Calling all UT McCombs MBA Applicants: 2024 Intake Class of 2026

Hi hi! It’s clear that the consulting trek at McCombs is very structured from the moment of admit. Post-MBA, a large percentage of grads go into tech. I’m curious to know if the tech trek is as structured as consulting for incoming MBA candidates?

Good morning all, my name is Daniel. I’m a fall 2023 admit to McCombs and look forward to answering as many questions as I can. I’m new to this process as well, so if I cannot answer your questions, please reach out to the McCombs team—they’re terrific at answering all questions.

Welcome Daniel! Thank you so much for doing this session! Really appreciate you taking the time! Quick question for you - what are your post-MBA Goals? to get this started

Some background on myself, I graduated from USC in 2012 with a Chemical Engineering degree, and have worked in energy for the last 11 years. I was a re-applicant to McCombs this past fall R1 and was accepted. My plan, as of now, is to pursue a consulting track post-MBA and am currently attending some pre-MBA programs in the industry

Hello everyone, I am Ankush and I’m a 2023 admit to Mccombs. I’ll be happy to help you out if you have any questions.

daniellivsey, wow, you are on the more experienced side of things. I was a bit immature and young when I did my MBA. I think you will get a lot more value than I did!

Hi Ankush, could you please give a brief of your profile

I graduated in 2018 from IIT(BHU) as an electrical engineer, post which I joined Oracle as a software developer and after about 33 months, i shifted to Microsoft in a similar role.

My post-MBA goal is to get into Product management in tech and later start my own company

and yes, I am joining from Bengaluru, India.

Ha! I toyed with the idea of going back to school in 2015, but was hard to tear myself away from income. After gaining more exposure to multi-department projects, I realized that an MBA would be a vital asset as I hope to further my career growth, as well as provide me with many more future opportunities across different industries

What did you guys feel the strongest about in your application and what perhaps you were the most concerned about? Obviously now you are in and all good, what were your insecurities during the application process?

I will start with this as an icebreaker

Less years of work experience. (2yrs10months) at the time of matriculation is something I’m concerned about.
And above average GMAT score, international exposure during my graduation would be the strong points.

For me, the biggest concern was that I belonged to an Overrepresented pool.

Great question. I was definitely most concerned about my undergraduate GPA. It was lower than I would have liked and a bit below the McCombs class profile. While that isn’t everything, you constantly focus on the weakest parts, and unfortunately that was not an aspect I could fix. McCombs has an optional statement you can write (<250 words), and that is the best place to address your weakest aspect.

I felt my work and project experience was strong, and really tried to highlight those things in my resume. Also, I spent a good amount of time talking to current and former McCombs MBA’s to really understand on-campus life, and really answer the question "Why McCombs?" This made it much easier to fill out the application and really show the AdCom why they should accept me

and the biggest strength was that despite being in the overrepresented pool, I had hit highs in those categories.

plus having big brand names on my resume certainly helped to stand out

That is on the lower side... it really depends on your goals and how you position your story but that’s on low side. If you are a really hot rising star, then it is fine. However, I joined on the younger side and it was not as impactful...

SO you have to think about the reasons why you are looking to pursue an MBA at this point in your career.

Agreed with bb. At the end, if you’re able to articulate your story effectively, the adcom will be happy to admit you.


GMAT score should be taken into account with respect to your applicant pool. For example, avg gmat score for Indians in Mccombs would definitely be higher than the class average.

I will have to hop off here soon, but happy to answer any questions folks may have via DM’s