NateFromHBS wrote:
virtu333 wrote:
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
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!
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.