Mr. Seller

You left your extras blank and extras can count for a lot at Stanford where the admissions folks want to see evidence that you can fulfill their lofty mission to “Change Lives, Change Organizations, Change the World.” That said, you have several things going in your favor: Your Fortune 500 experience, your 740 GMAT which exceeds Stanford’s 732 average, your Purdue degree in a difficult major–mechanical engineering–and the fact that you are a URM. Sure, your GPA of 3.3 is on the low side for Stanford’s 3.73. So if you have something in your story that can convince Stanford that you are likely to “Change Lives, Change Organizations, Change the World,” you have a real shot at a school that accepts fewer than 7% of its applicants. Without knowing this, I have to estimate your odds at not much better than 15%, which is double the overall acceptance rate at the school.

well, lots to like, including good job progress at what I take is brand name company (CPG=consumer product goods and leading companies are Pepsi, Unilver, Tyson Foods, Coke, L’Oreal, and the ciggie makers, e.g. Phil Morris etc.) You identify as ‘minortiy” and assuming that is part of the officially determined (URMs=afro-am, hispanic surname etc) that is a plus. The 3.3. at Purdue is the boo-boo in this resume, altho we note that was in Mech Eng, a harder major. The 740 and patient career building at one company prove you are lad who is smart and patient, the two things B schools really care about.
Grrrrr: Stanford is hard, but I got a feeling many other analysts (who says odds are 15% there have missed the URM angle). If you can leverage that, odds at Stan are maybe more like 25%. Chicago Booth, Harvard, Wharton, MIT Sloan, Berkeley Haas???? Guys like you get into HBS and those other places with tight execution, URM halo, and support of your company via recs, etc.
If you can leverage that, and folks at your brand name firm get behind you, it could happen.

Being a biz dev and account manager for a Fortune 500 CPG firm is great, mainly because you can quantify your results and impact. Your big transition from an ME education to a sales role surely was a challenge that should make for engaging essays. And a post-MBA goal in travel tech will leverage your academic and professional experience. Connecting those dots will be important in making your case for admission. Your 3.3 GPA in ME from Purdue is respectable, given the rigor of the major and caliber of the school. The 740 GMAT is definitely beneficial given the incredibly high 734 average for GSB admits. The bad news is that we see zero extracurriculars. No matter how strong a candidate’s academic and professional profile, schools like Stanford expect to see a personal background that will add value to the incoming class. Unless and until you add that dimension to your candidacy, I suggest you pursue some less selective schools.

Hello Mr. Seller! Thanks for posting. Krista Nannery from mbaMission here. I’m going to try to touch on elements that John, Sandy, and Alex have not addressed…
1. The Consortium. Please reach out to them and start to take advantage of all their wonderful offerings and resources. Even if your target schools aren’t Consortium members, the organization still offers some great networking opps.
2. You don’t qualify your exact URM status but my recommendation would be to reach out to the diversity groups at your target programs that align with your background and get on their mailing lists. There are often special webinars, weekend events, and resources available at some programs for URMs.
3. Goals. The travel tech thing is interesting but I’m not seeing the golden thread here that ties this all together for me. Why travel tech? What progress have you made on this venture already? How would you take advantage of school resources to build/test this venture while you are pursuing your MBA? Perhaps spend some more time here refining this goal. Also, what sort of post-MBA employer would line you up for this longer-term goal? Start digging through employment reports to see what’s out there.

Re: odds, if you come from a big CPG and have a track record of leadership and expertise in your field and great recs from senior leaders, I think you have a decent shot at HBS. GSB is a tougher call because it’s…GSB. Make sure that vision for your travel tech idea is fleshed out a bit in your app…change lives, change organizations, change the world man. I’m a little worried about that 3.3 but you may have more flexibility as a URM and that 740 helps. This is why I feel pretty good about Booth, Sloan and Haas for you. Overall, I think this will be a positive process for you. Just don’t put all your eggs in that GSB basket!