Stern vs Yale SOM?

Hi Navi1784

See my >>> below

Thanks for your response. Just to mention Stern I am surely applying. For Yale, I asked them for a day extension which they allowed, so still have time. Do you suggest me to apply in both?
>>>Yes, I'm a big believer in diversifying your risk, so if you can swing it, apply to both.

Just very quick thing, yes my GMAT is lower and age higher than average. Can I overcome lower GMAT with excellent academic (high GPA, Gold medalist in the university, merit fellowship)- yes or no?
>>>I wish it was a black and white as "yes" or "no" but the answer is really "it depends." Remember your competition that might have both high GMAT scores and high academics. I think it will be tough.

Regarding age, can't I justify that now only I felt to do MBA as I wanted to gain experience and now focus on entrepreneurship only, unlike younger applicants where most of want few years more experience Post MBA before going for entrepreneurship (typically if not always true). And I heard from many older candidates including Indian, they say that age is definitely a factor but you can justify. What you think?
>>>You can certainly try this approach. With the average years of work experience at most top program hovering around 4, when a school comes across someone with twice that amount of experience, they really want to understand "why now" and "what can we teach him?"

I have run an educational venture for 2-3 years earlier from 2009-12 and last year tried a healthcare startup, which eventually didn't work out (for few months). Will that make sense from school prospective?
>>>Yes, that will help make your entrepreneurial goals more palatable

Not so keen in Fellow program, I feel MBA has more valuable or reputed and even learning and from class experience. (you might disagree). Probably might look in future if I didn't get into a good MBA program.
>>>The MIT Sloan Fellow program is an MBA program. Same professors, same resources, just a more experienced cohort of students. https://mitsloan.mit.edu/fellows/

Good luck!
Krista

Ok Thanks, that make sense.
What I was thinking and you tell me if I am wrong here. Since I have already applied in top 3 programs with 720+ average GMAT, I thought let just apply in Stern which has 710 around average GMAT and also apply in INSEAD (Jan 25th deadline) and see how it goes and whether I get any interview call or not. My profile will get evaluated by these colleges and based on the outcome, I might apply in LBS (Feb last deadline). This way, I will also diversify in terms of geography as I believe Europe colleges typically have higher age and also lower GMAT as compared to USA schools.
This will make my total count to 6 schools and if I couldn't get even a single interview call from 6 schools, I don't know if applying in 7th will make a significant change in my chances (probability basis).
What you think?

Hi Navi1784
So if you were my client, I'd make you diversify your risk a bit more. The schools you have applied to are all top schools, where they have their choice of candidates. Your comparatively lower GMAT and your many years of work experience put you at a disadvantage. Per previous, I recommend looking at MIT Sloan Fellows once you have 10 years of experience. Or look out side the top 20, which I know isn't probably what you want to do, but if this is the year you must get an MBA, that's where I think your best chances are.
If you have further questions, I recommend that you set up a free consultation with one of our consultants. https://www.mbamission.com/consult/?dis ... admissions
Krista