Handicapping Your MBA Odds

Mr. Senior Trader

• 740 GMAT
• 3.3 GPA
• Undergraduate degree in computer science and finance from a top public university (UT Austin, UCLA, Michigan, UNC-Chapel HIll, Virginia).
• Work experience includes being a senior trader at a top-tier proprietary trading firm in Chicago. “Ascended from assistant trader to senior trader in less than two years. Only job experience I’ve had since I graduated college. One of the top guys at my firm”
• Extracurricular involvement includes founding a foundation with a friend working in Nigeria that runs a small clinic in an ancestral village providing free/reduced cost healthcare for children; also created a scholarship fund for primary school-aged children within his ancestral village to attend school
• Long-term Goal: To transition into private equity in emerging markets, ultimately starting his own pe firm.
• “Through technology, I also want to make a meaningful impact in education in Nigeria by providing a platform for the intellectually curious, talented, but poor to leverage their talents to impart a meaningful impact in the lives of their families but also fellow Nigerians”
• Fluent in four languages: English, French, Arabic, Spanish
• 30-year-old African-American male in U.S.

Odds of Success:

Harvard: 20% to 30%

Stanford: 20%

Wharton: 20% to 30%

Duke: 30% to 40%

Columbia: 30%+

Chicago: 30%+

Northwestern: 30%+

Yale: 30%+

Sandy’s Analysis: This is mostly a great profile for obvious reasons, including the fact that you are an African-American with a 740 GMAT.

The 3.3 GPA will be below average at all your target schools, but there are lots of reasons for them to wink at that.

As to work experience,

” I’m currently a senior trader at top tier proprietary trading firm in

Chicago. Ascended from assistant trader to senior trader in less than 2

years. Only job experience I’ve had since I graduated college. One of

the top guys at my firm.”

GRRRRRRR, trading is not considered a selective or feeder job at HSW. On the other hand, it’s a real job, and you’ve been successful at it.

“Extracurricular involvement – Through a foundation I formed with a

friend working in Nigeria, we run a small clinic in our ancestral

village providing free/reduced cost healthcare for children whose

parents otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it. Also created a

scholarship fund for primary school aged children within our village to

attend school if their parents can’t afford to pay for them.”

REAL GOOD.

“Long term goal is to transition into private equity in emerging markets,

ultimately starting my own pe firm. ”

As a rule, transitioning from a trading background into private equity is REAL hard. These are totally different skill sets. Well, that is the way the two gigs are conceived of by the dudes doing PE hiring, so you may have to, after graduation, serve some time on the cross as an investment banker.

I would mention that as part of your goal roadmap, to sound like you know the terrain. This is real important because your goals need to appear realistic and within reach to set aside any concern by admissions that you would be an unhappy camper if you didn’t get the job you wanted from their MBA program. If you can do that, and your recommendations are solid, you could have a shot at all your schools,

Afro-Am guys with a 740 and super extras like you are rare, and GPA is not a deal breaker but may also need to be explained.

I think your odds at non-HSW are real solid if you can convince adcoms there you want to attend. Be sure to visit and schmooze in all cases.