Should I apply to Wharton or focus on other schools? Chances?

Question

I went to a top 3 liberal arts school.
Have a 710 GMAT( going to take again, hoping for 730+)
College athlete- 1st 4 year All American in school history, won a National Championship.

3.0 gpa ( this is what will kill me)
Worked in marketing for a healthcare company and recently switched to a mortgage hedging firm

Roles I would like to have coming out of an MBA in order: Equity research buyside, Private equity, Investment Banking- Research side, corporate finance in the Entertainment Industry

I'm aware most of these jobs besides IB and Corp Fin are not realistic post MBA and that's why I have IB to transition into those other roles eventually.

The schools I want to apply to in the 1st round are Columbia, Uchicago, Cornell, Michigan, Duke, and possibly UCLA. I think Columbia and Uchicago will be a reach and I'm wondering if I should take UCLA off and apply to Wharton. Chances are super slim but I'd like to know what everyone on the forum thinks. Should I apply to Wharton or focus on an app for a different school? Thanks

I wrote the same thread on Wallstreet forums but I'm curious to hear feedback from gmat club forum posters.

justbequiet · Answer

Why not apply to both Wharton & UCLA? Both schools are great for finance & entertainment sector respectively.

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

I agree with the above post (depending on how high you can get your GMAT score). It would also be good to know a bit more information about your background to give you more advice:

Companies- what companies did you work / do you work for?
Work performance - what has your career trajectory been? performance relative to peers? salary increases?
GPA- was this trending up / down / flat?
Extra-currics- what do you do outside of work?

Feel free to email any of this if you don't want to post it publicly or if you want to hear about Personal MBA Coach's approach to admissions consulting.

[email protected]

Good luck!

fxMBAconsulting · Answer

Hi there,
The very minimum GMAT at Wharton is going to be a 710. You can read my analysis of what Wharton is looking for as well as 2015-16 essay analysis here: https://fxmbaconsulting.com/wharton-mba- ... 2016-2018/

The 3.0 GMAT is going to be very difficult to overcome at Wharton in particular, but if you have a great resume (at Wharton that would mean strong brands) then you might consider applying.

It's hard to really evaluate a profile without the details but all thing being equal, I'd focus my time and money on applying to UCLA rather than Wharton.

I went to a top 3 liberal arts school.
Have a 710 GMAT( going to take again, hoping for 730+)
College athlete- 1st 4 year All American in school history, won a National Championship.

3.0 gpa ( this is what will kill me)
Worked in marketing for a healthcare company and recently switched to a mortgage hedging firm

Roles I would like to have coming out of an MBA in order: Equity research buyside, Private equity, Investment Banking- Research side, corporate finance in the Entertainment Industry

I'm aware most of these jobs besides IB and Corp Fin are not realistic post MBA and that's why I have IB to transition into those other roles eventually.

The schools I want to apply to in the 1st round are Columbia, Uchicago, Cornell, Michigan, Duke, and possibly UCLA. I think Columbia and Uchicago will be a reach and I'm wondering if I should take UCLA off and apply to Wharton. Chances are super slim but I'd like to know what everyone on the forum thinks. Should I apply to Wharton or focus on an app for a different school? Thanks

I wrote the same thread on Wallstreet forums but I'm curious to hear feedback from gmat club forum posters.

Should I apply to Wharton or focus on other schools? Chances?

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