Ms. Peace In The Middle East

Hello from mbaMission; this is Michael.

Even a top program like Harvard should feel that you have the quantitative ability to succeed in the classroom, because of your GMAT score (which is close to Harvard’s average), and your solid GPA in a quantitative field.
In general, you have a fascinating background, in terms of the company you co-founded, as well as your extracurriculars. Programs are looking for people who want to make a difference, and your past will prove to them that you are someone who will make a difference during school, as well as post-MBA.
I do think that your work experience is a bit light though, given that the average years of experience upon matriculation for a program like Harvard is five to six years. (And your internship does not count as full-time experience, even though you should definitely include it on your resume since you made a significant impact there.) So while it sounds like you already have excellent work experience, you will have to show the admissions committee that your work experience is comparable to many applicants who have been working full-time much longer. A recent client of mine had success applying to Harvard, despite having fewer than the average number of years of work experience, because she was able to show significant leadership and initiative at work and outside of work. So continue to take on leadership roles outside of work, such as through your mentoring, and of course continue to build your nonprofit.
If you can wait to apply to MBA programs when you have at least 3 years of full-time experience, given your background, I think you really have an above average chance at acceptance. As for your odds at Harvard, I see them as a bit above the average acceptance rate, close to 20%.
Good luck!

Hi Ms. Peace in the Middle East, Melisa here from Stratus Admissions. You have some very impressive experiences for your years of experience. It’s a bit unclear to me how much work experience you have that is not internship based on the limited information here. While founding a social entrepreneurship shows significant leadership, you will need to show that you have experiences putting you on an even playing field in class with those of the average 4.7 years at HBS. We generally see the middle 80% range between 3-8 years of experience. Given you are a dual citizen and based on your time in a war-torn country, what of these experiences can you bring to the classroom? If you are applying from a country with generally fewer applicants, this might increase your chances – in this year’s HBS class only 1% is from the middle east. I actually spent my summer internship at Haas working at an organization that was working to do a similar thing in the US. So I would encourage you to expand your list of schools outside of just HBS like Stanford, Haas, Yale, Tuck, Ross, Duke. I love that you speak 4 (let’s call it 7) languages – how will you leverage this as a classmate? What has your global experience taught you? Overall, I’d suggest to wait until you’ll have 3 years at matriculation, but if now is absolutely the right time, you will need to explain why now is the right time for you and highlight the experiences you will bring to the classroom to put you on par with those of more experience. What have you learned as the co-founder of an organization? Where do you need to grow your skill sets to grow your organization and make the large impact you plan to? While your GMAT score and GPA show that you can handle the academic rigor of the program, your GMAT is probably a bit lower than other female engineers applying to HBS. Having a compelling story to tell will help overcome this – but not knowing your GMAT journey, if you are willing to take it again and increase your score 10-20 points, it eliminates this comparison. I think another year or 2 of experience or 10-20 points on your GMAT increase your chances from the average (~12%). Reach out if I can answer any other questions. Best of luck!