Mr. Cross-Cultural

Hi Mr. Cross-Cultural – You certainly have some tremendous achievements professionally and in the community. I think we may re-name you “Mr. Well Rounded!” You have a commendable GPA from a top European University and if you rounded that out with a 730+ GMAT score, you may be packing your bags for Cambridge! This combined with your professional accolades indicate you are likely capable of more! I recommend you spend some time figuring out where your largest obstacles are in the exam and get laser focused on those specific areas before trying it out again. Or, you might even consider giving the GRE a whirl, as often, candidates will find that their capabilities there are starkly different vs. that of the GMAT. A test prep tutor could help you to get very diagnostic and pointed in your studies and/or managing test anxiety if that is a factor for you. There’s still time before R2!

You do indeed check lots of the right boxes: global paradigm, the right kinds of employers whose presence on your resume will demonstrate that you have been sifted and high-achieving in competitive fields with transferable skill sets, and top UG educational institution pedigree from University of Warsaw. In short, you’ve achieved A LOT in your short 30ish years.

I am concerned that AdComs will wonder why you are applying to b-school now. You will have over 10 years of work experience by the time you matriculate. That’s double the average for HBS and Wharton, the schools you specify as being your top picks. Your profile is more similar to a Wharton EMBA student than a full-time 2 year MBA student. Generally speaking, it’s our experience that MBA admission acceptance is negatively correlated with applicants over 29 years old (or over 6-7 years of work experience).

To gain admission, You’ll need to present your tenure and experience as a feature rather than a bug (many of the people who will be going into consulting post-MBA will be several years younger than you when they *graduate* MBA, and thus they may be seen as more adaptable travelers and harder workers due to their age and perceived “can do” doggeded attitude). Somebody with your leadership experience (Duputy head of CIB before 30 years old – WOWZA!) might chafe at being an Associate at MBB again, and that’s typically the role that is hired for consulting directly after MBA. There are older MBAs hired by MBB for Associate roles, but they typically are career switchers who did something outside of business prior to business school (think: military, government work, science academia, medicine). Sure, people do move into engagement manager or associate partner roles directly, especially if they have prior business leadership experience and prior management consultant experience like you do, but these kind of opportunities aren’t roles with a standard MBA recruiting process and getting hired this way doesn’t require an MBA, so AdComs may wonder why you are going to B-school at all if that is the kind of role you are seeking. AdComs might think that you are just burnt out and want a 2 year, socially-acceptable vacation from your fast-paced, banker long hours (and if that’s what you want, no shame in that reasoning… just not a reason that you want to let on to in your application or your interviews!) It may make sense to talk about a pivot to PE as your reason for MBA rather than MBB. Again, you’ll need to tacitly answer the “why MBA” question with this strategic positioning as well, since AdComs know that you don’t *need* an MBA to get to PE post-CIB. But at least it will make more sense than management consulting. Keep in mind that NOBODY is going to hold you to the career goals that you espouse in your application. The point here is to *get into business school*, so that you can then *recruit for whatever you want.* Your strategic positioning (i.e., what you want to do post-MBA and why) must sync with your prior experiences and passions (PE does), be imminently achievable given your prior experiences (PE is) and be highly ambitious (PE checks this box, too). If you get into Wharton or HBS and want to try your hand at MBB once you get there after writing about PE in your application essays, nobody will know or stop you!

European schools like Cambridge, Oxford, and INSEAD actively select for your level of leadership in applicants, so at places like that your age/length of work experience will naturally be seen as a feature rather than a bug. Similarly, because these schools are selecting for leadership potential over test scores, GMAT averages are lower (and actually very much in line with your score). If you spend most of your career in Europe, then this caliber of European institution may resonate more with your peer group/potential employers and the MBA alum network may be stronger than a US MBA.
Your GMAT score (710) and undergraduate GPA (3.65) are going to be considered low for your Chinese male ethnic demographic, likely by at least one standard deviation for the schools you are targeting. You’ll likely get a little bit of grace due to your worldliness and the fact that you will likely be representing Eastern Europe rather than China from a geographic demographic perspective, but your numbers are still going to be considered low for a candidate of your profile. Additionally, unless you are an underrepresented minority, MBB is going to be sifting for 730+ GMATs, another reality that the AdCom is intimately familiar with and another reason not to espouse management consulting as your career goal post-MBA. If you can get your GMAT score up, you’d be well served to do so, but I wouldn’t postpone applying to try that, given your age and tenure. Another option is to try out the GRE, which some test-takers favor over the GMAT. (HBS and Wharton accept both tests.)

Your level of attained corporate leadership will be impressive to the AdCom and your fellow students and applicants don’t get more worldly than you! You have a lot to add to the HBS or Wharton class. Given your age and your current GMAT score, I’d wager your chances are probably around 20% likelihood for HBS. Still absolutely a shot worth taking! If you can get your GMAT (or GRE equivalent) up to 750+, I’d wager a much higher likelihood of admission.