Mr. Marketing Director

Hi Mr. Marketing Director. This is Talon Rindels, Sr. Admissions Consultant at The MBA Exchange. At 9%, Wharton has one of the lowest acceptance rates of any program and I’m going to rank your chances right at that for a couple of reasons. First off, your GPA isn’t doing you any favors, as it’s 0.3 pts lower than their average of 3.6. And, unfortunately, your GMAT isn’t helping to offset that and convince them that you are the brightest of the bright, as it is 22 points lower than their average. Even the middle 80% range is 700-770, so you are definitely at the lower end of their admits and, thus, the rest of your application will need to be extremely impressive! So, if you’re set on Wharton, I highly suggest you seek out some test prep support and get that score up to at least their average of 732. Your “maturity” is also a tricky one, as you will definitely be older than most in your class, but at least you fall within the middle 80% range, which is 25-31. OK, but now the encouraging aspects to your profile – It’s fantastic to hear that you progressed your career much more quickly than the typical person, so kudos there for sure! Coming into an MBA program with experience Marketing Director at a top CPG company is impressive, as that path is the post-MBA goal for so many MBA candidates. Business Development does seem like a logical path given your background, so I don’t think adcom will be worried about your ability to get hired (albeit, please note that you would be switching functions AND industry, as Nike is considered the Retail sector, not CPG). I’m not sure whether you are from the US, but if you are and chose to go to a school abroad, I’d use that to your advantage to showcase just how globally focused you are. I am wondering about your involvement outside of work. If you are not involved in the community via volunteer work, sports, non-profits, etc, I highly suggest you do so now so you have something tangible to talk about in your application. Wharton (and any school) wants to see that you are involved and desire to make a difference… because they want you to do the same for their program while you are there!

OK, Mr. Marketing Director, I have a little bit of a different take on your background. This is Julie-Anne Heafey from mbaMission. Look, I agree that your GPA is on the lower side, and your GMAT is indeed below average for Wharton. I really encourage you to retake that GMAT if at all possible because Wharton’s such a competitive school on that front. You’re also a little on the older side – the sweet spot for 2 year programs is usually up to around 30ish and then you start approaching part-time/mid-career EMBA program suitability, so you are at the edge there. Finally, I wonder about how your goals fit into your current work (Nike is a super cool company, but not sure how it relates to what you’ve done, though I can see a few possibilities). However, your work experience sounds like it really would set you apart and MBA programs often actively hunt for candidates with strong CPG experience. The advertising angle on top of that is a bonus, and I love that you have tons of international experience and above-average responsibility. All in all, if you can show how you’ll add a valuable perspective to the class, I think it’s definitely worth a shot and I’m putting your odds at around double the average. Good luck!

Hello Mr. Marketing Director, it’s Lisa Cummings of Stratus Admissions. I agree with my peers that your stats are a bit low for your targets. It will also matter to the schools if you yourself are an international student, and if so, where from, or did you just get your undergrad degree abroad? The candidate pools from some countries are large, making them more competitive. On the plus side your experience in advertising will set you apart, but your years of work experience may be seen as a negative, especially from the viewpoint of potential employers, so that is someting to keep in mind, even though you want to pivot. Do you think you could get the skills you need in a part time program or an EMBA program? In those cohorts , students tend to be more experienced and mature so you may be able to gain more from their experience than you might from students in a traditional two year program. Also, schools will want to know about what you do outside of work. They will want to see some degree of community engagement, especially for someone who has been out of undergrad for eight years. Good luck!