds. Then, recommendations become important, since in my experience, there is a whole class of rec writers who mean well, but do not deliver because they do not know standard rec hyperbole or just are not specific enough. There is a skill to writing an impactful rec. It is not rocket science, but make sure your writers are down with the program.

Essays can make a difference, but usually on the down side if you come off as braggy, annoying, unaware, or state goals that are odd or otherwise out of no place.

5. By far the biggest deal breaker for PE guys at HBS is blowing the interview.

Please search Poets&Quants for my super duper article How Not To Blow Your HBS Interview.