Mr. Jewish MBB

Hi Mr. Jewish MBB! I’m hoping you can share your secrets, as you must have found more than 24 hours in a day! I’d place my bets on you and here’s why: You are clearly a very bright, qualified candidate, who is involved in the community AND isn’t taking the “easy path” to apply as a sponsored MBA candidate who will return to your MBB firm post-MBA. Now, YOU are a man who seems passionate and relentless about your goals! Your “numbers” all sit above the average at Booth, so those boxes are pretty nicely checked. Where AdCom will likely really want to focus their attention on your candidacy will come down to those softer skills and potential. My advice to you is simply to make sure that you communicate what YOU have done as an MBB analyst. Given the highly visible projects MBB folks work on with very senior leaders, it can be challenging what your unique role was. In communicating your impact, I challenge you to focus on micro-experiences within the big multi-million projects you worked on where you helped to steer the team in the right direction or uncovered highly critical information that influenced the final recommendation and/or where you learned how to effectively work with a challenging client/colleague. I also encourage you to share your passion and impact with the nonprofits/underserved communities in NYC. This is a differentiator for an MBB candidate, as many are not able to prioritize much outside their career demands. If you can effectively execute on these two things, I think you, Mr. Jewish MBB will be marching your way from the Big Apple to the Windy City… and right on into tech thereafter!

Your odds for Booth are very good. Nobody has a crystal ball, but with the proper strategic positioning, well-executed essays that show rather than tell your contributions (rather than simply team/firm achievements), and charming interviews, I’d say that you have a better chance of acceptance than rejection. Still, I’d optimize your chances for admission to a M7 school by applying to all of them. If you do that, I’d be surprised if you didn’t have one to chose from (though I’d imagine that you’d have more than one).
Here’s what resonates about your candidacy: success at a known-quantity employer (MBB) and outstanding academic achievement in UG at prestigious institution, solid GRE score and not too-young or too-old, good mix of managerial (board membership) and individual contributor-esq ECs that demonstrate real passions outside of your demanding corporate job, strategic positioning outlines a career path post-MBA that is both ambitious and achievable and for which you are imminent qualified for success. You check every important box. AdComs like candidates that are very employable, and you certainly are, enough if you don’t have the ultimate job security of a sponsored consultant.
That said, there are MANY candidates like you who go home empty handed. Usually this is because 1) their stories fall flat or are undifferentiated or fail to show rather than tell achievements and professional potential (needless to say, there will be MANY Jewish male MBB consultants who apply) 2). They tank the interview (all the achievements in the world can be sunk from cockiness or poor performance in an interview… especially for schools that are screening for these bad traits (looking at you, Wharton Group Interview). MBA interviews aren’t going to be case interviews – they are wayyyyy more behavior and fit-based. If you get an interview, the AdCom ALREADY KNOWS you can thrive academically at the school and they want to see what kind of PERSON you’ll be inside and outside of the classroom. On the merits of your resume alone, I can almost guarantee that you will get interviews. You should practice as much as possible before the interviews to make sure you NAIL the guaranteed softballs like “why MBA?” “why MBA now?” and “Why Booth?”
Rooting for you and best of luck!