Wharton MBA waitlisted - how to improve profile for reapplication

Hello G842,

Thanks for your query.

While we do not have access to your essays, as well as other details pertaining to your previous application, there are two things that we would recommend.

- Lifting your GMAT score by at least 20-30 points. This will help differentiate you from others (with a similar background) in the applicant pool.
- Keep performing at work; a greater number of achievements will enable you to add more talking points in your essays and showcase how you have grown at work and as a person since your last application.

Hope this helps!

Good luck!

Being an MBB consultant has helped for sure. However, I felt your focus on "automotive sector focused VC" is too narrow. Wharton's latest employment report shows only 1.7% students join VC. Narrowing it down to automotive-focused is being too specific in my opinion.
Consider either getting back into consulting after MBA, with the goal of becoming a venture partner at a VC fund a few years down the lane. Or get into banking to get structuring experience, with the idea of joining the investment team of a fund a few years down the lane. With your current experience,its gonna be difficult getting into automotive-focused VC, even if there were a few funds in that space.

Also as a reapplicant or first-time applicant to similar programs, bump up the GMAT score to make it more wow!

Hi G842,

Thank you for your post. The 720 GMAT and 3.5 GPA are both a little behind the curve for Wharton, but they can be good enough to get you in, especially with your Bain experience. (Granted every extra bit does help on the GMAT side, especially when you're right on the cusp.)

I can't say for sure without seeing your essays and applications, but like others have noted, I am curious about your execution. That career goal is very niche, which can be fine, but only when the path there is extremely well articulated and credible. Were you returning to Bain for two years then going to try to transition into automotive VC? Why automotive VC? What about your medium- and long-term goals? What's the passion and purpose behind those?

I'd also be curious about how much of a "school specific" case you made. How well did you get to know Wharton, its people, and its culture? Did you attend events, visit, and chat with current students and alumni? How specific were you in your applications with respect to courses, clubs, extracurriculars, community, culture, and the unique contributions you'd make? And I am curious about your recommendations. How does your performance stack up at Bain? Were you sponsored? Also, a two-week pro bono gig is nice, but is that all you showed in the way of extracurriculars? What do you have in the way of "extras" -- within work and outside of work -- that separate you from the pack? What's your personal story? What makes you unique?

You might check out this blog post about the "Most Overlooked Elements of the MBA Application Process," which touches on some of the points I've made above and details some of the common missteps I see when I do ding reviews and profiles reviews (especially for candidates with strong profiles who can't figure out why exactly they came up short). If you feel like you have another 20+ points in you on the GMAT, that would certainly help, but overall I suspect it might have come down to some combination of the factors above. Happy to chat more about it if helpful: https://www.avantiprep.com/free-consultation.html

Best Regards,
Greg