Can I get into a top B-school with a 760 gmat, 3.4 gpa from top 25 school, 2 years gov't consultant work?

Question

I'm really interested in moving into private equity, venture capital, or mutual fund allocation strategy...possibly commercial strategy work. What are the best schools for breaking into these fields?

Great answers/suggestions so far...experience wise I had three internships at top places during college, so with that included its probably more like 3 years experience (if it counts). The 3.4 is actually a 3.44 and my major gpa was 3.55 and this was at one of the top 3 undergrad b-schools in the country. I also have a TS/SCI clearance. Not sure if any of this would help me, but just wanted to put all the facts out there.

Answer 1

Your GMAT and GPA are fine--they are close enough to the medians at most good schools that they will not keep you out. However, most schools base a large part of their decision on work experience, recommendations, essays, etc., so it is very important that you start early as far as thinking about who you'll get recommendations from, and what work experiences you can write about. Have you contributed significantly to projects at work? Also, you may want to consider whether an additional year or two in the workforce would allow you to strengthen your recommendations and your job experience significantly.

As far as your chosen fields, you should talk to the career offices at schools and see what companies are hiring graduates and the breakdown of industries they are going into. Some school have this on their websites.

However, keep in mind that most Private Equity and Venture Capital firms tend to hire people with previous experience in investment banking--even from top schools, jobs in these fields tend to be scarcer than jobs in other fields (smaller firms and high demand for these jobs) and you may have difficulty breaking in without related experience.

Edited to add: Internships don't count as full time work experience. B-schools will be much more interested in full time work than internships.

Answer 2

The GMAT score is really strong, but your GPA is worrisome, and since you have only been out of school for two years (most of the top schools require a MINIMUM of three years of post-college work experience), there is very little reason to believe that your work habits would have changed substantially. The only way I see this working for you, probably next year rather than now, would be if your GPA, when deconstructed, showed that you struggled horribly as a freshman, but then turned it all around and got straight A's for the last several years of your degree. The concern is that you look like an underachiever; really capable, but not achieving up to your capabilities. Unless there is some evidence that this has changed (like a long time lag since college), I think you will have trouble at the more competitive schools.

Answer 3

A 2.8 would take place yet is the exception not the guideline for an exact ten. the real median is possibly around a three.7 for gpa and a 720 for gmat. the two.8 guy or woman would be a minority, a legacy (a celebrity's or heavy donator's son), somebody with an 800 GMAT to compensate, or basically about wonderful artwork journey (working for Donald Trump). you will desire to be conscious although, you're in basic terms out the app. value while you're became down. constantly pursue your objectives.

Answer 4

760 Gmat