As we look forward to the beginning of a new MBA admissions season, you might be one of the many prospective applicants wondering how the admissions committee at your target business schools might view your profile. How will your background, goals, test scores, and work experience be interpreted by the admissions directors? Do you stand a chance of gaining admission to competitive schools in the Top 15? What can you do to improve your odds?
If you find yourself asking these questions, you are not alone! Together with Poets&Quants, we at mbaMission periodically review real candidate profiles and assess applicants’ candidacy as part of MBA Watch In Focus, a weekly video series streaming on YouTube. During each episode, one of our admissions experts assesses the overall strength of a candidate’s profile and offers advice on how to improve their chances of gaining admission—or whether they should consider applying to other programs.
Recently, mbaMission Senior Consultants and Managing Directors reviewed the profiles of five competitive candidates from various backgrounds—aviation, consulting, construction management, and IT/energy—speaking candidly about their chances at top business schools and pinpointing how to bolster their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses in the eyes of the MBA admissions gatekeepers.
How will their profiles stack up? View the videos below to find out!
1. Mr. Airline Captain with mbaMission Founder/President Jeremy Shinewald
In this episode, mbaMission Founder and President Jeremy Shinewald is focusing on the positives for “Mr. Airline Captain.” This MBA candidate is targeting INSEAD and has post-MBA goals of working in consulting with a large firm in the aerospace, travel, or aviation section. He has 10 years of experience as an airline captain, a 3.8 GPA from a not-well-known university in India as well as an MA degree in aviation law (talk about passion for his field!), and a 740 GMAT score. Find out what Jeremy thinks this candidate will need to focus on in his applications to succeed!
2. Mr. Big Fish, Small Pond with mbaMission Founder/President Jeremy Shinewald
“Mr. Big Fish, Small Pond” has dreams of attending Harvard Business School (HBS) but is worried that his undergraduate school and current firm are not impressive enough. mbaMission Founder and President Jeremy Shinewald thinks this candidate’s stellar 790 GMAT score, 3.88 GPA in political science, and record of impact at his firm and in advisory roles give him as good of a chance as any at HBS, the Stanford Graduate School of Business, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, or the MIT Sloan School of Management. Find out more in this week’s MBA Watch In Focus.
3. Ms. Nebraska with mbaMission Managing Director Jessica Shklar
In this week’s episode, mbaMission Managing Director Jessica Shklar is discussing “Ms. Nebraska,” whose long-term goal is to take her knowledge from her Harvard Business School MBA and work in consulting in order to return to Nebraska to help “prevent the ‘brain drain’ of bright young grads from the state.” This candidate was the youngest person ever at her company to be promoted to project controller on a project in excess of $100M. She is passionate about getting more women into the construction industry and developing the Nebraska economy. With a 740 GMAT score and a 3.77 GPA, does she have a chance of getting in? See what Jessica thinks!
4. Mr. Fish with mbaMission Managing Director Jessica Shklar
“Mr. Fish” has a very clear goal in mind: get into the University of North Carolina (UNC) Kenan-Flagler Business School, join the UNC Bass Fishing Team, use these connections to land a marketing role at an outdoors company, and then eventually start a nonprofit focused on ensuring children’s access to the outdoors and fishing. This candidate’s passion is obvious, but will that plus his 3.7 GPA and 327 GRE score be enough to get in? See what mbaMission Managing Director Jessica Shklar has to say!
5. Mr. Life Science Consultant with mbaMission Managing Director Devi Vallabhaneni
“Mr. Life Science Consultant” has dreams of becoming a finance executive at a life science company and thinks that Harvard Business School (HBS) can help him get there. With his two years of experience at Deloitte (and a possible sponsorship from the company), a solid GPA, and community mentorship work, this candidate is off to a strong start. In this episode of MBA Watch In Focus, mbaMission Managing Director Devi Vallabhaneni calls on her decades of experience interviewing and evaluating HBS candidates to discuss what she thinks Mr. Life Science Consultant will need to focus on to have a chance at gaining admission to this elite business school.
Want to submit your profile for a chance to be featured during an MBA Watch In Focus live stream? Click here to submit your details for Poets&Quants’ expert and community assessment; you may just be selected to be reviewed live by one of our experts! In addition, be sure to request a free 30-minute consultation with one of mbaMission’s expert admissions consultants.