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African computer engineering major with 3.5 years prior Investment Banking experience, worked for a leading Africa-focused IB firm. Now combining tech and finance experience working for a fintech startup creating the ‘Bloomberg terminal for Africa’ as well as the first-in-market digital investment app to boost financial inclusion across Africa.
Target School: StanfordĀ GSB
Considering: Harvard, USC Marshall, Yale, Berkeley Haas, Columbia
See More Profiles For: StanfordĀ GSB
Application Status: Open
Undergrad School: Top University in Africa
Undergrad Major: Computer Engineering
GPA: 2.6
GRE: 317
Age: 27, Ethnicity: Black or African American
Extracurriculars: Tutorship/training of young professionals from non-finance backgrounds to pursue careers in Financial Markets, Volunteer in selection and mentorship of tech and finance student talent from various African countries for prestigious summer internships at top IB firms both globally and in Africa, Health literacy volunteer - fundraising and organization and running health screening events for underprivileged communities; develops infographics to spread healthcare tips via social media
Title: Investment Banking Analyst
Industry: Banking & Finance
Company: Boutique Firm
Length of Employment: 3 yrs, 4 mos
Title: Chief Product Officer
Industry: Technology
Company: Start-Up
Length of Employment: 2 yrs
Started career in the IT dept at IB firm, within 7 months became first ever to transition from IT to IB analyst role. Worked on two major IPO and was a lead analyst on the largest IPO in my country’s history (Client was one of Africa’s largest brands). Worked on a team to establish the world’s first mobile-based stock offering.
Pursue fintech entrepreneurship in Africa. Launch an innovation-driven digital bank aimed at providing access to financial services and boosting financial inclusion for the African population.
Join in! Click here to assess the odds of Mr. African Entrepreneur
Hi, this is JP Odunlami, I’m a Senior Consultant at The MBA Exchange. It’s great to see your post as your story is familiar and it’s great to see applicants from the Continent. While my own MBA is from Harvard, having successfully helped many Stanford applicants over the years (including from Africa), I can say with certainty that there is a clear path to maximizing your chances there. You already have most of the tools needed to get into a top program! But the implementation is key, and knowing the proven strategies that will show the AdComs that you’re a serious contender. Send me an email at jpo@mbaexchange.com asap so that we can discuss this in greater detail.
Hello Mr. African Entrepreneur! Krista Nannery from mbaMission here. Thanks for posting. You, my friend, are a bit of a unicorn. African investment bankers don’t come along that often. This will help you stand out and be really memorable in this process. But…we’ve got that 2.6 to work with. And a slightly lower GRE. (Not bad though. I kinda like to see 320 minimum.) So my first suggestion — which I know is never anyone’s favorite option — is to retake the GRE. Perhaps consider working with a private tutor on your weaknesses to max your ROI. And then because we have that risky 2.6 here, my suggestion would be a broad portfolio strategy. I love that you have USC on your list. This is what …
Hello Mr. African Entrepreneur! Krista Nannery from mbaMission here. Thanks for posting. You, my friend, are a bit of a unicorn. African investment bankers don’t come along that often. This will help you stand out and be really memorable in this process. But…we’ve got that 2.6 to work with. And a slightly lower GRE. (Not bad though. I kinda like to see 320 minimum.) So my first suggestion — which I know is never anyone’s favorite option — is to retake the GRE. Perhaps consider working with a private tutor on your weaknesses to max your ROI. And then because we have that risky 2.6 here, my suggestion would be a broad portfolio strategy. I love that you have USC on your list. This is what I am talking about when I say broad portfolio strategy. Can I convince you to add Stern given your interest in FinTech? It will be another safe option. And in my opinion, the application is pretty easy. I wish you all the best in this process. You are a very unique candidate! Please do keep us posted on how things go! Krista
Hi Mr. African Entrepreneur, Melisa here from Stratus Admissions. While start up and IB experiences are common at your choice schools, your experience in Africa will be a welcomed addition to any business school community. Your finance and technical backgrounds set you up nicely with a set of experiences and tools heading into an MBA and Fintech. Fintech to help serve the un-banked and increase financial inclusion are growing in interest around the world. Your extra-curricular involvement help you also stand a part. Stanford will want to see that you have been a leader professionally as well as within the community – so make sure you pull out stories through your community experiences that show your leadership. You will need to show Stanford that you …
Hi Mr. African Entrepreneur, Melisa here from Stratus Admissions. While start up and IB experiences are common at your choice schools, your experience in Africa will be a welcomed addition to any business school community. Your finance and technical backgrounds set you up nicely with a set of experiences and tools heading into an MBA and Fintech. Fintech to help serve the un-banked and increase financial inclusion are growing in interest around the world. Your extra-curricular involvement help you also stand a part. Stanford will want to see that you have been a leader professionally as well as within the community – so make sure you pull out stories through your community experiences that show your leadership. You will need to show Stanford that you have what it takes to change the world. And you are battling some less than average stats – you may want to make sure that you have a correct conversion of your GPA to a US scale correctly. While engineering is obviously a tough degree, a 2.6 is far below the 3.7 Stanford’s average. Your GRE score is lower than the average at Stanford (330) but still falls into the range (306-340). Starting to make connections within the Fintech world in Africa will go a long way in giving admissions confidence to your plans for post-MBA. Overall, I think your chances are about double the average Stanford acceptance rate at 15%. I would put them higher for Haas, Yale and Columbia – and higher still for USC. You may want to consider Stern, Tepper or Ross as well.
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