My Chances at Harvard - Post All Profile Evaluation Requests Here!

So I just found out about the Harvard 2+2 program, which sounds very appealing to me as I've just started my last semester of undergrad. My GMAT is 750 and my current GPA is 3.61 (hopefully 3.65 by the time I apply). The problem is until I took the GMAT I never imagined I would be applying for anything relatively close to Harvard, so I don't have a lot more to add to my application.

The 750 is only slightly better than the 740 median, and I'm not sure if it serves any advantage with my slightly below-average GPA. I don't have any internships/professional experience to add, but I plan to secure an internship starting early 2016 that I can at least mention. I have a year and a half's worth of work experience tutoring a variety of business courses, and the extent of my extracurricular activities is playing for the VCU ice hockey team.

Do I have any shot of getting in or should I save the $250?

Undergrad major and undergrad university ranking?

Your stats line-up with Harvard 2+2, so no problem there... but Harvard Business wants people who demonstrate leadership. I'm guessing you'd need to talk about some leadership opportunities/extracurriculars to improve your odds.

Thanks for sharing your profile. nice work on the GMAT that will certainly go a long way of substantiating your equally strong academic performance. Assuming your undergrad was of a decent caliber you should be competitive on paper. Now competitive and getting in are two different things. So I would start identifying examples where you have demonstrated interpersonal skills that b-schools like HBS love like leadership, teamwork, etc. Athletics is always a natural place to uncover this so dig deep into these experiences to see if you have an fodder for your application. But you should certainly shoot out an application.

Hope this helps!
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Hey There Ethanlayman,

I also highly encourage you to check out SOM's Silver Scholars program, which is similar, but a little different: https://som.yale.edu/our-programs/mba/admissions/silver-scholars-program

Happy to chat about it if you're interested!

Dan

Thanks for the feedback!

Undergrad is at VCU, not particularly high-caliber, how much will that hurt me?

I think $250 is worth it--think about how quickly you could spend that partying and eating out in college:)

2+2 has become absurdly competitive, and so very few people seem like high probabilities. You have solid grades and gmat, and so it's worth a shot. Yes, you are right that some strong extra curriculars and internships can help, but they look a lot at STEM folks, so it also matters what you have studied. And it sounds like you played a varsity sport, and that can be quite time consuming even out of your "season". Their class profiles also show that they pull from a lot of different undergrads to fill that 100+ seating, so that helps. And your demographic profile will also be evaluated.

Bottom line, you have a shot with an incredible essay to get attention, but unless you are coming from some under represented demographics, you are probably a better shot down the road with more leadership and extra curricular fire power.
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VCU will not be seen as an elite undergrad school but you did perform well so this will be seen as a positive aspect of your profile. If there was any doubt of your aptitude from your academic record your strong GMAT performance will put that to rest.

Good luck!
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Do you have what it takes to be the scrappy winner?
Can you think on your feet and beat the elite?

Then share your profile here and we'll get some experts to review it!

Suggested Template

Background and nationality
Undergrad Information
GMAT:
Work experience and leadership
Community and others
Post MBA goals
Anything else?
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What is this? How does it work? I was recently rejected so I am curious to find out what aspects of my profile make me non-competitive.

Posted from my mobile device

Thanks for getting us started Nareen!

I'd add three more fields: (1) gender, (2) the "personal brand" you plan to present to the admissions committee, and (3) the "personal narrative" you plan to weave into the application. I understand that these may be a bit more personal, which is why people may be hesitant to share them outside of DMs. But I believe that both, and especially personal narrative are critical elements of the application -- especially at HBS -- and even more important than GPA and GMAT. Here are the differences, so you know how to include them:

Personal Brand Statement

The "who, what, and where". An approximately 25-word bio capturing the essence of who you are, what you have done, and where you are headed.

e.g. "I am an outgoing 27-year-old hispanic female with intensive leadership experience, international exposure in Africa, and expertise in renewable energy, interested in transitioning to consulting."

Personal Narrative

The "why." Your narrative explains the story arc of your life: which consistent interests and motivations link your past work, through business school, to your future aspirations.

e.g. (for the same person as above) "Since the night our home's electricity was cut off because my mother couldn't afford the utility bill, I been interested in finding new ways to power the world. As a wind turbine engineer working in Kenya, I helped produce safe, clean, and renewable energy that propelled the economic dreams of a continent. Now I want to increase the scope of my work by helping all energy solutions become more efficient. To do that I'm applying to HBS with the goal of working in BCG's energy practice in Texas."

You can see why narrative is so powerful for judging the success of an application.

IvyAdmissionsGroup.com

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Hi,

I plan to apply for an MBA program starting Fall 2018. Can someone please have a look at my profile and provide your feedback? Thanks!

Indian male

Work Experience:
Senior Consultant at a top 5 Technology and Strategy consulting firm (will have 3.5+ years of experience at the time of starting school)

Academic Qualifications:
1. M.S. in Engg. GPA - 3.5+ (top three Ivy league school)
2. B.E. in Engg. GPA - 3.3+ (top 10 Engg. School in India, graduated in the top 10% of the class)
Gender - Male
GMAT: 740
List of Schools I plan on applying to: HBS, Wharton, Booth, Stanford, Sloan, Kellogg, Columbia
Extra Curricular Activities - Was moderately involved in social service activities while pursuing my Bachelors and inter college level activities as well. Haven't been able to pursue much post graduation.

Areas of Interest in MBA - Business Analytics, Management in Tech Space

Hi,

I plan to apply for an MBA program starting Fall 2018. Can someone please have a look at my profile and provide your feedback? Thanks!

Nationality: Indian male

Work Experience:
Senior Consultant at a top 5 Technology and Strategy consulting firm (will have 3.5+ years of experience at the time of starting school)

Academic Qualifications:
1. M.S. in Engg. GPA - 3.6+ (top three Ivy league school)
2. B.E. in Engg. GPA - 3.3+ (top 10 Engg. School in India, graduated in the top 10% of the class)
Gender - Male
GMAT: 740
List of Schools I plan on applying to: HBS, Wharton, Booth, Stanford, Sloan, Kellogg, Columbia
Extra Curricular Activities - Was moderately involved in social service activities while pursuing my Bachelors and inter college level activities as well. Haven't been able to pursue much post graduation.

Areas of Interest in MBA - Business Analytics, Management in Tech Space

Hi there,

Your profile is good but you need a wow factor for the M7 schools you're targeting. Your GMAT score is awesome. Your work ex is a bit on the lower side but still good. Undergrad GPA is good too. Your international education also helps. But adcoms look for your accomplishments and leadership experience. You need to display leadership and an upward trajectory in your career. Most schools are also interested in your community involvement. Everyone is involved during their undergrad but what are you doing right now? I hope this helps.

Best,
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Hi, your GMAT, GPA and career in top-5 consulting sound good for top-10 US b-schools. I don't think you should improve your GMAT, especially if you're planning to apply this August-September. What you should concentrate your efforts on is the following: your inspirations to apply (what inspires you to get an MBA?); your motivation to go to a particular school (how can this school help you achieve your goals: curriculum, location, faculty etc.); your development (what skills and practical knowledge you've gained to stand out and bring value to MBA class)
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Sorry, but if you don't have inspiration to get an MBA, how you'll do it?

so you do have it - that's great! It must be well-structured and visible for AdComs - that's what I meant.
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Chinese American
Top 5 liberal arts school, 3.42 math major/physics minor
GMAT: 750 (49Q 42 V)
Work experience and leadership: 4 years (at matriculation) of life sciences management consulting at a top econ consulting firm - 2 promotions
Community and others: Grassroots political activist and organizer, mentor for immigrant youth, marathoner, write healthcare policy pieces, film criticism, and fashion blog. Vice chairman of undergrad student invest committee
Short term goal: Healthcare system consulting at McKinsey or Avalere
Long term goal: Healthcare delivery reform at healthcare system or government
Why MBA: Develop leadership/management skills, gain broader business education, learn more about healthcare systems, develop healthcare industry network

Hi, what degree did you take at liberal arts school? Is it Bachelor's? And it's not clear, why you target Harvard: your goals fit all top-20 b-schools. As for your strengths, your mentorship for immigrants and community activities will be a good asset, if you can demonstrate positive impact (what do you teach youth and how this improved their adaptation in foreign environment? can you provide impressive real-life examples and results?)
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I like this profile. Your GPA is a little low, but the Adcom will recognize that you got it in a difficult major from a prestigious school. So don't sweat too much about that.

The key to your application will be in arguing that your work experience is impactful, prestigious, and the ideal preparation for your future ambitions. HBS in particular plays favorites with firms and will weight your past work experience most heavily in the process. If you feel comfortable sharing, I can see how common it is to see people from your firm at HBS. If it is less common, you'll really need to double down on the personal narrative part of your application and argue that you couldn't have picked a better preparation for Healthcare consulting at McKinsey than your firm.

The other challenge is in telling a story about how moving from one consulting firm to another is both inspiring and impactful. The HBS Adcom doesn't want to just help people make incremental changes. They want to help people make transformative improvements to both their careers and the world. A few ideas come to mind, but this is the second big question you need to answer in your application. If you get both done you'll have a great chance!


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Thanks Nate, some great advice here. In terms of the firm sending people to HBS, there isn't a huge history. One of my co-workers did get in and graduated this year, others who have gone to HBS typically had some other work experience after working at my firm (e.g, a former co-worker worked at my firm for 3 years and then a NGO for 1 year and will be attending HBS this fall). Then again, our firm is relatively small so it's a bit hard to gauge what history really looks like (in the past two years, my division has had 1 Booth, 1 HBS, 1 Haas, 1 Wharton).

In terms of going from life sciences consulting (essentially pharmaceutical consulting) to healthcare consulting, my main reason for doing so is breadth of work and exposure. I also considered going straight into working for healthcare systems or insurers, like a Kaiser or Cigna, but I think going back to consulting with a focus on healthcare systems would provide me with a stronger perspective of healthcare as a whole and provide a stronger foundation before going to a more public service oriented role or into industry. Right now, my consulting work is more niche. Of course, the MBA is also to help develop my leadership/management skills, meet and learn from more people in the healthcare industry, and gain some foundational knowledge as well.

Another vague thought is whether I should retake the GMAT; I usually scored 760 or 770 on my practice but flubbed the quant on the real thing and got a 750. It also looks like we'll be able to take the sections in whatever order we want in July/August, which could be helpful as well. On the other hand, retaking a 750 could look neurotic (sent scores at test center) and it'd take away time spent on essays.