Senior in Undergrad. Hoping to be admitted into a top MBA (deferred admission) program. I am actually not your typical applicant. I’m hoping to enter the business side of the entertainment industry (namely film producing) and think an MBA would be a marketable degree to hold that I could still leverage in the film industry.
I’m hoping to apply to these programs: I know the odds but I think it’s worth a shot
Harvard Business School “2+2” Deferred MBA Program
Stanford Graduate School of Business - Deferred Admission
Yale School Of Management - Silver Scholars?
Demographics
Age: 22
Nationality: African American
Sex: Female
Low-Income
Academics
Top 20 Liberal Arts College
Major: Anthropology, Minor in Film Studies
GPA: 2.8 (low because of serious failing health issues; I’ll definitely talk about in essays)
GMAT: 760
Experience
Summer Internship at Twitter (non-tech, creative oriented)
Fall (shorter) Internship at Google (non-tech, creative oriented)
Pre-MBA stuff
Attended competitive developmental programs at business schools (because I have a non-quant background)
Harvard Business School - HBX CORe (e-coursework in business fundamentals, credential acquired)
Stanford Graduate School for Business - Summer Institute for General Management
Other Thingzz
3-Year Varsity Athlete
Lots of leadership
@LACgal I actually have the same aspiration to enter the film industry!
and we have comparable GMATs!
Your G.P.A. has to be cogently extenuated to have a chance at top-flight MBA programs
but your membership to a top 20 liberal arts school won’t hurt!
Your race certainly won’t hurt either!
I wish you the best of luck and hope to get into good MBA programs too (even though I am applying to relatively less prestigious programs)
You do not look like a very competitive applicant for the very competitive deferred admissions programs at these schools. You’re already at a disadvantage because of the lack of work experience, so the rest of your application needs to really shine bright. But your GPA is quite low, and your GMAT score is only slightly above average for these programs. The median GPA for 2+2 admitted students at Harvard, for example, is a 3.73. And Yale’s 50% middle range was from a 3.23 to a 3.8x.
Your summer internships are great, but I think they’re kind of typical for business-oriented students at top colleges. I think your pre-MBA activities are kind of interesting and may catch some eyes. “Lots of leadership” would help if it were more clear what you did.
I have to ask - what’s the rush? Why not go and seek some work experience for a few years and apply later when you’re a stronger applicant?
Also, as a low income African-American woman, you should totally look into The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management. Applying for b-school through the Consortium makes you eligible for their full scholarships for underrepresented minorities in business: