Handicapping Your Shot At An Elite MBA: Mr. Indian-Engineer-Turned-Strategy Analyst

Mr. Global

730 GMAT
3.88 GPA
Undergraduate degree in economics from a “second-tier” Ivy League university
Work experience includes working for a high tech startup in Berlin, working on business development and strategy
Internships during college with the Council on Foreign Relations, UN Peacekeeping, 11 months with Egypt Endeavor, and a summer course in Beirut
Spent three months at Deutschebank in Berlin, writing a report on the Middle Eastern economy post Arab Spring; 11 months in Endeavor Egypt
Extracurricular involvement
Fluent in Arabic, German and French, several languages, having spent a lot of time abroad in the Middle East, among other places
Goal: To work for a tech firm or a larger consulting from in the U.S.; Long-term wants to start an international venture capital firm
25-year-old American male

Odds of Success:

Stanford: 50%

Harvard: 50%

Columbia: 50%+

MIT: 50%+

Sandy’s Analysis: Mr. Global has Stanford written all over him. He’s got the stats. He’s got the politically correct summer gigs, and the right intentions. He is their kind of guy.

Let me burst one balloon, first. This business of going to a second-tier Ivy just goes to show what a humble guy this is. From an admissions committee perspective, all Ivies are great. If you are an ambitious high school senior, you might become fixated on HYP (Harvard, Yale, and Princeton).

The 730 GMAT is the perfect GMAT. That means he is a super normal smart guy. Any higher and you start thinking nerd or idiot savant. A 3.88 GPA shows he is hard working and focused.

People who want to get into Stanford should pay attention here: The Council on Foreign Relations, UN Peacekeeping, the summer course in Beirut, 11-month stint at Endeavor Egypt. That is music to Stanford’s ears. They love exotic people like that. They love people in combat zones and those in the Middle East. They love people who are supporting the under=developed populations. They just like that kind of exotica. That’s what makes this guy attractive.

Then what he does is balance that out with three months at Deutschebank in Berlin writing a report on the Middle Eastern economy. I don’t know if that was a contract gig or started at the bank and decided it wasn’t for him. That could be a glitch he needs to explain.

He then moved to a high tech startup in Berlin. I don’t know what that means but it sounds good. It would help if that is a real company with venture capital backing or sales—any metric of reality. You could say that your roommate’s business plan is a high tech startup.

His goals make sense, too. He should sell his interest in venture capital as a desire to fund Impactful startups in underserved areas in emerging and innovative industries. This guy is going to go where the global need is and where impact can be made. With acceptable execution, he has a 50% chance of getting into Stanford.

Columbia is very shrewd about sniffing out people who use them as a safety. So he has to make a case why New York is important if he wants a chance to get into the school.