MBA Handicapping: White Guy, USC, 3.35, Insurance. Sandy Says HBS Is Possible

Joe scored an impressive 695 on the GMAT Focus test which translates into a solid 740 score on the old GMAT. He also has a 3.36 grade point average on his computer science and business degree from the University of Southern California. To help put himself through college, he ran an e-commerce business, buying and selling more than $500,000 of collectibles, including vintage Star Wars figures and computers. Joe also worked graveyard shifts through his undergrad years in libraries and residence halls.

All that hard work clearly paid off. He was recruited for a highly selective leadership program at a major insurance company where he is a senior associate software engineer. Joe gained a promotion in his first year in the job and expects another bump up within the next year. But he is looking toward the future, planning to apply to several elite MBA programs in next year’s admissions cycle, hoping to matriculate in the fall of 2026.

His post-MBA career goals: “To become a product manager for a big tech or fintech company. After that, I’d be interested in progressing to being a people manager in a big tech or fintech company, working in product management or strategy.”

He is aiming high, expecting to apply to the MBA programs at Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Northwestern Kellogg, Berkeley Haas, Dartmouth Tuck, Michigan Ross, and UCLA Anderson.

While his GPA falls beneath the class averages at all those schools, he has a powerful personal narrative, including those jobs he had to work to put himself through college.

Will the admissions teams at those schools buy his story?

In this episode of Friday’s With Sandy, HBSGuru.com Founder Sandy Kreisberg not merely handicaps his MBA odds at these schools. He also provides, with P&Q Founder John A. Byrne, some important advice to enhance Joe’s odds.

If you would like to participate in a future Fridays With Sandy webinar, you can contact Sandy and Poets&Quants John here.