SEEKING A FRANK PROFILE EVALUATION, THANK YOU!!!!

[DORIANGRAY]

Sorry if this is a bit long-winded but I am a 30 yr old very non-traditional student and want a realistic evaluation. I am interested in attending a Top 5 program, specifically HBS or Wharton’s dual MBA/Int Studies program with the Lauder Institute...and I want to know if I have any chance at all.

I am not sugar coating this; I am accurately describing what I did with my life the last 10 years and would appreciate an equally frank and direct appraisal.

High school - all honors classes, 1420 SAT (older, non-recentered version), many honors, blah blah...

Following high school, I received elite scholarship from the German Bundestag, which paid for me to attend the 13th grade in a German high school. I was one of 15 Americans nationwide. I then stayed on for a few years in Europe, polishing my German and studying at a German university.

At roughly age 21, I returned to America, attended Vanderbilt University for a year, dropped out to goof off and bartend in Nashville.

Later I reentered college at a small state school in Tennessee. After 2 years, this school offered me a scholarship to be first student in their new Hamburg exchange program - they sent me back to Germany where I received a monthly stipend of $1000 as part of a scholarship for Young Entrepreneurs, plus housing, plane tickets, tuition etc. This scholarship was primarily funded by the German government to encourage entrepreneurial ties ties with American universities/business students.
That year, I founded a company that year selling designer clothing and watches in Germany. My first year, the business did $100k in sales, a business I operated off a laptop and the garage of my apartment in Hamburg.

I then moved back to the USA, and further developed the business for 2 years while still in school. Expanded to serve 20+ countries with sales of $250,000 my final year, at which point I closed the business in order to move back to Europe. Ran the business from my laptop and my Dad's garage.

My final year of undergraduate studies I spent in Spain. I speak relatively fluent Spanish now as well as German. I have restarted my import/export business in the 3 languages I speak. I am also part-owner in a few small businesses.

Graduated in May 2006 with double major in Economics and Foreign Languages, minor in International Studies. Bad GPA - 3.35 or 3.40 with the degree from a small state university. Actually my grades were relatively decent, but have a number of F’s, etc on the transcript from semesters I started and just never bothered to withdraw. This is basically because I spent the last 10 years of my life traveling all over the world while enrolled in school, literally while enrolled and taking these classes - ie Lived in Brazil for a few months volunteering at an eye clinic - in Ecuador taking Spanish lessons...went to China to climb along the Great Wall, Australia to dive the Great Barrier Reef and through the Middle East - not to mention dozens and dozens of trips through Europe and South America. All of these trips were self-financed - my business was successful and my classes easy, so I basically just took off all the time to see the world while I was young. Was not motivated academically and so took a very immature attitude toward my grades.

I was and continue to be very entrepreneurial - and I had to be to finance all this traveling - and I have enormous amounts of foreign experience, not just the typical semester abroad of so many American students. Other random honors etc: Mensa - Eagle Scout -

I just took the GMAT last week for the first time,
Scored 720 (95%). My essay was scored 5.5

MY QUESTIONS, specifically:

----Knowing this basic information, do I stand a chance at the schools I mentioned (Top 5 MBA programs, specifically Wharton/Lauder Institute and Harvard)??

---When I took the GMAT, I actually felt I could have done a bit better. Nerves and lack of prep. I think if I crammed for two weeks and did it again, I stand a decent chance to get a 750 or higher. Of course, any given day one could also score lower. But feel relatively confident I could improve. Should I try? Or is it inconsequential?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR FEEDBACK, I am posting this question to all four admission consultants here on the forum.

While I am seeking the experienced opinion of an admission consultant, if anyone else wants to chime in with their two cents, I am all ears
Wink

[MBA Mission]

Dear Dorian Gray -

You have an interesting background and in some ways are a very compelling candidate. Certainly your 720 GMAT score and (long ago) successful entrepreneurial experience go a long way towards allaying concerns. But as I'm sure you know, your non-traditional background will most likely raise some questions at the schools you're applying to. Without knowing what kind of work you did to finance all of your travel it's hard to tell if your more recent entrepreneurial experience can be shaped into a story that the schools will understand.

Harvard seems like a stretch, but Wharton/Lauder, while also a stretch, might be a more reasonable option because of your extensive international and language experiences. Have you considered other schools with an international focus or are you just emphasizing those two?


Sincerely,
Jessica Shklar
MBA Mission

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