What are my chances-750 gmat, 3.94 gpa, ZERO work experience

Question

Hey guys,

I am new to this forum and am looking for some help. I was hoping to apply to some top 10 schools (my first choices are Harvard and Stanford) and I was wondering what my chances are. I just finished year 3 of my undergrad and am hoping to start my MBA immediately after I finish my fourth and final year at York University. Overall my summary is:

Male
22 years old
Indian (Asia) background, born and raised in Canada
750 GMAT (86th Quantitative, 95th Verbal, 98th Percentile overall)
3.94 GPA (York University, Bachelor of Arts - Economics)

I also have part-time experience at a martial arts gym at which I work. I help design marketing strategies and pricing promotions, but it is not even close to full-time job.

What do you guys think my chances are at a top 10 school?

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

--OJ

bakfed · Answer

Your chances are probably slim to none. Given what you've written, you have an absolutely stunning academic career (both GPA and GMAT are beyond the best). However, your lack of WE will make you a boy among the men in discussion. One thing you need to ask yourself is why you want this MBA. Another question is what can you contribute to the classroom discussion, which is a huge part in every top b-school in the nation. Without full-time corporate experience, it's hard for you to mingle with the rest of your classmates. Unless you have some strong leadership skills/initiatives to show, it'll be hard for you to gain admission. However, with what you currently have, with a couple of years of brand-name work experience (i.e. Wall Street, high-tech, consulting), your shot at Stanford and Harvard signicantly increases.

osejob · Answer

Thanks for your reply,

I have some follow up questions, if you don't mind.

In addition to competing myself, I also work as a coach at my gym. Recently I coached one of my friends to a North American title in kickboxing. Do you think this would qualify as "strong leadership/initiative" or would these schools be looking for something that would apply more directly to the business world?

Furthermore, I agree that I would probably be a boy amongst men given that I have zero work experience. However, I know that the JD/MBA program requires no WE for admission. Do you know if students in these programs have the same complaints about not fitting in?

Lastly, many people have told me that even if I do gain admission to a top school many recruiters will overlook me, due to lack of WE. Is this true or are recruiters willing to develop the employees they seek?

Thank again for any help.

bakfed · Answer

The gym gig is a good story, but it would most likely be discounted against those who have experiences from Goldman, McKinsey, and Microsoft. I really don't mean to douse your fire about this, but I really think it'll benefit you greatly if you were to work for a couple of years. It's also true that employers will look at you differently. The recruiting process is a man vs. man game. Everyone (or almost everyone) will turn in resumes to those compnaies that they're interested in. Ask yourself - what's on your resume that can out-compete those with 3 years of banking experiences, or 4 years of software development/team manager, or 3 years of consulting experiences? Truth is, it'll be hard. Before you dive head in first for a JD/MBA, I can go back to the same question that I posed to you in my last reply - why MBA? It's like those who's getting an MD/MBA, you have to truly understand why you think this will help with your long-term goal. If you're already getting a JD, why get an MBA immediately? Everyone starts in the same place - if it's law, it's clerkship; if it's business, it's priting pitchbooks. JD/MBA is a great name, but will truly benefit those who know why they need this (or rather, these) degrees.

osejob · Answer

To be completely honest, the main reason I am interested in an MBA is that Ive heard that you can make a lot of money if you go to a top school. I want to go as early as possible so that I can still enjoy my youth and not have to study into my late 20's. However, this is looking more and more unlikely.

With respect to getting a job out of my undergrad, do you have any recommendations on how I should proceed? Jobs at top firms (Goldman, McKinsey, etc) seem to be highly competitive and from what I understand, undergrads are a severe disadvantage when applying. Can you provide any recommendations on my next steps looking for a job? Will my prospective employers care as much about my GPA/GMAT as a b-school would?

Thanks again

bizschoolprep · Answer

Making a lot of money is not going to cut it with the adcom. Moreover, it should not. They are experts in reading the application and can easily figure out that you don't have any particular career direction at this point. If you are putting more than $120K+ for your business education, don't leave it for chance and know what you want out of it. Business school is a place where you'll be completely lost if you don't know what you want to do.

About your gym work exp, coaching the guy in boxing won't have as much impact as the other aspects of the job (marketing, pricing etc). Adcom look for professional maturity as well as business maturity and while coaching the guy can be a good side story, it doesn't reflect much on your business acumen. With almost no work experience, it will be difficult for you to write anything substantial in the essays as well.

You have time on your side and your acads are excellent. Why not get some work experience and build your profile ? Use the time to think about what you want to do later in your career. ~ 2 year of work experience, combined with your undegrad work exp, excellent acads, good extracurricular will be a great package.

osejob · Answer

Thank you for the advice.

Although I still feel as if finishing my MBA as soon as possible could work out, I am realizing that I should probably get some work experience in a corporate setting under my belt.

Do you have any recommendations on how I should proceed? I live in the Toronto Area and have never really applied for a job before. Is the company that I work for more important, or is it the position that I hold? I am hoping to work somewhere that will provide experience and look good on a resume, however those jobs usually aren't readily available for 22-year old undergrads.

Any further help would be great.

bizschoolprep · Answer

Think about your career and what you want to do long term. Once you have your vision set, it will give you the right direction and everything else should fall in place. Good luck.

bakfed · Answer

I'm glad that you've decided to work first, then do an MBA. Your reasoning for an MBA is not unheard of, and truth is, most people will probably admit that your reason resonates with them (including myself). Job-wise, the names I've thown out there (Goldman, Morgan, McKinsey, etc) are the top corporate names and surely, they're also the hardest to make it in as undergrad (mainly of selective recruiting from only the top of the top schools). But honestly, any corporate job would work. What I mean by that is that you're working for a, hopefully, name-brand company (easier to benchmark you against other candidate) and you do office job. These are the type of jobs that are, more or less, on the traditional route to not just b-school, but to future companies post-MBA. You can work for Nike; Exxon; Sony. It doesn't matter. As long as when you're ready to apply that you have tangible result that you can share on your application, you'll be fine.

FutureWorks · Answer

Hello

Congratulation on your GMAT score. With this score you can easily aim at top institutes Like Harvard Columbia and Wharton. So we would advise you to work on your application now.

However it is not just the academics but activities beyond the academics will help you in determining your candidature. Start thinking what makes you unique and what’s that ‘hook’ that will be key to your application.

If you wish to apply to top business schools then one of the prerequisites is having significant work experience. Generally candidates have around 4-5 years of full time experience in spite of several term time projects or jobs; so you may be competing with other candidates who have 4-5 years of full time experience and have started significant initiatives at college.

Hence, we would advise you to gain some full time work experience before you decide to apply for an MBA. If you don’t wish to do so them, you could look at the HBS 2+2 program or the Yale Silver Scholars program.

whiplash2411 · Answer

A very simple suggestion is this: Don't mold your career path according to the MBA program. Think about your career first and then figure out if an MBA fits in.

What are my chances-750 gmat, 3.94 gpa, ZERO work experience

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