Mr. Healthcare VC

As you no doubt know, Bentley is not a feeder college to Harvard Business School and a 700 GMAT score, while impressive to me, is 30 points under the HBS class median. But you have several things going for you: 1) Your work experience is impressive, both your current gig at a boutique VC and your previous stint at a Fortune Top 10 healthcare company in corporate development; 2) Your GPA of 3.7 which is right on the mark for HBS; 3) Your status as a URM candidate. You would need very strong letters of recommendation and a superbly executed application to get an admit at HBS. You also would need to show some leadership potential through your extras (which are blank here). The reason is simple: You will be competing against other URMs from Ivy League and near Ivy schools with GMAT scores higher than yours. VC jobs, however, are hard to get for anyone and that will count for a lot. Will be interesting to see how this turns out. I would apply to a few more schools to give yourself other options, though your odds at Tuck are higher for sure.

Hi, there, this is Julie-Anne Heafey from mbaMission. Without the specifics behind the firms and what you’ve done there, it’s really hard to attach odds to your application. So much of a Harvard admit will depend on that, but it’s hard to decipher from the info we have here. The thing I wonder most about is the switch to tech for your future goals. Does this mean no more healthcare? Since a lot of successful HBS apps hinge on getting to know the impact you want to make on the world, I’d want to understand more about this new path and your motivations. Although your GMAT is on the low side, Harvard will certainly still consider your candidacy. Still, if you want to improve your odds there and elsewhere, it’s worth a retake. BTW: Tuck’s an amazing program – have you looked into applying there through the Consortium at all? Might be worth it in order to pursue potential scholarship opportunities and take advantage of special Consortium-geared events! Good luck!