Ms. Developing Markets

Hi Ms. Developing Markets, Kristen from MBA Prep School here. You really have all the puzzle pieces for a strong MBA application here! That 780 will be impossible for Admissions Committees to ignore, along with your stellar academic performance and extracurricular commitments at Princeton. You’ve also done a nice job of weaving in your social impact interests throughout your personal and professional life, from your volunteer work and mentorship to completing externships at related international organizations. It then makes perfect sense that your career goal involves making your own mark on the world. You’ll want to highlight specific ideas for what this might look like in your application to showcase you have already given it thought and know which resources you will take advantage of during your MBA to gain the right skills. I wouldn’t worry about your firm being in the “2nd tier” given your rapid promotions and opportunities to work abroad. It’s clear you are a standout employee to have gotten those opportunities so quickly. You can surely go toe-to-toe with MBB applicants! The most important element for you will be tying together your strengths into a cohesive story (which sometimes means choosing which strengths make the most sense to feature)! We’d be happy to help you develop that story to give you the edge you need in the process and help prepare you for the interview I think you will get!

Ms. Developing Markets, I am super impressed with your accomplishments. You may not be at MBB but you have done some fascinating things and gained invaluable global experience in the process. Princeton is a good place to start. As an Ivy League prize, it is among the top five feeder universities to Harvard Business School, behind only Harvard, Penn, Stanford and Yale. In the Class of 2020, 24 MBA graduates earned their undergradate degrees at Princeton. Your 3.63 is solid from Princeton. And your 780 GMAT is, of course, brilliant. By the way, even though you are at a second-tier consulting player, there were a half dozen Harvard MBAs from Oliver Wyman in the Class of 2020 and three from A.T. Kearney. So that isn’t going to hold you back either. And as HBS and all the top schools race toward gender parity, your being a woman in consulting is a real plus as well. Those two early promotions count for a lot. You will definitely get an interview invite from HBS. Then, it’s all about how well you handle that interview. I very much doubt you will choke. Good luck.