MBA Handicapping: Don’t Screw Yourself In The First 2 Minutes Of An Adcom Interview

Emre’s target business schools are an elite bunch: Stanford, Columbia, Yale, Northwestern Kellogg, Berkeley Haas, INSEAD and London Business School.

Yet, this young professional has a 2.95 GPA from Bikent University in Turkey and a 700 GMAT score. After spending three years at EY Consulting, he joined a startup that is applying artificial intelligence to coaching competitive gamers, among other things. His post-MBA goal is to launch an ed tech company in his home country.

Can Emre put together a convincing story for admission officials at those highly selective business schools? In this episode of Friday’s With Sandy, HBSGuru.com founder Sandy Kreisberg and Poets&Quants Editor John A. Byrne assess his chances and bring Emre through the paces of common MBA admission questions.

If you would like to participate in a future Fridays With Sandy webinar, you can contact Sandy and P&Q Founder John A Byrne here.

DON’T MISS PREVIOUS FRIDAYS WITH SANDY EPISODES

CAN THIS MULTI-RACIAL MAP MAKER FIND HER WAY TO AN ELITE MBA?

UNEMPLOYED POT EXEC GOES FOR TOP MBA. WE SAY MAYBE. ARE WE SMOKING SOMETHING?

A 770 GMAT & TWO NO-NAME EMPLOYERS EQUALS WHAT?

CAN THIS INDIAN MALE GET INTO HARVARD IF HE DID NOT DO HIS UNDERGRAD AT IIT? Ā 

WILL THIS GUY’S FAST FOOD EXPERIENCE GET HIM BLACKBALLED AT HBS DESPITE A 770 GMAT & 4.0 GPA?

CAN THIS BLACK FIRST-GEN ENGINEER GET INTO HARVARD OR STANFORD?

GETTING INTO WHARTON & HARVARD WITH A 720 GMAT & A 3.6 GPAĀ 

WHAT ENGINEERS NEED TO DO TO GET IN

HOW DOES AN INDIAN APPLICANT STAND OUT AT THE M7?

CAN SHE TURN SILVER INTO GOLD FOR WHARTON & COLUMBIA?

CAN THIS 32-YEAR-OLD FORMER PRO RUGBY PLAYER GET INTO H/S/W?

AN HBS MOCK INTERVIEW WITH A UNICORN TECH GUY

HARVARD/STANFORD/WHARTON FOR THIS SILVER, NOT GOLD RESUME?

IS STANFORD AND HAAS A HAIL MARY FOR THIS 33-YEAR-OLD CANDIDATE?

HOW DO HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL & STANFORD GSB VIEW HR TYPES? Ā 

IS THIS ENGINEER A FIT FOR BERKELEY HAAS & MIT SLOAN?

IS 2+2 HBS POSSIBLE WITH A 680 GMAT

HOW A WHITE MALE WITH LOWER STATS GETS INTO COLUMBIA & WHARTON

CAN YOU GET INTO STANFORD FROM YOUR FOURTH JOB?

WILL STANFORD & HARVARD BUY THIS STORY?

FULLBRIGHT, FAMILY POULTRY BIZ, PAKISTAN + HBS?

HOW TO EXPLAIN SIX JOBS IN FIVE YEARS TO A BUSINESS SCHOOL

SHOULD SHE RUSH TO APPLY NOW OR WAIT FOR THE NEXT CYCLE?

HOW TO GET INTO HBS WITH A 3.2 GPA

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HARVARD’S 2+2 DEFERRED ADMISSIONS PROGRAM

GETTING INTO KELLOGG & MCCOMBS FROM PLUTO (NOT THE PLANET)

HOW DOES THIS MCKINSEY ANALYST NOT GET INTO HBS & STANFORD?

A HIGHLY RANKED MBA FOR THIS CONCERT PIANIST?

SWIMMER, TECH FOUNDER, BANKER, COMEDIAN TRIES FOR H/S/W

BAINIE, BYU ATHLETE = H/S/W?

INTERVIEW ADVICE FOR MILITARY CANDIDATES — AND OTHERS Ā 

A 770 GMAT & A 4.O FROM LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS — WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED FOR HARVARD’S 2+2

FAANG APPLICANTS TO STANFORD & HBS ARE OFTEN SUCCESSFUL. THIS GUY SHOWS WHYĀ 

GROUPON TO HBS? THIS GUY MIGHT DO IT

WHAT IT TAKES FOR A NON-IIT FROM INDIA TO GET INTO HBS 2+2

OLD, WHITE MALES WITH A CHANCE AT HBS?

MBA MOCK INTERVIEW: A MORGAN STANLEY STAFFER GETS A DRILLING

GRE FOR 2+2 SUPERSTARS: HOW LOW CAN IT GO?Ā 

SAY ā€˜YES’ TO SILVER OR ā€˜HOLD OUT’ FOR GOLD?

WHEN WHITE MALES SHOULD RETAKE THE GMAT

3.4 GPA, 700 GMAT & HISPANIC: CAN HE GET INTO HARVARD, MIT, KELLOGG?

CAN THIS LIFE SCIENCE CONSULTANT GET INTO COLUMBIA & KELLOGG?Ā 

DO FEMALE INDIAN TECHIES HAVE AN EASIER TIME WITH THE HBS ADCOM? Ā 

CAN THIS INDIAN IT MALE GET INTO HBS WITH A 3.4 GPA BUT A 750 GMAT?

WHERE RETAIL BUYERS & BRAND SPECIALISTS GET MBAs

CAN THIS EX-AIR FORCE OFFICER-TURNED-SOFTWARE-ENGINEER CRACK THE MBA CODE?

CAN THIS TARGET STAFFER GET INTO HARVARD OR STANFORD?

HOW PETRO ENGINEERS CAN GET INTO A TOP MBA PROGRAM

LONG DISTANCE CALL: HOW DOES AN AUSSIE TELECOM GUY GET INTO STANFORD?

IS THIS 30-YEAR-OLD ENERGY GUY HEADED FOR HBS?

GETTING IN IF YOUR STATS ARE BELOW THE MEDIAN

WHAT GMAT DOES THIS LATINA GOVERNMENT ANALYST NEED?

REAL GOOD ODDS FOR THIS INDIAN DO-GOODER. HERE’S WHY

MILITARY-BANKER-HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL?

HOW TO AVOID LANDMINES IN YOUR 2+2 INTERVIEW

THE REAL HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL 2+2 INTERVIEW

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