Hi there,
Thanks for sharing the details of your profile! I definitely think you’re an interesting candidate for the programs you listed with solid career focus and progression so far and good leadership experience, particularly outside of work in your community involvement. How you tell the story of your work experience in terms of your achievements, level of responsibility, teamwork, etc. is a longer conversation but getting that narrative right will be important in dispelling any preconceived notions about the insurance industry. (I’m not saying that those views exist, but if they do, it’s nothing that can’t be overcome.)
In terms of your undergraduate major, it’s really not about what your major was but about how well you performed academically overall. A 3.4 GPA isn’t bad – it isn’t great either but certainly won’t raise any red flags. I’m more concerned about your lower quant score on the GMAT. If you wanted to help offset that and since you have time before you apply, I would certainly recommend that you take a quant-focused course or two before applying to solidify that aspect of your candidacy. Statistics and Calculus would be great subjects if you haven’t taken them already. All top MBA programs will require Calculus in order to matriculate so you might as well get it out of the way now. And make sure you get an A! Berkeley Extension or UNC are great options for high-quality online courses.
In terms of next steps in your career before applying, I wouldn’t focus on or make decisions based on how the admissions committee may view them. It’s your business school application and you get to tell them the story of why you made the decisions you made and why they made perfect sense for you. So you get to shape their perceptions of your path. With that said, I would make job decisions based on how they’ll get you closer to your long-term goals. So be strategic about it and think about how the analyst role at a big 4 consulting firm will help you achieve your goals. Will it provide you more leadership opportunities? Will it provide you broader exposure to the healthcare industry outside of insurance? If you can’t think of a valid rationale beyond getting a broadly-recognized name on your resume, then it may not be the best decision. So the short answer to your question is “it depends”.
In terms of your school list, I would add Wharton. Its Healthcare Management program is arguably the best healthcare-focused MBA program out there. It may be a bit of a stretch (although not out of range) but certainly worth applying to given your prior work experience and healthcare industry post-MBA goals.
You’re doing the right thing by starting early and asking the right questions – so bravo! If you’d like to discuss this further, I’m happy to chat. You can email me at
melody@vantagepointadmissions.com or you can sign up for our free 30-minute consultation at
www.vantagepointadmissions.com.
Best of luck to you!
-Melody
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