You Won’t Believe Who Harvard Just Rejected

sales guy

Mr. Actuary

 

  • 780 GMAT (50Q/47V)
  • 3.96 GPA
  • Undergraduate degree in math and economics from the University of California
  • Work experience includes four years as an actuary for a mid-sized national retirement benefits consulting firm (probably unknown to the folks at HBS. Nobody here that I know of has applied to business school, since actuarial work is better for most of them for both $$ and opportunity)
  • Extracurricular involvement as an Eagle Scout who worked for four years post-18 as an assistant scoutmaster helping boys with Eagle Scout projects; now involved in an improv theatre community
  • “I attended the local community college after high school to care for my grandmother. Was accepted into Berkeley as a junior transfer, but death, divorce, and parental disability changed my plans. Worked as an EMT for several years while helping out the family and considering going into medicine. Eventually returned to college (while continuing to work as an EMT), finished my degree and got my current gig.
  • Goal: To work in operations management or management consulting
  • Other target schools: Stanford, Wharton, UC-Berkeley, and Chicago (invited to interview)
  • 30-year-old male

Sandy’s Analysis: You say you’ve worked five years as of matriculation as an actuary for a mid-sized national retirement benefits consulting firm (probably unknown to the folks at HBS. Nobody here that I know of has applied to business school, since actuarial work is better for most of them for both $$ and opportunity).

SAY NO MORE. This is not an HBS profile, despite the fact that you have a powerful personal narrative. HBS is deeply open to so-called “sob” stories and many essays from kids who got interviews have powerful personal details.

In your case, man, you are older and that could be an issue. Good luck at Booth and good for them in seeing value here. This does not seem like Stanford profile, but keep us posted.

I’m rooting for you.

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