Admitted to Tepper ($), Waitlist at Darden and Tuck

I recently got off Tepper's waitlist and was given a good amount in scholarship. I am in a fix if I should join this year. My post-MBA goal is to move to management consulting. I hail from India

Concern#1: Having gotten waitlisted at 5 schools, I did not have a lot of time to do any pre-MBA recruitment and academic prep. I, thus, feel I am not prepared for business school and will lag behind in class and recruitment if I go this year.

Concern#2: As you might have guessed, it's extremely difficult to say no to the money. However, I don't want to compromise on my post-MBA goal. I don't know if Tepper would give me a fair shot at MBB, owing to not-so great numbers going to this firms every year. I have aspired to work for MBB since my undergrad days and I really would like to make it work.

Concern#3: Cold Feet. Having heard horrible stories about what MBA does to your relationship, I am really not inclined to give up on my relationship. I am not sure, if I am ready for it.

Concern#4: I do not intend to stay in the US long-term as that would mean my gf would have to give up her career just to be with me, something that I don't want. I do understand that doing MBA from my own country still does not gives this guarantee, and we are bound to make sacrifices.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Concern #1: I don't think that's an issue. Now is not too late to start.

Concern #2: I mean, if Tepper is the only school you're in, you don't have a choice really. It's Tepper vs next year with no guarantee of any school. What can you do next year (really from now until October if you apply R1) to improve your chance? Darden and Tuck are both good consulting schools, so if you have decent way to improve your candidacy, I see the reasoning to apply next year especially if you are MBB or bust. But my question is, why did you even apply to Tepper? Perhaps you should've narrowed down your school choices and spent more time on top schools (Tuck/Darden's peer schools, like Ross and Yale maybe) to write better essays/present better storyline in your application. Plus, I don't know MBB or bust mindset is good unless you can land M7 fairly easily. MBB is aspired by so many MBAs and therefore it's tough to get. If you're open to other consulting, then Tepper should be a decent choice. If you're MBB or bust, I wouldn't go to Tepper and focus on Tuck/Darden and their peer schools next year.

Concern #3&4: Why did you even apply to U.S. Business schools then? You knew that before applying I hope. It's a lot of energy & money to apply to more than 5 business schools if you knew you were not going to U.S....

Thank you for your reply. I did apply to Ross, Fuqua, Tuck, Darden and Kellogg in round 1. I applied to Tepper in Round 2 and yeah I did not think it through. After getting waitlisted at Fuqua, Tuck and Darden in R1, I was pretty demotivated and applied to Tepper and Goizueta in round 2 just to gauge where I stand.

I did not think I would go if given an offer to any of these schools.

Between now and September, I plan to boost my GMAT score, I had already been preparing for GMAT for the past 2 months. I am moving to a digital IOT profile for the next 6 months. I am due for a promotion in a few months.

Thus, I think I will have things I can improve.

What is your thought?

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Were you waitlisted by Tuck, Darden, Fuqua with interview or without interview? If with interview, perhaps it's your interview skill that was lacking. If without interview, then I'm not 100% sure. But seems like you're not really into Tepper, so I advise not to go if you feel that way. After all, you're investing almost 200K+ on tuition/fee/opportunity cost(I don't like to factor in living expenses because you incur them anyways) and 2 yrs of life to change something. If you don't feel it before you start, then don't do it.

Also, narrow down your school choices to maybe 3~4 schools in each round and really focus on each school? I applied to 4 schools in R2 (CBS, Stern, Yale, Darden) and thought it was exhausting (probably because I spent so much time on each of the applications). Also, I visited all schools and talked to many alumni and adcom (while working 55+ hrs per week). I know it's harder for you because you're located in India, but do your best to contact to current students or alumni who you can contact. If you talk to a lot of people in each school, it takes time and energy but also you get the sense of what you need to write/say in essay/interview.

Also, Darden has an Early Round (before R1). It can help your chances by showing them your interest. Not sure what other schools have Early Round. Good luck! You've got 5 months before R1 deadlines end (4 months for Darden Early round)

Lastly, I'm not a fan of admission consultants (I didn't use one). However, it could help in your case as you are re-applying and MBB/bust (meaning you want to get to the best school you can).

So I work in consulting myself and I work for a small boutique consulting firm and we’re constantly going head to head against MBBs to win projects.
Now, after my many years of consulting experience my recommendations to people getting into an MBA program with the MBB idea is as follows:
1. Bankers make more $ than consultants (even if it’s MBB or a boutique firm)
2. Tech has high growth right now, there will be constant demand for tech jobs - no recession for tech
3. While MBB/consulting is highly regarded it isn't easy (if you’re international it gets harder with the H1 situation now - a lot of companies right now are offering H1 only for tech jobs and few giving H1 for strategy and marketing jobs)
4. you’ll be accepted by all industry when exiting MBBs/consulting only if you’re a generalist
5. Exit from banking to industry is equally good, but you’ll not get into operations or marketing roles (if only you were in marketing function at a bank)
6. You make top dollars in consulting only if you’re a partner

Now, I leave it to the reader to decide if Consulting is worth their time and effort or not.

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Was waitlisted with interview everywhere.

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