Mr. European Consultant

Hi – European Consultant and dare one say Value Investor. This is Deepak Punwani from MBA Exchange. You have a very strong profile for Columbia and if value investing is your passion, then reaching Columbia will be a homecoming of sorts. The legendary Benjamin Graham made his way from London to NYC more than a century ago and I can see that you are wanting to follow those footsteps. Columbia will like a lot of things in your profile – your academic performance, the rigorous degree course from Oxford, the international orientation and your passion for investing. Your extra curricular activities are also impressive and your choice of sports lingo is already attuned to the other side of the pond (soccer vs football). Just an illustration that you are ready to execute on a great application campaign. I also like your chances at other schools, notably Wharton. Am curious as to your reasons for not having Booth on the list (geography maybe). All in all, you have a great shot. Good luck

Hello Mr. European Consultant!
Krista Nannery from mbaMission here. Thanks for posting. And please say hello to London for me. I lived there for over a quarter of my life (mostly by Farringdon station) and just returned from a quick trip last week before everything went pear-shaped.
So…2.1 from Oxford, 730, Swiss/French/British…these are all things that are going to pave your way in this process. BUT…you say “boutique” consulting firm and that’s where I want to know more! Have colleagues from your firm gone on to MBAs at top schools? What about your MDs? These are all good signals about your chances.
CBS, Kellogg, Sloan will all like you on stats alone (if you can prove you like them) but with Wharton and HBS, there are more dependencies…who are your clients? What level do you work with? (C-suite all the time or only sometimes or rarely?) I’d want to dive into your story a bit more here.
When targeting CBS, remember the Value Investing Program is a 2nd year thing. Make sure your essay shows a clear path and isn’t overly focused on the Value Investing Program itself.
Hope that helps a bit!
Krista

Hi, it’s Jennifer Jackson from Stratus Admissions. All of your international experience and exposure is a wonderful part of your profile! Speaking all those languages is impressive and growing up with this global view of the world is a real plus. Your stats are strong and should set you up nicely for CBS, which is quite a GMAT-focused school. Since you’re a European that 730 will be on the higher end for your demographic, but we all know that stats don’t get you in anywhere, they can just keep you out! So you’ll want to highlight those parts of you that are different: the upbringing in Switzerland being used to adapting to different cultures/languages/people and then working in London. Consultants are of course common in MBA admissions but if you can tell a good story about why you need the MBA now and why CBS is the best fit for you, you have a great shot there. If it’s your top choice, I would consider applying ED because you have the best shot that way. I think they’ll like your experience and they have strong finance resources to set you up for that post-MBA goal. Good luck!