Mr. Food & Beverage

You’re a strong candidate for a highly ranked MBA program. So it is somewhat surprising to me that you would get dinged by Wharton, Columbia and Kellogg. Your basic stats are in line and you have solid experience at a Fortune 500 company as a consultant. My gut tells me that you didn’t execute on the applications as well as you could have. If you do well in your interview at Stern, you will most likely get an admit because on what you present you should have been accepted by at least one of the W/C/K programs. If NYU opens its doors to you, you can achieve your post-MBA goals. Stern is a terrific school with a great MBA program. I think you would be very happy there. Your other option, of course, is to reapply in round one next time and you have an admissions consultant look over your apps and give you a ding analysis to help you put your best foot forward next time. Good luck to you!

Hi, this is Deepak Punwani from MBA Exchange. Food and Beverage is a niche profile in a highly ranked MBA program and you occupy a niche within this niche. But with 3 rejects something hasn’t come together the way it should have. My guess is that you are looking for a generalist role from a niche profile. That’s a difficult thing to do as usually people move from generalist to specialist role and not the other way around. If you are looking to re-apply to Wharton / Columbia / Kellogg, maybe work in an operator role for a year if you can. This can be via a secondment to a client or maybe with a start up in the consumer goods space. You will find clarity in terms of charting your post MBA path and also become a more credible candidate. Hope this helps.

Hello Mr. Food & Beverage. Thanks for posting. Krista Nannery from mbaMission here. You don’t say this in your profile but my guess is that you are a consultant from a firm like Deloitte, Accenture, etc. If so, this can be a super-tough process. There is just so much competition. I hate to boil it down to GMAT because it’s more nuanced than that, but I generally find that it can be tough to be a consultant outside of MBB with a 720. Especially in R2. (And especially at Wharton.)
I love your niche food experience though. I generally find that sort of expertise resonates well in this process. Also, it seems like you are also a contributor at the corporate level, which should have helped you if it was clear and easy-to-understand.
If you had been my client, I would have tried to uncover any C-suite exposure you have had as well as international experience. These types of things can help set a consultant apart. I’m also curious about your recommenders…what levels were they in the organization?
I don’t like to overly shill here but you way want to consider having us do a ding review on your Wharton or Kellogg apps. More info on our website.