Ms. VC Hopeful

Hi Ms. VC Hopeful, This is Donna Bauman with Stratus Admissions with comments on your profile. First of all, don’t be too hard on yourself with your undergrad gpa of 3.3. That’s still strong—and a simple sentence explaining that you were dealing with an autoimmune diagnosis during your junior year will give context for your transcript that year. Your GMAT and 3.5 gpa in masters program help elevate your profile and your experience working as a fund controller in a VC firm gives you some professional access to help you make the transition to VC. HBS is certainly not easy for anyone—but I see some good building blocks in your profile – your early promotion is impressive—be sure it is clear somewhere in your application what impact you have had that contributed to this early promotion. You show leadership in caring for a parent with cancer—and I sincerely hope your mom or dad is improving. I think you are also wise to broaden to a few school choices and while GSB is also a great choice—I’m sure you know the odds are tough there too. I still think you should apply, but I like that you have added some other options with Anderson and you might want to also consider Booth, Kellogg, CBS and Wharton and even Tuck and Fuqua if you want to give yourself the best chance to be sitting in an MBA seat at the end of the application process. For HBS, keep in mind they want to see that habit of leadership so think of ways you have influenced both formally and informally. I see elements of both in this profile here. I believe you have a very bright future ahead and would be glad to talk further if you want to reach out for a free consult!