Handicapping: Ms. Analyst, Ms. Social Sector, Mr. Startup, Ms. Finance, Mr. Sovereign Fund, Ms. Ed Tech, Ms. Marketing, Mr. Banking

Ms. Boston Tech

 

• 800 Q, 700 V GRE (expires soon though)
• 760 GMAT (47 Q, 48 V, 5 AW, 5 IR)
• 3.82 GPA
• Undergraduate degree in international studies, with minor in French Studies
• Presidential Scholar at a NESCAC, Phi Beta Kappa, Faculty Honors each semester (spent a semester in Paris and studied at a French institute).
• Work experience includes four years of marketing experience at Boston tech companies with three promotions, managing two people; Established Global Marketing and Marketing Automation strategies at last company to accelerate their European marketing expansion; currently manage customer communications and retention strategy to optimize customer lifetime value.
• Extracurricular involvement in mentoring others in college; now involved with a small local charity in a marketing & analytics consulting role; passionate about art, ranging from DIY endeavors to museum touring.
• “Why I want an MBA: I want to help solve the marketing inefficiencies that international companies face. Leading global marketing operations at a top tech brand, I’d focus on expanding into new markets, driving international strategy and improving customer engagement.”
• 26-year-old white female in Boston

Odds of Success:

Harvard: 30% to 35%

Stanford: 15%

INSEAD: 40%+

MIT: 30% to 40%

Dartmouth: 40%

Sandy’s Analysis: What we got here is a 3.82 and 760 GMAT, white female, NESCAC college grad*** with more than one marketing job over four years at Boston tech companies.

***Important note about NESCAC: it is a conference of 11 New England Small Colleges including highly selective schools like Amherst and Williams and moderately selective schools like Colby and Bates and lots of others solid places like Tufts, Wesleyan and Bowdoin. If you in fact attended Williams or Amherst, that is a small plus in this game, other NESCAC schools are fine, but usually don’t have strong history (there is a history) of sending kids to elite B schools.

Just doing a gross analysis:

Stanford: There is no X factor pushing you into Stanford, despite your ace GPA and GMATs. I might change my mind if you currently work for a Stanford favorite high tech company but those are mostly in California. Stanford, for instance, often admits more than 1 HR person from Google; I would like to know if any other company routinely sends HR people to Stanford (well, Apple excepted).

Marketing is not considered as infra dig as HR, but my guess is, white, women marketing admits to Stanford from companies not on their insider list are either zilch or a couple of people with some other X factor.

HBS: Repeat the Stanford analysis but with some hopeful exceptions. You do work for a Boston company that the HBS adcom might have heard of. Your current company is actually a pretty important part of your outcome.

Another issue is that you will need to explain if you have had more than two jobs in four years.

Three jobs make the jobs seem sketchy and we get a vision of you just going from one pick-up gig to another.

As to what you have done:

“At last company I established Global Marketing and Marketing Automation strategies to accelerate their European marketing expansion. I currently manage customer communications and retention strategy to optimize customer lifetime value.” I sort of get that, but when crafting an introduction to your classmates, as per HBS essay, put that in real simple English without the marketing gibberish.

As to goals:

“I want to help solve the marketing inefficiencies that international companies face. [As the leader of ] global marketing operations at a top tech brand, I’d focus on expanding into new markets, driving international strategy and improving customer engagement.”

Grrrrrrr. Sure, but if you are really savvy about marketing, and it sounds like you are, you should be able to do better than that in terms of excitement, au courant-ness, and giving reader a sense you both know what you are talking about and are excited. What you propose is generic, random and oddly blended froth containing specific and general ideas in an annoying way.

Marketing has a varied reputation as a business discipline. HBS has a marketing bucket which traditionally favored admitting applicants who had worked at big, consumer-focused marketing giants like P&G, Toyota, Disney, Verizon and American Express. No doubt, high tech marketing of the kind you seem to be engaged in might be a welcome wedge entrant for them, but you need to sound like you totally know the issues.

I say this because selling yourself as a “case-method value add” could make the difference at HBS. And I do not say that to everyone. You got a lot to like but you’ve had an unusual career that you sort of fell into. For many strong traditional applicants with solid schools, scores and jobs, the watchword at HBS (in both essay and interview) is Do No Harm. That is not you. You gotta explain yourself a bit, while also doing no harm.

INSEAD, MIT, Tuck: Not sure INSEAD is a good call for you unless you want to work in Europe post grad. You probably will get in but take my HBS advice to heart when applying.

MIT does not often ding local female applicants with your stats. And they may know your company.

Tuck will like you if don’t flunk their sniff test, i.e. come off as totally non-Tuckie.