adub35 wrote:
Thanks for the advice. Here’s my background:
1. Profile: 24 African-American Male
2. Undergrad: Electrical Engineering major, 3.1overall GPA
3. College activities: Played scholarship football at a D1-A university
4. GMAT: 680 Q 90% V 67%
5. WE: 2.5 years at matriculate. Work for the DoD doing engineering work for the Air Force. I manage two projects.
6. Community Involvement: Coached football camps for last 8 years, volunteer in my community and at work
7. Leadership experience: I learned how to be a leader in my football career. I was a leader for my team. I led my school to its first football championship and post season bowl game. I helped engineer one of NCAA greatest football turnarounds. I was also a mentor at one of my internships. I prove financial and strategic support to my mom and siblings.
8. Why MBA: I want to transition into Investment management.
9. Why the school preferences: I want a school with a strong general management presence and finance reputation.
10. Target schools: 1. Harvard 2. Wharton 3. Stanford 4. Chicago
What do you think my chances are?
What can I do to improve my chances?
Do you think I should retake the GMAT?
What courses can take to show verbal strength?
adub35,
I think you may have a shot at all those schools. You have no major red flags; a number of distinctive elements (football, DoD) and, as noted, being African American is a big asset for you. I can't say that your profile makes me think (as only the rare profile does) you should feel "optimistic" about acceptance at HBS and Stanford (partly because engineering is a common profile), but I do think you have a definite shot at both. I think you probably could feel optimistic about Wharton and Chicago if you execute very well on your essays (one on that NCAA turnaround, for example). To improve your chances, you could raise the GMAT, yes, though it is probably fine as is. Assuming your Verbal score is roughly in line with your Quant there's no need to make any special efforts there. I think one potentially very helpful thing you could do is to take on some major leadership role in your community life (i.e., big impact or leading many people) -- assuming you don't have one of those going already.
Good luck,