Please evaluate profile for top-10 school

Question

Hi all -

Thanks in advance for the help - I could use it! Specifically, estimated chances at the target schools below and pointers on application strategy to improve those chances. I am applying this fall. I have done some due diligence independently researching, but I was wondering if anyone had any tailored advice for my profile. A mentor of mine strongly suggested an admissions consultant, so any advice there would be helpful as well.

Targeting:  Booth, Kellogg, Sloan, Tuck, HBS (full-time MBA) - - possibly Ross, Wharton, Stanford

Reason for MBA:  To return to strategy/operations consulting with an expanded skillset; currently my functional expertise is narrow relative to other management consultants (as of now, I am aiming for BCG, Bain, McKinsey, Deloitte S&O or PwC Strategy& after MBA graduation). Also, I don't have a business degree!

Background: 
- White, American male
- 3.7/4.0 BS engineering from Illinois/Michigan/Texas
- 720 GMAT (8 IR, 5.5 AWA) first attempt, self study part-time ~2 months, debating a retake for 740-760
- 36 months (at matriculation) mgmt consulting experience at AT Kearney/LEK/ZS
- Sponsored by firm to return post-MBA (but it is unlikely that I will return)
- Quick promotion, large % raises (top ~10% performer at firm)
- Lived outside North America for 2 years in high school
- Strong EC leadership experience in college, some post college
- ~6 years tutoring experience in high school and college (no consistent community service since graduation, however)
- Currently involved in a competitive sports league (much more competitive than your standard intermurals), and I am planning to continue said sport for my MBA program's team

FYI - I've read two books on MBA strategies recommended by the GMAT club ( Your MBA Gameplan  by Omari Bouknight and  How to get into the Top MBA Programs  by Richard Montauk).

Thanks!
Greg

AlexMBAApply · Answer

First, don't retake the GMAT, as your current score is good enough that it won't be a factor in the admissions process (i.e. whether you get admitted or dinged will have nothing to do with your GMAT; again a low GMAT can keep you out, but a high GMAT won't get you in).

Beyond that, it really comes down to what you're willing to live with. Just know that limiting yourself to the top 8 will mean a higher chance that you won't get in anywhere, simply because there's way more folks of a comparable caliber as you who are applying than there are seats. With your profile, I think you have enough of a shot at these top 8 schools that they're worth applying to, but be prepared for the possibility that you could strike out completely even with your best efforts.

Now, if you want to be more assured of getting in somewhere, you may want to spread it across top 8 and top 16 schools -- as you said, adding in Ross, and maybe other schools like Darden, Duke, Yale and others that have decent consulting recruiting for the top 16. But whether you do or not will depend on whether you feel it's worth the cost of going. You're already at a consulting firm (from your list, it's already the kind of firm where a lot of MBAs end up as well), so it comes down to your individual circumstances and goals - can you stay on and progress without an MBA? (in the past, a lot of consulting firms have been very strict about that, essentially forcing people to go back for an MBA before promoting them, but that has been loosened up at some firms as far as I know).

However, it sounds like you want to leave the firm regardless, which means that by limiting yourself to the top 8, it may be too much of a gamble, and I would look at a few top 16 schools as well (top 16s aren't safeties for any applicant, but at least you have a reasonable shot of getting in compared to top 8s which are more of a crapshoot).

GregMatte · Answer

Thanks! That is helpful. The firm I'm working for doesn't really care if you have an MBA (if you started after undergrad and are performing well), so it's harder to make sense of going to Darden/Ross/etc just to end up at the same firm again.

The place I'm at is fine, it's just that I believe the earnings potential at the manger-partner level of Bain/BCG/McK is much higher, and I could use a bit of diversity in my projects.

CriticalSquare · Answer

Hey Greg,

I won't repeat what Alex has said but I'll put something else out there for you to think about. This is something we get our clients who want to go into careers like consulting to think about. Be thinking a couple of steps ahead. What do I mean by that? Ok, you apply to these awesome programs and let's say you get in (and I hope you do!!) - then what? How do you compare to your peerset? Are you better than most? Are you pretty average? Or are you a dime a dozen and lagging the pack? You can bet your bottom dollar (we all miss Shirley Temple) that you're going to be going toe to toe with HUNDREDS of other equally qualified candidates for shots at McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Deloitte S&O, etc. So getting into a great program where they recruit is critical, but once you're in, will you float to the top of the resume deck?

Career enablement = placement + chances. You're ticking the box on placement because any of the programs (plus others you didn't) place into these firms. Now think about chances. Speaking broadly, your chances of landing an awesome strategy consulting internship / job are higher at Ross than Columbia than HBS.

Bhavik

Something for your mind to munch on!

Bhavik

AjMBA · Answer

Hi Bhavik, I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I was wondering if you could expand on your statement, especially the portion in bold. This statement seems different to what I've heard in the past about consulting recruiting.

Cheers,
AjMBA

CriticalSquare · Answer

Absolutely. Let's take an over-simplified example of a school with a 100 students, split into quartile based on overall "awesomeness". Now let's say the top quartile goes to a top tier (MBB) firm, the second to tier 2 (IBM, Accenture, PwC, etc.), the third goes to niche / boutique firms, and the fourth doesn't get a consulting offer.

So placement means do the firms you wish to work for recruit where you're applying? If yes, then it comes down to chance. And chance is based on what quartile you'd fall into (once again, overly simplified). If you get into HBS but, relatively speaking, you're in the 2nd tier, and your goal is go to Bain, then you haven't set yourself up for success necessarily.

So target the schools where the equation is maximized. You want the best possible program but make sure you think ahead!

Bhavik

AlexMBAApply · Answer

The key with getting a mgmt consulting job comes down to nailing the case interview, and not which school you go to.

With the top 8 schools, the consulting firms (including McKinsey, Bain, BCG) will interview virtually everyone that submits a cover letter and resume to them (in really bad job markets they will still interview most if not everyone). That first interview is a case interview, and all these schools have mgmt consulting clubs where you'll get plenty of opportunities to practice how to successfully do these interviews. So whether you go to Columbia or HBS will make zero difference in terms of your chances of getting a management consulting job. Again, since they interview virtually everyone, once you walk into that room for the case interview, it comes down to you. Like the OP, there's plenty of horse trading going on, where folks go back to b-school to trade up -- and as long as it's a top school, the chances of that happening are pretty good for industries that hire armies of MBAs (namely management consulting and investment banking).

Even with the top 16 schools, a lot of consulting firms will actively recruit on campus, including M/B/B. They won't interview everyone, but will interview most (and sometimes all -- McKinsey for example is known to interview everyone) who submit a cover letter/resume to them. And again, it's about nailing the case interview first and foremost (and then from there the standard "getting to know you" interviews, which again has to do with you as an individual), which has nothing to do with what school you go to.

CriticalSquare · Answer

Exactly - I think that's another great point and another layer to the cake. The case important is CRITICAL and a massive wildcard in the process. The most amazing person on paper can just bomb the interview. However, at the end of the day, there are only so many slots open and firms will force rank the entire applicant list. To Alex's point - the case interview is heavily weighted in the process. That said, other factors play in as well, right. Strength of experience, notes of support from former employees at the school (fellow students, in other words), positive networking experiences, etc. etc. So the "chances" component has a ton of variables. By no means was my over simplified model meant to be detailed - merely representative. So case interview, etc. would play into the "chances" column.

Great point Alex - thanks for joining the party!

Bhavik

Great point Alex - thanks for joining the party!

Bhavik

AjMBA · Answer

Thanks for the responses!

Please evaluate profile for top-10 school

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