Hi
cozuysal94 so glad I took the time to write because despite your profile, there is a chance you might have struck out at the schools you listed because they would not be able to help with your goals. If you go for INSEAD you must apply January batch because intership; HEC is OK for IB but really you need to do a summer internship to start as an Associate.
I'm going to answer this more for BB IB than VC so know that. Where did you hear that about European schools being more lenient re: grades? I don't know if I agree. No matter where, 3.0-3.2 is not going to stop you if you get some leadership on the board (definitely do community/volunteering/board activities!)
For US schools if you have a high GMAT they will forgive your bad grades to some degree, I would say that you need something over 3.0 to be on the safe side and It also works if you have like a 2.5 To a 3.0 if your GMAT is particularly high relative to the average for that school. In the optional essay you should give them a good reason for them to believe that you're going to perform better in graduate school. For investment banking the top 5 schools are going to be great for that: HBS, GSB, Wharton, Booth. So you might pick 2 from that “band.” And then there is Yale, CBS, Ross, NYU and Darden, pick 2+ or so from this band.
Obvs NYU is a good target because Wall Street but there are offsetting entries for that school IMO, you should be very certain about IB there whereas Ross has strengths in many areas
That said I am an EVANGELIST when it comes to having your plans sorted with a career coach and informational interviews before getting to b-school where you could likely become overwhelmed with career shiz, waste your time and end up spending $200K to maybe or maybe not get a job. Plus, there is no time to "explore" anyways because the internship search is getting earlier and earlier.
I know for a fact Cornell looks the other way when it comes to grades, if you have a strong GMAT, so put that on the list as your safety school. Great for IB as well. Really nice how the 2nd years with return offers mentor the first years. If you want backups for the backup there is Georgetown and USC.
Check out this podcast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L634uXdYdTEGood luck with getting bought~! Enjoy Bay Area weather because you are most likely to be somewhere cold for b-school
Reach out if you like.
cozuysal94 wrote:
MBAPrepCoachThanks a lot for taking your time to write. I actually want to go to a US school but I honestly didn't think that my profile would be good enough to apply. Considering that I have a low GPA from a non-target UK university. I heard that EU business schools are more forgiving to applicants with low GPA so that's why I wanted to go for European business schools. I am planning to work 1 one more year in the startup and hopefully, we can make an exit. As I said my post-MBA goal is to be a Venture Capitalist or Bulge Bracket investment banks. Which schools would recommend me to apply?
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