Mr. Software Engineer

Hi, it’s Nisha from mbaMission. You have many strong elements to your profile that MBA admission committees will love – outstanding academics, strong extracurricular leadership in college, and an engineering job at a top firm.

That said, you have under 2 years of work experience, which is on the early side for applicants to these top programs (at which students have completed an average of 4-6 years of work experience upon matriculation). I think you’ll be a stronger candidate a year or two from now, once you’ve had a chance to make more impact and progression in your current role. And in that timeframe, I’d do some deep reflection on your career goals – why do you want to switch to banking post-MBA? That’s a pretty big transition from engineering – how have your professional and personal experiences to date motivated you to go in this direction? Schools always want to know the WHY behind the what.

Additionally, it would be great if you could keep up the track record of extracurricular involvement that you had in college, preferably in a leadership capacity. For example, an IIT alumna I worked with on her MBA applications made a sizable impact by organizing alumni events in her new city. Or, perhaps you could play on a rec sports league. This will add some dimension to your profile and give you the opportunity to highlight achievements outside of the professional arena. Hope that helps – best of luck!

Hi Mr. Software Engineer, This is Donna Bauman with Stratus Admissions and I am happy to weigh in on your profile. I agree with the other expert who noted that while your GMAT score is awesome, your work experience is on the lighter side currently. I do think there might be an MBA program that could be interested in your with 2-3 yrs of work experience, but I am not certain that it would be HBS. Given that you want to make a significant career shift, I suggest you look at MBA programs where you can get strong support from career management and a lot of experiential learning. I could see UCLA Anderson (with its top rated Parker Career Management Center) or Michigan Ross (with the MAP project) both being places where you have strong odds. I also think you could be successful and potentially get a scholarship at UNC Kenan-Flagler and that of the schools you are considering you may have the best odds at Yale. If you do aspire for HBS, Wharton, Kellogg or Sloan, I could see how you might benefit from another year of work. During this time, try to do something to start showing interest in investment banking. Even starting to take some CFA courses could be helpful or you could look at some of the resources on sites like Wall Street Oasis or Training the Street to gain some financial modeling skills that would help make it easier for you to transition to investment banking. I also like Chicago Booth for you as students at Booth have many opportunities to do internships with PE firms throughout the school year. Programs in NYC like Stern and CBS could also be very helpful to you in making the transition to investment banking. Best wishes and please reach out if you would like to discuss your profile in more depth in a consult.