This thread is the master profile evaluations thread for Deferred MBA Program applications for 2021 only. 

1. HBS 2+2 
2. Stanford GSB Deferred Admission
3. Wharton MBA Advance Access Program
4. Chicago Booth Scholars Program
5. Yale SOM Silver Scholars Program
6. Darden Future Scholars Program
7. MIT Sloan MBA Early Admission
8. The Columbia Business School Deferred Enrollment Program
9. Indian School of Business Young Leaders Program

This thread will help aspirants get some consolidated and genuine advice from consultants, and help others gauge their chances of getting into top deferred MBA programs.

Post your profile here if you want!

Suggested Template

Background and nationality
Undergrad Information
GMAT
Achievements
Extra Curricular
Post MBA goalsWhy do you want to go for an MBA?
Anything else?

Hey! Thanks for starting this discussion. Wanted to share my profile and ask for profile evaluations to all the deferred programs you mentioned. I’m planning to apply this year and plan on enrolling in 2023/24

Background: US citizen but have spent most of my life living in India (I live in the states now though!)
Undergrad: Elite non-Ivy (think Duke/Vanderbilt/Northwestern)
GMAT: 770
Gpa: 3.63 (major in business, computer science, minor in leadership and organizational effectiveness)
Experience:incoming technology consultant at non mbb. internship at an NHL team, software company, and education company
Extra curriculars: a LOT of on campus leadership. Founded a business frat, the e-commerce club, a university sponsored non profit org, a social frat and held executive board positions within 6 other clubs
Post mba goals: go back into tech consulting for a little bit and then start my own firm focused on tech consulting (more specifically human capital management technologies)

Would love to hear how you think I would fare in the admissions process when I go through it. Would appreciate any feedback.

Thank you!

Posted from my mobile device

Roiboi03:

You have a great background. Your GPA is a little low for the deferred programs but it sounds like you took some challenging courses to the curriculum should counterbalance it.

Two other points: One, you will need a better, more refined goal. Tech consulting isn't all that imaginative. With all due respect, it might work against you as an Indian candidate even if you are a US citizen. You need to rethink that strategy so you stand out. Two, your extracurricular achievements need to articulated superbly. It sound like you have accomplished a lot, but you need to make those sing as they are more important for you than full-time work candidates.

That al said, throw your hat in the ring. You definitely have a fighting chance!

Please reach out if you need help with your application. We frequently work with candidates for the top deferred programs.

https://admissionado.com/free-consultation/

Good luck,
Admissionado

Hi @Roiboi,

Thank you for starting out the conversation in this thread.

Before I evaluate your profile, let me help you understand what kind of candidates are the business schools looking at wrt. deferred programs:
1. Competitive Students Who Thrive on High Risk/High Reward Challenges
2. College Leaders With Amazing Accomplishments
3. Students Who Expect Challenging MBA Feeder Jobs Following Graduation
4. Students who have clarity of vision (the path you will carve for yourself starting now)

Your profile looks good on the surface.
I see hint of examples to cover for aforementioned points 1 and 2. And to connect the dots with your vision 'to start your own firm', you can elaborate on your business frat and e-commerce club stories. To top it up, try to bring out some entrepreneurial examples in your profile (or you can work on one, if you haven't worked on any yet), just to showcase the drive you got for your vision. This will help you justify point 4.

In order to understand what job you are taking up and how well it fits with your goals, I am happy to hop on a call sometime this week to discuss your chances in further detail. Feel free to book my calendar as per your convenience.

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma, Linkedin
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond
Testimonials
Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com
What s app: +65-97158525

Thanks for doing this!

Background and nationality: Canadian-born citizen, Pakistani
Undergrad Information: Top business school in Canada, 3.7 GPA
GMAT: Going to take in March, on track for 710-730
Achievements:
- Internship at MBB - returning later this year after graduation
- Founder of YouTube channel with ~400K subscribers and over 50 million views which provides free software tutorials and digital marketing tip videos - this is a passion project that I have been running for the last 7 years and will continue to run
Extra Curricular:
- Co-chair for product management club
- Case competition team - traveled internationally and got podium placements for all 3 competitions attended
- Consultant and Project Manager on consulting club
- Competed in and placed in other case competitions
Post MBA goals - Why do you want to go for an MBA?
- Want to return to consulting and then eventually pivot into the edutech space. My passions lie in technology, marketing and education. I want to utilize technology to educate as many people as possible, it is what I find fulfilling. Consulting has provided me with great exposure to public sector clients and digital work, and I want to maximize learning in my first few years out of undergrad. I do not fully know how I want to have this impact in the long-term, but I know there's many avenues to pursue it that will make me fulfilled. One of which is consulting, the other is by either working for or creating my own edutech company to improve accessibility of education, and the final is through becoming a professor. An MBA will give me the opportunity to explore these options, and if I choose to pivot into edutech or create my own company, will provide me with a network and additional resources.
Anything else?
- Would love to know my chances / if I should be applying for M7. I understand that my academics/scores are below average and business grads have a lower chance at deferred but was hoping my goals, achievements, and ECs can offset that. Would love honest input.

Thank you so much once again!

Hi ShaniM,

I am impressed with your current profile and the fact that you have a sense of clarity at the beginning of your career is something very rare. Your GPA is quite decent and if you enhance your targeted GMAT score, it’ll enhance your overall chances. Having said that, your story and qualitative factors matter much more than your GMAT, so do not overthink this and do your best!

Your internship at MBB must have given you a lot of good consulting experience, and you need to speak about the projects you have undertaken during your internship in your apps and how it shaped your vision (I do get some idea, but need more clarity). It will demonstrate your overall potential and bring the much-needed impact in your profile. Your love for teaching people and making education accessible for all is what impressed me the most - it speaks loud & clear about your contributing personality and fits in well to Stanford’s and Booth’s culture. Also, your Youtube page gives an interesting stint to your overall profile. Highlight how you started the channel, how you're have risen up from ground zero to 400K subs. Also, put a spotlight on the techniques you used to expand your presence on the platform, adcoms will be interested to know that.

Your post-MBA goals seem to be very clear and bring you closer to your passion for educating people. But I am still not convinced over the relevance of MBA in your overall journey. You want an MBA to explore all these different paths to find a way for your long-term goal. But don’t you think you can explore them even without an MBA? You’re still young and have considerable time to explore. Maybe, after 4 years, you may not even feel the need for an MBA! Think harder over your reasons for an MBA!

To sum it up, your overall profile is good, and you've got a good shot at M7 schools. But you need to work on your why MBA because it will define the intentionality in your applications which is the most important aspect for the adcoms to gauge your fit to their programs.

If you'd like, I'm happy to hop on a call sometime this week to discuss your chances in detail and suggest you schools which truly fit your personality and goals. Feel free to book a free session with us as per your convenience.

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond
Testimonials
Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com
What s app: +65-97158525