Mr. Ukrainian Biz Man

HI! This is Jean-Philippe, Senior Consultant at The MBA Exchange. You clearly have the drive, initiative and work ethic to achieve MBA admissions success. I have done doubt about it and you have proven it in the past with your various successes. Many of the key pieces needed for a strong application campaign are already in place – you have a personally-inspired vision, you identified some of the right schools for you and you’re coming here for feedback. What you need now is an understanding of how to put everything together, a clear-cut action plan, and flawless implementation. It’s definitely possible, though it will be easier (and faster) with expert guidance along the way. If you want more details and explore this further together, email me at jpo@mbaexchange.com. The coming application season is shaping up to be very competitive, so it’s best to act soon!

Hi, it’s Nisha from mbaMission! I think it’s amazing that you founded a company at such a young age, scaled it to 25 people, and secured major clients. I think that will really help distinguish your profile – make sure you communicate clearly in your resume the accomplishments you’ve had as a founder. You’ll also want to explain in your application (and hopefully, eventual interview) what spurred you to start the company in the first place).

You’ll also want to communicate your community impact on your resume, and the difference you’ve made in the lives of people you’ve served with respect to their physical/psychological needs – schools greatly value community leadership.

Your goal of consulting makes sense to me – in particular, IT consulting would be a fit given your industry knowledge. However, from both a business school admissions standpoint and a consulting recruiting standpoint, you’ll need a higher GRE score (some consulting firms are known to request GMAT/GRE scores as they assess candidates). For the schools you’re aiming for, you’ll want to strive for a 160+ on both the Quant and Verbal sides of the GRE.

I hope this helps a bit – best of luck!

Hi Mr. Ukrainian Bix Man—This is Donna Bauman with Stratus Admissions Counseling and indeed you are the man! I would say that your biggest win is founding that firm with 25 people and securing some impressive clients. In some ways I wonder if you even need an MBA—but if you want to make the transition to management consulting an MBA could help. However, consulting is the one place where GMAT/GRE matters most and your current GRE score will not help your consulting recruiting so while you have time I encourage you to try again and also to think about how you can connect the dots from your IT company to give you some industry expertise that you can leverage as you look at consulting options. You could also think about going right into a product management role for a medical device company and then the GMAT/GRE score would be less of an issue. I think you have some outstanding leadership and your social impact involvement will help your case at Yale. I think GSB is tough for anyone but if you can change lives, change organizations and change the world with your heart device then maybe give it a shot. I think Stern might be looking for more applicants right now given their location in NYC so could be an opportunity there once things get better. I suggest you also look at Georgetown and maybe even Mendoza if you want to broaden your options. No matter what you do, you look to me like you will be successful! That matters most of all!