Bearclaw

07-18-2003, 02:11 PM

Dear Bearclaw,

Thanks for reading this forum. I have responded to your profile below:

I'd love to hear your view of my chances at admittance to a top 10 MBA program. Please keep in mind that my ideal schools are Tuck, HBS and Stanford.

- BA degree in Economics from Dartmouth College with 3.6 GPA
- 760 GMAT (99 percentile overall; 97 verbal, 96 math)
- 1.5 years Tech I-banking in London at Lehman Brothers
- 0.5 years experience Tech Strategy Consulting in London at netdecisions

I am applying this fall to start in fall 2004, so I will have 1.5 years of experience at netdecisions by then.

Your undergraduate degree is superb for three reasons: 1) you have an above average GPA, 2) you studied a challenging subject that should signal a strong level of preparedness for the MBA coursework and 3) you went to Dartmouth - an excellent program that will be familiar to any admissions officer. You should also have a slight advantage at Tuck, given their loyalty to Dartmouth grads.

Your GMAT of 760 is also very strong. The average GMAT score at the schools on your list is closer to 710-720, so I have no doubt that you will shine in the 'academics' category (undergrad + GMAT).

On the work experience front, you are clearly less 'seasoned' than many of the other applicants in the pool - but I am intrigued by the fact that you have been in London - and this will appeal to the US adcoms as well. One other minor concern is the length of time you stayed with Lehman. Typically, the schools like to see applicants stay at posts for at least two years. Did you leave for a particular reason? Was this post part of an analysts program? As for your current job, you will need to work very hard in the application process to show that you are indeed ready to pursue the MBA (and that you might not benefit from another year with netdecisions).

Overall, I think that with the right application you could gain admission to at least one of the schools on your list. It will just require a very focused set of applications. I still have a few questions though: How are your extracurricular activities? What are your career goals? Will your current supervisor be writing a recommendation for you?

Please feel free to email a full CV and set up a free initial phone consult. We have an office in Paris that serves our European clients. info@clearadmit.com

Best of luck,

Graham Richmond