Mr. Industrial Banker

Hi, it’s Nisha from mbaMission. You have the elements of a well-rounded profile for a good MBA program: progressive experience in banking, career goals that are a logical outgrowth of your experience to date, a strong GPA from a prominent university, and meaningful extracurricular involvement.

Wharton and HBS are very competitive programs, though, and as a male banker you come from a heavily represented demographic. So, here’s a few things I recommend to become more competitive and to experience success in the application process 1. take the GMAT again and aim for a 730+, as this will put you at/above the average for these programs, and test score standards are especially high for finance applicants 2. think about how you’ll tell your story – for Wharton and HBS, aside from stats, the applicants’ success depends on how well they can communicate a “wow” factor and provide compelling professional and personal anecdotes 3. expand the list of programs you’re considering to the U.S. top 15 – one of the factors you should consider (aside from location, class size, and culture, all of which are really important) is which schools have relationships with companies that are of interest to you. Hope this helps a bit – best of luck!