Top Undergrad to get into good Biz School?

Graduate School Business School - MBA
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<p>tomslawsky, no one is arguing that the UF is not a solid or good university. However, it does not meet the definition of "Top Business School." It is one of the the best, but it is neither one of the Elite nor the Top. That may sound pedantic, but it's just the reality. (No offense intended). In this case, it is not relative, as defined by the rankings.</p>

<p>"On the other hand, if you graduate first in your class in finance at NYU, get a 780 on the GMAT, and work at Boston Consulting Group for three years, the admissions committee at Stanford Business School could decide they’ve already let in enough people like you, and the spot could go to someone with a 3.2 GPA in English who worked in a NGO in Africa."</p>

<p>It's just silly to argue that...it is more of a political comment than anything else. And even then, it just goes to prove the caliber of student a "Top School" has: the best of the best--very few schools top Stern (NYU) and the maximum score on a GMAT is 800, few consulting companies have a better name-brand, and consequently offer better opportunities, than BCG. The bottom line is: the best students go to the Elite B-Schools and the rest distribute themselves accordingly down the rankings. Stanford also happens to be THE Top-Busines school along with Harvard, and its admissions rate in incredibly low. Also, notice that the person with a 3.2 in English works in a NGO in Africa...that in and of itself demonstrates a kind of leadership and passion that grades and test scores don't--which was probably the guy's point, after seeking to demonstrate how much of a crapshoot admissions to the Elite B-Schools really is. But even then, that type of applicant, the consultant from BCG, would certainly be good enough to find a place at one of the top B-Schools, if not the Elite.</p>

<p>"'Of course, most of the applicants to top schools are reasonably successful in their careers already, so your essays need to distinguish you from others in your peer group. Your peer group – those applicants who are most like you – is who you are competing against primarily. For example, any top school could fill up their entire class with analysts from consulting firms with high GMAT scores and GPA’s. But they won’t. Instead, they will have a certain number of spots for such applicants, and someone who was a sculptor would not be competing for one of those spaces. This makes some peer groups more competitive than others in any given year. Most schools will say that every candidate competes against every other candidate, and from a certain point of view this is true. Someone could be a consultant, and even though they have already let in more consultants than they would like, he could bring something so special to the class from other experiences that they decide to let him in too. But in such a situation, the candidate likely won’t get in on strong numbers alone.'</p>

<p>'This tells that the author of the link provided agrees with me that top B-schools do, indeed look for variety in the admissions process and do not want everyone to fit a cookie cutter mold.'"</p>

<p>Not necessarily true. It means that after screening for "excellence", the little things make a difference. Applying to the top and elite B-Schools requires certain insight.</p>

<p>Congratulations on UF, it is a great school. But let's not say it is a top B-School when it's not. "Top-tier" usually means top 25 (including public and private), with US News & World report and Financial Times being the leading rankings.</p>

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<p>seriously, there are a bunch of people who graduated from unknown universities who got into Wharton MBA. Undergrad has a limited impact. As long as you can pull together a good career for 5-6 years then you can pull off a good MBA program. </p>

<p>@Wildflower: Also, it depends how well you did at BCG. They won't accept you if you haven't advanced position wise in over three years, or haven't worked on an excellent project. Top MBA schools want people who will provide connections for their future graduates, and will help keep up their image in the business world. They love future PR reps for their school. Also, in my opinion they're going to reserve a lot more seats for international kids in coming years, as India and China are the new frontier for business, and these MBA programs want to create connections over there.</p>

<p>--Everyone forget Cornell's Johnson School of Management. A lot of managers and directors at companies in a lot of places are Cornell grads, whether it be Cornell MBA or just Cornell Undergrad.</p>

<p>Also, MBA schools really like people who are in the military, i guess it's the whole leadership thing. Also, the corporate world likes members of the armed forces.</p>

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<p>MUnited, I didn't say anything contradictory to your post:).</p>

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@Wildflower: Also, it depends how well you did at BCG. They won't accept you if you haven't advanced position wise in over three years,

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<p>Actually, yeah they will. The truth is, as a consulting analyst/associate, which is the job you would take right after undergrad, there really isn't anyplace for you to "advance". You are generally expected to remain at that level for 2 years and then leave, usually for B-school, but occassionally for another industry entirely. A rare few are invited for promotion straight to the consultant level, but that means that they don't need B-school at all. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.bcg.com/careers/bcg_experience/bcg_experience_fit_undergrad.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bcg.com/careers/bcg_experience/bcg_experience_fit_undergrad.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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Also, in my opinion they're going to reserve a lot more seats for international kids in coming years, as India and China are the new frontier for business, and these MBA programs want to create connections over there

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<p>And many of these international kids have THEMSELVES worked for one of the major consulting firms. </p>

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"On the other hand, if you graduate first in your class in finance at NYU, get a 780 on the GMAT, and work at Boston Consulting Group for three years, the admissions committee at Stanford Business School could decide they’ve already let in enough people like you, and the spot could go to someone with a 3.2 GPA in English who worked in a NGO in Africa."

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<p>The salient point is that most BCG people end up in one of the top B-schools. Very few BCG people end up at B-schools that are not in the top 25. That's true for 2 reasons - most of them get admitted to one of the top schools, and those that don't generally elect not to go at all, but just apply again the following year.</p>