Hi Bostonite,
Thanks for your message.
As you may know,
Stratus Prep is particularly well known for our unprecedented success helping applicants into HBS and Stanford so I am very happy to weigh in and offer my strategic advice in terms how to best position you at these top schools.
Congrats on the incredible GMAT score that will certainly position you well at all the top schools, but remember that the essays and recommendations are far more important than the GMAT when it comes to HBS and Stanford in particular.
I would recommend only applying to your top 2-3 schools this year in Round 2 (maybe HBS, Stanford and Wharton). If you are admitted, that is great news. If not, you can reapply next year to those schools and some targets and safeties. Don’t worry about potentially being a reapplicant to HBS and Stanford; as we have quantitatively demonstrated, you actually have a higher probability as a reapplicant than you do as a first time applicant. Our overall success rate at HBS is 60% and at Stanford is 40%. Those numbers actually increase by about 20% for reapplicants.
Given that your GPA is a bit on the lower side for HBS and Stanford, you will need to use your application essays to speak in a compelling way to the admissions committee and differentiate yourself from other IT applicants. With some coaching from experts, I have no doubt that you could get into the schools you mentioned like HBS and Stanford.
Since you studied finance and business in college and work in IT, you have the added challenge of convincing business schools why you need more business education and what you will gain from their specific MBA program as well as separating yourself from other highly technical applicants. My team at
Stratus Prep has ample experience working very successfully with applicants who have an undergraduate business degree and who come from a more technical background, so we would be happy to help you navigate this challenge.
All the best,
Shawn