Candidate assessment for top 5 US MBA school

Question

Target schools: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Wharton, Babson.
Do I have a shot?

Profile:

Raised on 4 continents: Childhood in Africa and England. School years in India. Grad school and career in USA.Speak 3 languages.

Grad school: Drexel University, GPA 3.83, M.S. Biomedical Engineering
Undergrad: Manipal Institute of Technology, B.E. Biomedical Engineering , GPA 4.0
Published multilple journal articles in leading journals

GMAT: Unknown (expecting 700+ score based on current practice test scores)

Career: 3 years. R&D Research Associate at MIT-Harvard based biotech startup doing cancer drug development for first 2 years after school. Since this year, working as a management consultant for life sciences

Hobbies: Sculling, landscape photography, traveling, movies, music, board games, strategy PC games, poetry, sketching.
Sports: soccer, running, swimming 
Proficient in: Chromatic harmonica

Extra-curriculars in school: Various college association roles including writer for college newpaper, won multiple awards and contests.

Social work: Coordinator for school improvement program for 1 year in inner city distrcit school in Philadelphia, business plan and other volunteer support work for Afghan youth entrepreneurship program

Goal: entrepreneurship

That's a brief snapshot. I have more details I can go into if that helps.
What else would help my profile? Do I have a shot at getting into any of the above?

Jerz · Answer

I said 50-50, purely because it's so hard to predict successful applications at the schools you're targeting based on a list of stats and accomplishments. On paper do you look like a competitive candidate for those schools? Absolutely. Does that always translate into an admit? Absolutely not. Pretty much every top school will tell you that many of the people they turn down each year are perfectly qualified for admission. So what makes the difference? IMO, it's how you tell your story. Can you present yourself in such a way that the person reading your application can connect with who you are as a person, rather than a list of qualifications? Can you tell a coherent story of what you've accomplished, where you want to go, and how an MBA will take you there? I think that's what makes the difference between the qualified candidate who gets rejected and the candidate who gets admitted.

sd338 · Answer

Thank You Jerz. I appreciate your feedback.
I am planning on approaching an admissions consultant after my GMAT exam in 2 months' time.
I haven't yet decide who that will be.

AlexMBAApply · Answer

Life sciences background/experience is a plus -- enough that the schools you mentioned won't be a long shot. Still a stretch, but enough of a chance that it's worth the effort to give them a serious go. Won't be surprised if you didn't get into H/S, maybe waitlisted at W, and in at Sloan, or maybe in at one of H/S/W, and in at Sloan. Or dinged at all 4 (maybe a few waitlists). Hard to say. Comes down to application execution and luck. If you are sure about wanting to go next year, I'd add another 1-2 schools, maybe Duke (given its healthcare/life sciences reputation) or Berkeley - both these schools you should be able to get into.

sd338 · Answer

Thanks Alex!
I appreciate your reply.
Cheers,
Suman

AlexMBAApply · Answer

Your welcome!

Candidate assessment for top 5 US MBA school

Do I have a chance to get admitted to any of those above excluding Babson?

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