Mr. Armenian Geneticist

This is JP from The MBA Exchange. I am a graduate of HBS and have guided many applicants to success over the last ten years, who share a background similar to yours. There are both opportunities and challenges in your profile if you’re targeting HBS, GSB and other top US programs. On the positive side, you have very clear expertise to share with classmates. It’s evident that you’d be a valuable addition to the classroom, especially in terms of healthcare cases. Furthermore, Boston is a hub for healthcare and HBS is very involved. You could easily connect with alumni and find career opportunities. You degrees from MIT will also be respected by the Admissions Committee. The main challenge to your odds is the fact that you’re already 28, which is older than average for US schools. You would have to make a strong case that you’re still “young at heart” enough to be willing to learn from younger classmates and have a positive social experience while in the program. This is not impossible to overcome and in fact we frequently assist applicants with this particular challenge. Good luck!
JP

Hi Mr. Armenian Geneticist, Julie-Anne Heafey here from mbaMission. I don’t totally agree with others’ views about your age – when I was at HBS, I had multiple friends who were in that age range. The average age at matriculation tends to be around 27 so you’d be a bit older than that, but that’s an average, not a ceiling and you’re still within the window to me. I do wonder a little bit about how your age lines up with your 2 years of stated experience and whether there’s a gap or not. Your work experience is actually on the low side for HBS males. I wouldn’t say it’s a dealbreaker (they care about impact more) but it’s something to look at. (Were you in the military too, or did your MS exempt you from the required service?) Apart from these questions, I really like the impact I see in your profile…your early promotion is impressive and the IPO experience gives you an interesting story. Overall, you strike me more as a Stanford guy, but I can understand why you want to expand your network again to Harvard after covering Silicon Valley and MIT. I agree that your biotech background is cool for HBS but they’ve likely expanded their candidates from the sector with their new MS/MBA program in life sciences, so I wonder how you’ll fit in around that group. Overall, I’m a fan of your background, though, and think you have better than average odds if you get your story right. Best of luck!