Profile Evaluation: Consulting

[mattengel]

I would greatly appreciate your perspectives on my chances at top schools and where I should focus in the coming months to improve my chances of admissions.

Overall
- 25-year-old white male
- Grew up in Poland and am a bilingual dual-citizen
- GPA:3.7
- Undergraduate degree in Economics from "Little Ivy" (Amherst, Williams, Wesleyan)
- 3 years of Strategy & Operations consulting experience at Deloitte Consulting; top ratings and promotion after two years; MBA sponsorship likely
- MGMAT CAT of 690 (aiming for 710/720 when I take the test in may)

Undergrad EC
- Founded a pro-bono consulting group during undergrad
- General Manager of 100+ student sub-division of the undergrad IT department
- Psychology research lab; lead multiple studies
- Internships in asset management (Dodge & Cox) and economic consulting (Brattle Group)

Post-Grad EC
- Volunteering with Junior Achievement of NY (3yrs)
- Pro Bono consulting volunteer trip to Panama
- Co-founded social impact group/initiative at Deloitte
- Developed proposals to gain Deloitte funding for non-profit projects
- Deloitte networking lead for NY office
- About to being providing advisory support to the consulting group which I founded and the IT division that I lead during undergrad

Goal:
Short Term: Rejoin Deloitte to focus on market entry/growth strategy and build the emerging market practice
Long Term: Return to Poland and Eastern Europe to help renewable energy and smart grid technology penetrate the eastern European market which is currently dominated by shale fracking and “dirty” energy (energy experience from Deloitte and both undergraduate internships)

Target Schools: Wharton, Kellogg, Booth, Columbia, MIT, Haas, Duke

I would greatly appreciate your perspectives on my chances at top schools and where I should focus in the coming months to improve my chances of admissions. Assuming my current 690 MGMAT CAT is a weakness, what should i be targeting to be competitive at the aforementioned schools?

Thank you in advance!

[mbaMissionKate]

Hello there! Thanks for your post!

Here are the strengths I see at this point: good GPA in a quantitative field, strong performance at a well-known consulting firm, demonstrated interest in social causes and good involvement outside of work, plus the fact that you may be sponsored by your firm is a positive (hopefully you can secure that!). The GMAT is the only potential weakness I see, for the top programs, though I'm not sure what your Quant / Verbal breakdown is? If you can reach a 710/720 then that would put you in a good spot for the top programs since the medians for many of them are in the 720/730 range.

The other thing to be thinking about is that there are a lot of other applicants who come from consulting - so be thinking about ways you can differentiate, either through stellar recommendations or emphasizing your pro-bono work or leadership on-the-job. Also think about really digging deep into your motivations behind your career goals so that schools can really get a sense of what drives you and your interest in renewable energies long-term. If you do some serious self-reflection and brainstorming, I think you should be able to write some interesting essays on the topic.

Best of luck with the process!