Profile Review Request

Question

Hi,

I am planning to apply for an MBA this year in Round 1 and would appreciate any feed back based on my profile below.

US/Pakistani dual citizen. Grew up in Pakistan, came to the US for undergrad. Graduated from USC (SoCal) with a 3.6 GPA and a major in finance. Joined a Big 4 Advisory firm in September 2013 so I will have slightly under 3 years of work experience when applying. My work though has been in the Regulatory and Compliance workspace which might not be considered "cool" at my target schools. Followed the standard path of 2 years to first promotion and will get strong recommendations.

Volunteer work: 
1. Managerial role at firm's local office volunteer committee for nearly a year now. 
2. Been working for over 2 years with a non-profit based in U.S. working to improve the education sector in Pakistan (founded by Harvard and MIT grads)

Why MBA?
I want to switch to Strategy Consulting with a focus on social sector projects in Pakistan (I feel that a dual MPP degree might be of help as well). The McKinsey offices in Middle East currently handle a ton of these projects and I want to make my way over there. Looking at profiles online, McKinsey in Dubai seems to hire only from the top 10 schools.

I have divided my target schools in 2 categories and am still in the process of finalizing this list. The 1st list consists of top schools that will help me in getting to my goal stated above directly. The 2nd list contains schools that are by no means mediocre but would help me indirectly in that I will have to recruit at MBB offices in the US and build my network for at least a couple of years before switching to the Middle East since these schools do not seem to have a lot of representation in the MBB firms in Middle East.

Target Schools(list #1)
1. HBS (long shot but an MBA/MPP with HKS would go a long way in helping me achieve my goal)
2. Wharton (large class size means better chances than HBS plus they're another school that offers the MPP program with HKS)
3. Booth/Kellogg (same reason as above)
4. Sloan/Tuck (amazing schools that will also help my goal and at the same time provide me with an opportunity to pursue the HKS MBA/MPP program)
5. Yale SOM
6. INSEAD?? (Don't want to leave the US for MBA if possible)

Target Schools (list #2)
1. Duke 
2. Cornell/UCLA
3. Notre Dame (large endowment but would have to work my behind off to get to MBB from here)
4. Rice (large endowment but known to have representation in the Houston office of MBB)
5. UT Austin

I realize this is an aggressive list for someone with my background. But this is by no means my final list. I am looking to apply to a max of 5 schools with probably a 2/3 split from the lists 1 and 2 above.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

mbaMissionKate · Answer

Have you taken GMAT / GRE yet? If so let me know your score and then I can provide a detailed review. Thanks!

ConfusedB · Answer

Apologies for missing out that very critical piece of information:

GMAT (1st try - 2013): 700 (47Q/38V) 5 AWA, 8 IR
GMAT (2nd try - 2016): 740 (49Q/42V) 6 AWA, 7IR

mbaMissionKate · Answer

No problem

At first I thought I just missed it! Impressive increase in your GMAT - great work! Strengths I see....great GPA / GMAT so your academic preparedness for the MBA will be excellent. Your extracurriculars and volunteer experience seem very strong and I like that you are giving back to the country where you grew up, that shows the importance of community to you. On the work front, the promotion is great, that will definitely help. I can see what you mean about your specific field being less exciting or cool, but I don't think that'll make a huge difference. It's a Big 4 firm which is great, and you'll just need to make sure you can clearly explain why you were drawn to that role and what transferable skills you will bring to strategy consulting (which I'm guessing is quite a lot). So other than that small issue, and the fact that you've got a few extremely competitive schools on your list

plus targeting MBB which is competitive too, I don't really see any weaknesses in your profile. As for schools, I am glad you are planning to narrow down, any more than 7 we start to see a big drop-off in quality. For McKinsey placements, I believe Kellogg and INSEAD are the highest, though INSEAD is quite different both in the accelerated curriculum and global network so if that's not appealing to you then I might drop it and put the effort elsewhere. HBS and Wharton will be tough but could be worth a shot, I've had clients get in to HKS before but not HBS or Wharton so they are very competitive. Yale, Tuck, and Duke would all be great options for you. Tuck and Duke both have early deadlines that you might want to take advantage of. I think schools like Rice and Notre Dame would be pretty safe for you but would be nice to have at least one as a backup. I believe Stern and Ross also have joint MBA / MPP options - not sure if you've considered those? Hope this helps, and keep me posted if you have any other questions! Kate

ConfusedB · Answer

Thanks Kate. That's definitely encouraging to hear. If I had to pick two dream schools to apply to out of HBS/Wharton/Tuck/Kellogg would you suggest applying to Tuck and Kellogg then? I realize that my chances might be slightly higher at these schools but if it helps, I do have more access to HBS and Wharton grads through my network of friends as opposed to Tuck and Kellogg.

And considering that I choose Duke, Yale and Notre Dame from the other list do I stand a chance of getting anywhere close to a 50% scholarship if not more?

Regarding the Stern and Ross programs, I do not believe they would be worth the extra time and cost. HKS has an amazing reputation in Pakistan, both graduates and professors of the school have been involved in key projects with the federal and provincial governments, which is why I want to invest that extra time and money.

Thanks.

mbaMissionKate · Answer

That's good that you have access to some grads...though honestly that doesn't make a ton of difference at HBS because it is so crazy competitive there. So if you have to choose two, maybe stick with Wharton, and then whichever of Kellogg vs. Tuck you think would be a better personal fit or wherever you think you'd prefer to spend two years! They have very similar acceptance rates and average GMATs. Though I really don't want to discourage you from applying to HBS if it is a dream for you...I work with lots of clients who want to give it a shot there. But I just think you should be aware how low their acceptance rate is.

I'm not sure about the scholarship...getting 50%+ anywhere can be pretty tough. Perhaps at Notre Dame though where your stats would put you significantly above their average. Hard to say though as every school has a very different process and criteria for scholarship.

That makes sense re. Stern and Ross, just wanted to make sure they were on your radar!

Kate

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