Mr. Basketball Player

Hi, this is JP from The MBA Exchange. Your story is familiar as I also moved from Europe to the US with big basketball plans many years ago; and I started a fund (much later), obtaining an MBA from Harvard along the way. So I probably understand your profile, background and goals better than most people. I think you have a strong chance if you have a strategic plan for your campaign and focus on the right schools. It would help to have on your side someone who can outline the key opportunities and challenges, and provide experienced guidance along the way. It will help you reach your MBA goal faster and more quickly. I’d be happy to discuss in greater detail, just email me at jpo@mbaexchange.com.

Hi Mr. Basketball Player! This is Kate Richardson, Senior Admissions Consultant. First off, I really admire how you bounced back after your basketball career didn’t work out, especially knowing how difficult it can be to land jobs at top investment banks. I also think schools will admire your entrepreneurial qualities and intellectual curiosity you showed in learning about big data from scratch. I’d be curious to dig into more about what happened to the startup, wins/setbacks you experienced, what you learned, and why you chose to return home. Given that you’ve made a few job moves in a few years, explaining that reasoning (and reflecting on what you have gained from the journey) will be important to your story. Your GRE score looks great, and you’ve got the international experience that INSEAD loves. I would want to know more about your GPA, I wonder if you’re converting that, which you won’t need to do in the admissions process. Best of luck!

Mr. Basketball Player, it’s Lisa Cummings of Stratus Admissions. So sorry to hear about your injury but that doesn’t seem to have stopped you! Clearly it didn’t prevent you from taking up other sports – I was a lacrosse player myself as a kid, I can’t believe that you picked up the game so quickly, no easy task. Getting into b school is no easy task either but your GRE looks solid, INSEAD could be a great fit for you. With just 3 years of work experience, you may be a tad green for many business schools but you will be in the range. Your international exposure coupled with your banking and entrepreneurial experience should make for a good story. Additionally, I like your volunteer work helping the local VC community, is that in Turkey or was that in SF? I have rated your chances at 25% because I need to know more about you and your history to get a better sense of your candidacy. It looks like you have had 3 jobs in as many years. While that isn’t necessarily a negative, especially when dealing with entrepreneurs, you will have to craft a solid narrative that explains those moves and why you made them. Assuming you can fill in those blanks with a well articulated story, your odds will improve. Best of luck and stay well in these crazy times.