Ms. Petrochemical

Hi there! It’s Stephanie Horn, Master Consultant with the MBA Exchange and recent Poets and Quants “Top 10 Admissions Consultants”. Ms. Petrochemical, I think you are on the road to getting an MBA at a top-tier firm, but you are not quite there yet. The average MBA candidate has 5 years of work experience — double what you currently have. While I believe your position is giving you training and insight into the decision making at the top level of your firm, you need to have a more senior role where you can demonstrate your leadership and teambuilding skills. Taking another year to build your resume will make you a more viable candidate — and also give you a chance to improve your GMAT. You can also use this time to build your list of target schools. Schools with an inclusive, team-based culture that I think would be a good fit for you include INSEAD, IESE, Duke, and UCLA.

Hi Ms. Petrochemical, Krista Nannery here from mbaMission.
Firstly, I love that you are managing such large projects at such a young age. And I love your diversity and inclusion work. These things say a lot about how much your employer trusts you. At the same time, in applying to some of the top b-schools in the world — including Wharton — I’d love for you to have some more work experience first. B-schools will often ask, “What can this candidate teach us?” and you may find that by waiting a year, you have more to teach them and your chances are just higher.
That being said, I am not saying “Don’t apply now.” I’m just suggesting that you should not be surprised if your first attempt does not go as well as you had hoped.
Related to this is your GMAT score…it can be difficult to be successful at a program like Wharton with a sub-700 GMAT score. So my recommendation would be to use the next year wisely: take the GMAT again, and add a year of work experience before you apply.
I hope that helps!
Krista

Hi Ms. Petrochemical, Lisa Cummings of Stratus Admissions here. I agree with my peers that this may not be your year to apply given your short work history. Why the rush? Use the next year or even two to position yourself as a top tier candidate. I also suggest getting that GMAT score up – doing so sooner rather than later will allow you to focus on other areas you can strengthen. Go after leadership roles at work, even it you are a leader without the title. Build relationships with managers so you will have people lined up who can write you letters of recommendation when the time comes. I love your extracurriculars – Toastmasters is an incredible organization and your leadership role there will be noticed. I’d like to learn more about your efforts to lift slum dwellers and LGBTQ people onto a global platform. This community involvement and concern for others is important in life and will be valuable for those reading your application in the future. Good luck!