Mr. Egyptian VC

This is a generally impressive profile but doesn’t quite ring all the bells at Stanford GSB given its less than 7% accept rate. Both your GPA and GMAT falls below the latest class averages at Stanford. Your experience at a “regional VC firm” isn’t going to get you all that much from the GSB. As you undoubtedly know, the American University of Cairo is not a feeder school into Stanford (In Stanford’s MBA Class of 2020, there’s not a single student with a degree from your alma mater, though there is one student from the American University in Bulgaria and one from the American University of Beirut). Yet there are small signals detailed in your sparse profile that make me like you very much, from the fact that you helped establish a new export support law passed by Parliament to your accomplishment in winning a major national Martial Arts Championship which tells me a lot about your self-discipline. I am assuming you are an African living in the Middle East and that combination could be very appealing to Stanford for the global diversity you would bring to the class.

Hey Mr. Egyptian VC, Krista Nannery, Senior Consultant from mbaMission here.
Firstly, can I just tell you that I spent a week in March on a dahabiya, floating down the Nile from Luxor to Aswan and absolutely loved it? Beautiful country. I especially enjoyed my daily koshari.

So here’s the thing…I have never met an Egyptian Venture Capitalist before. I’ve worked with lots of clients from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon over the years, but I have never worked with an Egyptian client and certainly not an Egyptian VC. I doubt many people have worked with someone of your profile. So that makes evaluating your chances a bit tougher! The fact that you have raised a $20M VC fund in the Middle East seems super interesting to me. Does your firm have MBAs at its helm? Are they from your target schools? That would be really interesting to know. (I see Algebra is a Stanford shop — good sign. Not sure if that’s your fund though.)

So…I think you are deeply interesting. I think schools will find you interesting too. Do I think one year more of work experience might help you? Yes. Do I think that I’d like to see a higher GMAT to make this an easier process for you? Yes. But do I think that you might still be successful at some of your schools if you apply R1 in 2020? Yes. Add Haas and CBS to the mix to give your self max chances in R1 2020.