MbaHopeful2424 wrote:
25M, Canadian citizen (born in Afghanistan)
167Q/167V GRE, 3.76 GPA
Hi All -
I am early in my thought process around the idea of applying to business school and as such, I wanted to post here to get some thoughts / insights. I plan on applying to HBS and Stanford GSB. I apologize if this is long, but I wanted to provide as much detail as I can.
Test Scores / GPA / School
I have an undergrad from a top Canadian business school (think Ivey/Queens), and I was a transfer student from another top business school (Schulich) (spent two years at Schulich, then 2 years at Ivey/Queens). My combined GPA is around a 3.76, but my GPA at the school I transfered to is around 3.85. I took the GRE a few days ago and scored a 167 on Quant and a 167 on Verbal and 5.5/6.0 on AWA.
In terms of my extracurricular activities while in school:
* I was the president of the asset management club, where I was in charge of organizing speaker series, educational events, and mentorship programs to over 250 club members.
* I was an investment analyst on the university investment club where I was in charge of managing a portfolio of stocks worth $300k. I was responsible for sourcing investment ideas and pitching them as well as mentoring general members of the club.
* I wrote a case study that is now on the HBS publishing website and is routinely used as teaching material for MBA and undergrad students back at the school I graduated from.
* Outside of school, I was, and still am, involved with a non for profit that helps provide mentorship and guidance to new comers to Canada (targeted towards new comers from war-torn countries).
**Work Experience**
* I graduated undergrad in 2018. Prior to graduating, I completed internships in Investment Banking (3 months) as well as two separate internships in Private Equity (PE). Including a 6 month internship at a smaller Canadian PE firm,and a 10 week internship at a large U.S. PE firm (very well respected firm, with a large asset base and several employees who attended HBS/GSB).
* I ended up joining the U.S. based PE firm as an Investment Analyst out of undergrad and worked there for about 1.5 years. As part of my job, I evaluated buyout transactions and was one of ~30 investment professionals.
* I had an offer to stay there for another 2 years as an Associate, but I ended up leaving to joing a long / short equity Hedge Fund in New York. The Hedge Fund I am at now is a very well respected fund with a track record of over 20 years. I am the youngest member of the investment team and I am responsible for sourcing, presenting, and managing investment ideas.
* Excluding my internships, I now have about 2 years of work experience. Upon matriculation, I would have 3 years of experience.
Posted from my mobile device
Your academics are strong. your extra-curriculars are competitive and perhaps you have a personal story of interest that fits with your community service commitment. You have a lot of strengths and pluses. As I'm sure you're aware, you work experience is on the low side, albeit it is impressive. IF the next year will be a year of growth for you on the job, from an admissions perspective, you may want to wait an additional year to apply. However, I can also understand where you may feel that you want to go know when the opportunity cost is a little lower and you can start your post-MBA career trajectory a year earlier.
So you have a choice to make: Apply now with a slightly lower chance of acceptance or apply next year with a higher likelihood of acceptance. If you choose the former, apply this year, but only apply to those programs that you really want to go to while acknowledging that you might have to reapply. If you aren't accepted, then reapply next year to a wider range of schools. And of course if you are accepted, you can happily join the class of 2023.

However, if you want to minimize the possibility of a reapplication, then work for another year, advance professionally and apply in 2021 to join the class of 2024.
Best,
Linda
_________________
Linda Abraham
Accepted ~ The Premier Admissions Consultancy
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