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11 Jul 2015, 16:46
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi, looking to get some advice regarding apps for 2016. Any thoughts or suggestions are much appreciated.
Citizenship: US, born and raised in NJ/NY
Ethnicity: Mix (but mostly Indian)
Age: 26, Male
Education:
UG GPA: 3.85, decent public research university
Major: Psychology, Sociology
LSAT score: 97th percentile
Law School: Top 20
Law School GPA: slightly above median
Work Experience:
*Here's where things get weird. After two years of law school, I dropped out to start a company with some friends (I led the team). We secured $50k in funding and went through an accelerator program. the company was legal related. Unfortunately things didn't pan out and 6 months later we ran out of money. I then started working in NY for an ecommerce startup and shortly after a boutique digital marketing agency. In both companies I led marketing efforts. Outside of my full-time job, I participated in and won several hackathons. One of these hackathons led to the creation of an app company, which I led for approximately 6 months. After a year of working in the "real world" I started another legal related company. I led this company to an annual run rate of $240k. However, we recently shut down because of growth and legal issues.
To sum it up:
1 year work experience in marketing
2 years running and leading 3 startups, one of which produced $20k/mo
I'm currently looking for another job, so that'll add another year of experience. That's a total of 4 years of work experience and 2 years of law school before starting b-school.
Lastly, why b-school: I'm at heart an entrepreneur. I love making an impact in the world. All my startups have been legal related and I invested in making a meaningful difference in the lives of people who could not afford a lawyer. I believe technology can do wonders and help people, regardless of socioeconomic status. I see business as a sustainable way to change lives. Despite my failed startups, I've learned a ton of valuable lessons in leadership, marketing, product development, etc.. Overall, I think I can tell a good story about why I left law school and why I think business school is right for me. After b-school I'd like to get into consulting and then (most likely) start my own company again.
My Question - if you noticed I haven't included my GMAT score. That's because I haven't taken it yet. So here's my question:
Given my unique background, what score is enough to get admission to the M7. I know there's no cut off, but realistically speaking, what score would give me ~50% chance of getting an offer. My goal right now is 740, and with enough studying, I think I can get it. Is that enough? If I score 720, should I bother applying? At what score should I really cancel my score and try again. I'm only going to apply to M7 schools (I have my reasons - mostly because I'm buried in law school loans and it won't make sense for me to take on more unless I was confident in securing post-grad employment, hence M7). I'm planning on taking the GMATs on sept 6, a few days before Harvard's app deadline...
Please let me know your thoughts! I really appreciate any insight!
Citizenship: US, born and raised in NJ/NY
Ethnicity: Mix (but mostly Indian)
Age: 26, Male
Education:
UG GPA: 3.85, decent public research university
Major: Psychology, Sociology
LSAT score: 97th percentile
Law School: Top 20
Law School GPA: slightly above median
Work Experience:
*Here's where things get weird. After two years of law school, I dropped out to start a company with some friends (I led the team). We secured $50k in funding and went through an accelerator program. the company was legal related. Unfortunately things didn't pan out and 6 months later we ran out of money. I then started working in NY for an ecommerce startup and shortly after a boutique digital marketing agency. In both companies I led marketing efforts. Outside of my full-time job, I participated in and won several hackathons. One of these hackathons led to the creation of an app company, which I led for approximately 6 months. After a year of working in the "real world" I started another legal related company. I led this company to an annual run rate of $240k. However, we recently shut down because of growth and legal issues.
To sum it up:
1 year work experience in marketing
2 years running and leading 3 startups, one of which produced $20k/mo
I'm currently looking for another job, so that'll add another year of experience. That's a total of 4 years of work experience and 2 years of law school before starting b-school.
Lastly, why b-school: I'm at heart an entrepreneur. I love making an impact in the world. All my startups have been legal related and I invested in making a meaningful difference in the lives of people who could not afford a lawyer. I believe technology can do wonders and help people, regardless of socioeconomic status. I see business as a sustainable way to change lives. Despite my failed startups, I've learned a ton of valuable lessons in leadership, marketing, product development, etc.. Overall, I think I can tell a good story about why I left law school and why I think business school is right for me. After b-school I'd like to get into consulting and then (most likely) start my own company again.
My Question - if you noticed I haven't included my GMAT score. That's because I haven't taken it yet. So here's my question:
Given my unique background, what score is enough to get admission to the M7. I know there's no cut off, but realistically speaking, what score would give me ~50% chance of getting an offer. My goal right now is 740, and with enough studying, I think I can get it. Is that enough? If I score 720, should I bother applying? At what score should I really cancel my score and try again. I'm only going to apply to M7 schools (I have my reasons - mostly because I'm buried in law school loans and it won't make sense for me to take on more unless I was confident in securing post-grad employment, hence M7). I'm planning on taking the GMATs on sept 6, a few days before Harvard's app deadline...
Please let me know your thoughts! I really appreciate any insight!
13 Jul 2015, 06:21
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi there!
Thanks for going into detail about your story to date. It is unconventional
indeed! From our vantage point...your issue is the GMAT AND the fact that
you're unemployed at the moment. How long ago did your most recent venture
wrap up? What are your plans between now and when you start bschool next
year? That said, your decision to drop out of law school is a significantly
big deal. That will need to be explained in detail but, even then, it’s a
big mark on your professional career to date. Your unsuccessful businesses,
on the other hand, won't be looked at purely negative so long as you convey
what you learned and how you've applied those learnings since then.
Especially given how one of them wasn’t a failure per se – just a decision
to shut it down.
From a story standpoint, you should have plenty of war stories to share in
your essays that bring about unique learning experiences from your
businesses, so no worries there. But what puzzles us at the moment are your
goals. You say you're an entrepreneur, and it's really the highlight of your
career to date, but you now want to go to bschool to get into consulting?
And then you think you'll probably start your own business again? Not really
sure how the consulting piece fits in, but the reason we’re picking a bit at
this is because your candidacy hinges on whether or not you can convince the
AdCom that you've learned from your experiences and mistakes and how truly
passionate you are about "making a meaningful difference in people's lives".
Now, even if you could do that, the “helping others” story line can
sometimes be overdone. You need to have a specific, rock solid goal in mind
that aligns with everything you've done to date and you need to commit to it
throughout the application.
Regarding your GMAT, your goal should be to beat the median by a fair
margin - 10-30 points higher than the overall median depending which school
you are targeting. A 740 is a fine score. 760 would be even better...but is
it going to dig you out of the hole you're in from your professional
situation? Probably not. What about your involvement? Have you done any
philanthropy work or something similar? These are all equally important
considerations in addition to your GMAT, so don't neglect them!
One last comment – your timing for the GMAT is far from ideal. You’d have
to start on your applications now – long before you know what score you’ll
take in.
So should you even bother applying? That’s really a question only you can
answer. What we can say is, even with the right GMAT, you’ve got a lot of
issues to work through. Hope this helped, and best of luck this application
season!
Thanks for going into detail about your story to date. It is unconventional
indeed! From our vantage point...your issue is the GMAT AND the fact that
you're unemployed at the moment. How long ago did your most recent venture
wrap up? What are your plans between now and when you start bschool next
year? That said, your decision to drop out of law school is a significantly
big deal. That will need to be explained in detail but, even then, it’s a
big mark on your professional career to date. Your unsuccessful businesses,
on the other hand, won't be looked at purely negative so long as you convey
what you learned and how you've applied those learnings since then.
Especially given how one of them wasn’t a failure per se – just a decision
to shut it down.
From a story standpoint, you should have plenty of war stories to share in
your essays that bring about unique learning experiences from your
businesses, so no worries there. But what puzzles us at the moment are your
goals. You say you're an entrepreneur, and it's really the highlight of your
career to date, but you now want to go to bschool to get into consulting?
And then you think you'll probably start your own business again? Not really
sure how the consulting piece fits in, but the reason we’re picking a bit at
this is because your candidacy hinges on whether or not you can convince the
AdCom that you've learned from your experiences and mistakes and how truly
passionate you are about "making a meaningful difference in people's lives".
Now, even if you could do that, the “helping others” story line can
sometimes be overdone. You need to have a specific, rock solid goal in mind
that aligns with everything you've done to date and you need to commit to it
throughout the application.
Regarding your GMAT, your goal should be to beat the median by a fair
margin - 10-30 points higher than the overall median depending which school
you are targeting. A 740 is a fine score. 760 would be even better...but is
it going to dig you out of the hole you're in from your professional
situation? Probably not. What about your involvement? Have you done any
philanthropy work or something similar? These are all equally important
considerations in addition to your GMAT, so don't neglect them!
One last comment – your timing for the GMAT is far from ideal. You’d have
to start on your applications now – long before you know what score you’ll
take in.
So should you even bother applying? That’s really a question only you can
answer. What we can say is, even with the right GMAT, you’ve got a lot of
issues to work through. Hope this helped, and best of luck this application
season!
PersonalMBACoach
Expert
Personal MBA Coach Founder
Joined: 11 Sep 2010
Last visit: 28 Apr 2026
Posts: 3,811
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 11
Status:Boutique MBA Admissions Consulting from a Wharton graduate - Helping applicants get into top global business schools since 2008
Affiliations: Wharton, MIT
Location: United States (NY)
Overall Client Admit Rate: 96%
Expert reply
13 Jul 2015, 11:53
Kudos
Bookmarks
GMAT: your target score is reasonable and even if you are closer to 720 than 740, it won't ruin your app because you have a great GPA.
Experience: depending on what you plan to be doing when you apply, I would want you to think through the story a bit more so you can convince adcom of your steps along the way. That said, I don't think consulting is a bad way to go, it's all about spinning it correctly. If you can do a specific kind of consulting to get you closer to your entrepreneurial path, it could work quite well.
Extra-curriculars: You want to think about how your extra-curricular actives relate to your overall story. For you more than others (though it's important for all), that should all tie together with one theme.
Timing: If you start now and move aggressively, the timing shouldn't be an issue, provided you have enough free time to balance studying and writing essays. I've worked with folks on more aggressive timelines that include GMAT prep and it has worked out. That said I recommend doing some on round one and some in round two.
Best of luck and reach out with any questions or if you would like to discuss further. [email protected]
Experience: depending on what you plan to be doing when you apply, I would want you to think through the story a bit more so you can convince adcom of your steps along the way. That said, I don't think consulting is a bad way to go, it's all about spinning it correctly. If you can do a specific kind of consulting to get you closer to your entrepreneurial path, it could work quite well.
Extra-curriculars: You want to think about how your extra-curricular actives relate to your overall story. For you more than others (though it's important for all), that should all tie together with one theme.
Timing: If you start now and move aggressively, the timing shouldn't be an issue, provided you have enough free time to balance studying and writing essays. I've worked with folks on more aggressive timelines that include GMAT prep and it has worked out. That said I recommend doing some on round one and some in round two.
Best of luck and reach out with any questions or if you would like to discuss further. [email protected]
