Ms. Jill Of All Trades

An art history major wanting an MBA? I love it. And given your stints in marketing roles in a range of industries, including the arts, management consulting, ed tech, and higher education, you would bring to the MBA classroom some very different perspectives. As some of the other experts here have noted, however, your numbers are a bit low for Berkeley Haas which is a highly selective school (a 17.7% accept rate) with a relatively small intake of 283 students. Yet, your 314 GRE score is nine points below the class average of 323 and your 3.36 GPA in what would be perceived ot be an easy subject is also quite short of the 3.67 average for the latest entering class. Those are averages, of course, and it doesn’t mean you don’t stand a chance. It only means you have more of an uphill battle to get in, especially because your work experience was not at “gold” companies or organizations. So for all these reasons, I’d estimate your chances at Haas aren’t much better than the average admit rate, sorry to say. I think you have a better shot at Tuck but would really advise you to get off a few round three applications to a broader range of schools.

Berk Haas is a good choice but it is going to be a reach. Your GPA and GRE scores are below their average by a good deal. They will respect the fact that you have a lot of experience in non-profits but you could make life easier for them if you retook GRE and got it up. As we often say, schools may blink once (GPA, GRE, Work Ex etc) but you are asking them to blink twice.
Not super clear what you are doing now but you need to get those folks seriously behind you, “academic institution to academic institution.”

Hi, it’s Nisha, Senior Consultant from mbaMission here! It sounds like you’ve built a broad range of skills from your marketing management and your nonprofit role. What schools will care about most is the impact you have made in your roles as well as the progression (in terms of title, responsibility, and compensation) – I don’t have much information on that, but make sure that it is captured in your resume and application. Your interest in nonprofit consulting is logical – one thing to keep in mind is that there are few nonprofit consulting firms out there, so I recommend stating in your application that you’ll be pursuing both management consulting and nonprofit consulting opportunities post-MBA. In fact, I’m working with a client who did just that – she’s about to interview at Haas, and other acceptances are starting to come in!

Haas is a very competitive (and small) program, and is quite focused on prospective students’ academic abilities and specifically, their ability to handle the quantitatively rigorous nature of the curriculum. As things stand now, your stats make things tough. Your GPA is below their average of 3.67 – moreover, since you studied Art History, the school will be looking for other indicators of your quant proficiency. While Haas doesn’t publish its GRE average, we know from P&Q data and from our clients that the average GRE score for the Verbal and Quant sections are each in the mid 160s, so you’ll want to retake the exam and strive to meet this average. Additionally, I recommend taking a supplemental quant course (such as statistics) and earn an A to both ready yourself for business school and to show the admissions committee that you have what it takes to do well in the classroom.

I’ve worked with many successful clients who have served as tutors and mentors, which I love – you’re making a big difference in the kids’ lives. Make sure that you capture the impact you made (for example, if you’ve helped your tutees reach a grade level or pass an exam) in your application. And, if there’s opportunity to further demonstrate leadership (perhaps as a leader of tutors or organizer of events for the students) definitely take advantage of it – Haas and other programs love to see this kind of leadership.

Hi, this is Melisa, Admission Counselor from StratusAdmissions. Your experience across Non-Profit and B-Corps will speak to Haas’ Institute for Business and Social Impact. I like that you are showing increasing titles in the role examples you gave. I would want to hear more about the impact that you have made within these roles – where you’ve been able to take a leadership role and/or create innovation. I can see a natural story line from consulting to non-profit and then combining the 2 within non-profit consulting or a mission driven organization. You’ll want to make sure that you can clearly show how you have embodied the leadership principles through your work and tutoring. With your Art History major and GPA, I would want to know more about any quant classes that you took while at school – Haas requires that you have taken a college level Math course. I’ve had some clients that this has been a problem for since they tested out of having to take a Math course in college. You may want to consider taking a quant class to demonstrate your ability to handle the quantitative rigor of Haas. Your composite GRE score is lower than their reported average – so I would consider taking the exam again as you are currently sitting in the lower end of the 80% range published on their website. I have worked with many successful clients who have are looking to transition to mission/purpose driven organizations and Haas is a great place to do so! I also noticed that you are looking at INSEAD – you will want to be able to discuss how studying in France will be important to your future . Tuck is a nice compliment to Haas with the small class and collaborative culture. Wish you the best of luck!