Mr. Humble Iranian Self Employed Businessman

You present a truly interesting case: Can an international student with stats that are below-average and no brand name work experience get into the most highly selective prestige MBA program in the world? Your GMAT score of 700 is 38 points below Stanford’s current average. Your 3.3 GPA is well below the 3.78 average at Stanford as well. But these are averages and it means that the GSB enrolls plenty of people below those numbers. The problem is that you are really climbing a mountain when you apply to a school that admits only 6.2% of its self-selecting pool of MBA hopefuls. That is especially true when your work experience is not with a highly selective, well known organization. Yet, you clearly have distinguished yourself as exceptional. Your two big life wins are very impressive. It takes a person of high intelligence and drive to revive a failing family business and increase its revenue five times. And the fact that you led a dry farming project and created part-time jobs for more than 200 seasonal workers in the process is also quite an accomplishment. And, I think, the fact that you are from Iran, a country that does not send many MBA students into elite MBA programs, is also a plus. But I just have to give it to you straight: You are not getting into Stanford with this profile. You do, however, have a shot at your other choices: NYU Stern, Columbia, Harvard, and Kellogg. But I would urge you to better diversity your target choices to improve your chances. Given your career goal, it’s not absolutely necessary for you to get into a Stanford or Harvard. There are a wide variety of MBA programs that would help you achieve your dreams. Look beyond the Top Ten schools you have essentially chosen. Drop two or three of your current targets and replace them with schools that are in the Top 30 in the U.S. or the Top 10 in Europe. You need to smartly hedge your bets to increase your odds of acceptance.