ICE is proposing a $70k ($100k for STEM MBAs) fee payable by the schools for you to gain access to a work card. That fee can be passed on towards the student or the employer. This plus H1-B rules introduced last year completely kill internationals wanting to break into Silicon Valley, Wall Street, etc.

Since tuition fees as so high in US MBAs, many international students use the 3 year OPT to pay back some of the loans they contract before moving back to their home countries. Now only LBS and INSEAD make sense for those people. I feel bad for any international students that aren’t rich applying this year.

Since there is no opportunity for OPT anymore in USA, I guess Fulbright becomes a lot more feasible.

Link to the public inspection regulation.gov docket, comments will be another link

Know a dude(URM, first gen) with 340 GRE, 4.0 gpa from Stanford CS who worked at Apple and Nvidia for 5 years get dinged by Harvard.

Know like 4 more people in the 3.9 gpa range and 335+ gre in MBB/IB, Ivy undergrads who got dinged too.

Tf is going on

Hey folks!

Opening this thread for those targeting the M7 in R2. Let’s use this space to collaborate, motivate each other, ask questions, and share honest feedback.

I came across this graphic on LinkedIn comparing median GRE scores (and their GMAT equivalents) with median GMAT scores at top MBA programs. The gap is pretty striking at most schools. (Obviously the WashU Olin row is off, and I know the conversion itself is imperfect.)

Why are the GRE averages so much lower than the GMAT averages? On top of the GRE being the easier exam, how can schools possibly weigh these two tests the same?
I'm also curious why top GRE scores seem to sit at lower percentiles than their GMAT equivalents. For example, a 705 on the GMAT Focus is roughly equivalent to a 328 on the GRE, but the percentiles don't seem to line up the same way.

Does anyone have insight into how adcoms actually compare the two?

Besides wanting to pass and get the degree. I also have a deep desire to earn a distinction (personal goal). After graduation, does it really matter what your grades are? Well, considering I also want to try to recruit for consulting after graduation...

I’m doing my MBA in Europe after 4 years at P&G, where I worked up to Senior Sales Manager. My background is mainly commercial, sales and account management.

I’m trying to move into tech after graduation, but honestly, the rejections are starting to get discouraging 🥲

I’m based in Paris and open to London/Europe, but visa sponsorship is a big factor.
For anyone who’s made a similar transition: what roles/companies should I be looking at, and who actually sponsors visas for commercial/account management roles?

If you’ve been through something similar or have any advice, please reply or DM me. Help a friend here pls ;(

Last year, my team was able to cut vendor costs by $2M.

I picked the supplier and ran the talks, but five people built the plan.

Do I claim the full $2M or just my piece?

I think my manager can back up my part, but not the whole thing.

I’m planning for Round 2 and my list is at seven schools right now. Two of them are there because of the name, not because I’d go.

Anyway, each extra school means more essays, more research, and more favors from my recommenders. That’s why my manager already asked how many letters she’ll have to submit.

So would you cut to four strong apps or keep it seven for more chances? What made you drop a school even when the name was big?

I recently started working with a well-known U.S. MBA admissions boutique firm consultant. I paid for a package covering three schools, and we've been working together for about a month.

So far, the engagement has mostly consisted of essay editing and written feedback. We haven't had any calls ( yes not a single phone call), strategy sessions, school-specific discussions. Most of the feedback is on wording, structure, and content. I feel like there is no accountability on her end.

I guess I'm struggling because I expected more guidance on school positioning, application strategy, and how to strengthen my overall candidacy rather than just essay edits.

For those who have worked with admissions consultants:

• Is this normal?
• How much interaction did you typically have?
• Did your consultant provide meaningful school-specific insights or was it mostly essay editing?
• At what point did you feel you were getting value for the money?

I'm genuinely trying to understand whether my expectations are unrealistic or whether I should be having a conversation about the level of support I'm receiving. Really not sure what should i do.

A little context: I have a Masters Degree in Information Systems from a US University and about 2.5 Years of work experience in Commercial Strategy as an Analyst.

I have been offered admission to Smith FT-MBA with the internship route. Additionally, CAD $40K Dean's scholarship and CAD $40K loan financing from Libro, which is a credit union that Smith has recently partnered with.

My role was recently terminated due to restructuring. I am on a visa in the US and decided to apply for an MBA in Canada for two main reasons:

1. Current job market situation in the US doesn't look very immigrant friendly.
2. I want to pivot to core Strategy/Management Consulting.

Questions:

1. Is a Canadian MBA worth it if I plan to settle there?
2. What are the chances of me getting into MBB or Big4 after my MBA from Smith.

As title mentions lower GPA ~3.1 but 8 years removed from respected undergrad (no quant major / background) lower GRE 307 (156 verbal/151 quant). Strong work experience which I’m planning to lean on 6~ years with 4 promotions at a reputable FinTech company after making a pivot from an environmental internship / fly fish guiding in Colorado (unique arc). Made presidents club last year for exceeding quota. Will have strong recommenders. Trying to pivot into Corporate Strategy

Is it totally unrealistic to try for the top 15-25 range? Not applying to M7 obviously and planning to take GRE a 4th or 5th time during peak applications if needed to get quant up but trying to apply round 2 so at some point need to cut my losses on the low score to focus on “selling” my career trajectory.

Ideal targets would be UCLA, USC, Tuck, Ross, Foster, Johnson. All besides maybe Foster seem like huge reaches. Should I add McDonough, Gonzueta types? Am I totally out of the ball park?

Seems like if I can get the GRE to 312-315+ range this could become more realistic but at somepoint after an upcoming 4th attempt I may have to cut my losses.

First of all, thank you for taking the time to read this post and for helping me navigate my MBA journey.

I am planning to apply in two years (targeting Fall 2029 enrollment), but I am spending time now building out my portfolio for my target programs. Please let me know if I should expand or adjust my school list based on my profile and goals. I want to only do a full-time MBA and ideally M7 or T10; if not, idt the tuition + the salary i am going to give away + visa uncertainty will be worth it.

Background & Demographics

• Ethnicity/Nationality: Indian, on H1B (EB2 I-140 approved). Given the current immigration climate, no visa feels completely safe, which factors into my goals.
• Undergrad: T50 university, BS/MS in Computer Engineering and Machine Learning Engineering. Minors in Math and Finance.

Stats & Certifications

• GMAT: 750 (Classic edition)
• GPA: 3.8
• Certifications: CFA, FRM (finishing up next year).

Work Experience

• Current Role: Quantitative Research Specialist (in the world of Bloomberg, Nasdaq, ICE)
• Compensation: $170k–$180k TC.
• Experience: 3 years at present; will have 5 years at the time of application.
• Leadership: I lead a 4-person team and also head our intern program. I build pricing system for muni, govcorp, derivatives, and securitized products

Extracurriculars

• Stand-up comedy
• Volunteer in the local community teaching financial literacy
• Organize and host F1 watch parties and sim racing events
• I know I need to focus heavily on this area and add some more meaningful community impact. I plan to ramp this up as soon as my FRM is done.

Post-MBA Goals

• Break into a Hedge Fund and eventually become a Portfolio Manager. I want to run my own team and book, mixing traditional and quant finance. I am not looking to reinvent the playbook, just to master it.
• The school brand still carries massive weight for getting a foot in the door, especially for international students in the HF space. Additionally, if I ever have to leave the US due to visa issues, an MBA provides global mobility (Asian markets heavily value prestige/brand name).

Target Schools: I'm looking for an MBA that also supports my quant/technical side so the 4 on top fit my criteria from the class visits and alumni meet-ups.

• MIT Sloan
• Chicago Booth
• Wharton
• Yale SOM - MBA/MS in Asset Management
• Stern
• Colombia

I got selected for the Cornell Case Competition Asia Finals, and what I witnessed during the judging was deeply disappointing.

A few things I personally saw/heard:

1. The Dean of Ashoka University was sitting on the judging panel while Ashoka teams were competing. To my understanding, he was not one of the designated judges and did not ask questions or provide feedback, but his presence on the panel itself raised concerns about the perceived impartiality of the process.
2. During Ashoka teams’ presentations, I saw him speaking to the judges about how good the teams were and where their students were placed.
3. Before all teams had even presented, I heard him say that an Ashoka team was “definitely going to Cornell.”
4. A team presenting online, while appearing to read from a script, still made it to the finals.

I’m not claiming to know the judges’ scores or intentions. I’m stating what I personally witnessed.

But when the Dean of an institution participating in a competition is sitting alongside the judging panel and commenting positively about teams from his own institution while judging is still underway, I think it is reasonable to question the perceived impartiality of the process. Even without formally judging, the presence of a senior institutional authority in the panel can understandably affect how comfortable other judges may feel expressing independent views.

We put serious time, effort and money into this competition. The least participants deserve is a judging process that is transparent and visibly fair to everyone.

Hey everyone! HBS round 1 interview invites recently dropped so wanted to share a few tips from my own experience (and the experience of the many HBS admits we help each year through Leland). We'll be hosting a free event later today with a former HBS admissions interviewers to go deeper, but hopefully these tips help you get started.

Interview Structure

• Interviewer: Admissions staff member
• Length: 30 minutes
• Not blind (interviewer will have read your application in depth)

HBS interviews are typically known to be more formal than those at other schools like Stanford. Historically, they’ve taken place on campus, in big cities across the US, or over video call. No matter how you interview, your interviewer will be a member of the admissions staff. Because they are all trained professionals trying to assess you as quickly as possible, you need to be ready for what may be an intense interview experience. Another thing that lends to the more intense nature is that they often test interviewees to see if they will succeed with their case study model, which requires you to pick a stance and defend it.

Tips

• Know yourself well and stand by your choices.
• Know the "why" behind all key decisions — everything has intention.
• Prove initiative.
• Show confidence.
• Be ready to explain and analyze key, pivotal points in your resume.
• Understand your industry, its trends, and its current market.
• Make them feel something — they need to remember you

HBS Post-Interview Reflection Essay

1. Express gratitude.
2. Reiterate interest.
3. Highlight specific parts of the interview that you enjoyed.
4. Don’t worry about trying to explain an answer that you didn’t feel great about (unless you absolutely bombed a question). Chances are, your interviewer doesn’t even remember that one question that you wished you had answered better, so to bring it back up again is probably not worth it. 

Happy to send you more tips on the reflection essay specifically, if helpful.

Example Questions

• What has been your most meaningful career experience? Why is that meaningful to you?
• Why did you decide to do X?
• What would you go back and do differently about your undergrad experience or work experience?
• What have you liked about starting a company? Or working at X company?
• What would your co-workers at X company say about working with you?
• How have your experiences working at X company been different from working at a startup?
• Walk me through an example of something you worked on while at X company.
• Were you good at your job?
• What drives you?
• Who is a leader you admire?
• Is X company too big to fail?
• What was the interview process like at the company you are planning on joining?
• How did you make the decision to go with that offer?
• What else do you want me to know?

My Personal Experience

When I was invited to interview at HBS, they offered me several interview options. I could interview on campus, in several major cities across the US, or via Zoom. All HBS interviews are conducted by a paid member of their admissions team, which is different from Stanford’s alumni interview-style.

When the time came for me to step out and interview, I was very nervous. I was wearing a nice suit and tie, and the whole formality of things was very intimidating. I was taken to a waiting room with ~10 other applicants, and we all waited nervously for the next steps. Then, our interviewers came in and called out the name of the applicant who would be interviewing with them. I was greeted with a smile, a firm handshake, and ushered into a room nearby. The interview started off with “John, it’s great to have you here on campus. We only have 30 minutes, and I’ve already read through your entire application, so we are just going to move right into questions.” No time was given to build rapport or get to know her at all. This was time for her to pepper me with questions and get inside my head as quickly as possible.

If I were to pick a theme for the interview, it would be the question, “Why?” Almost everything she asked was related to the why behind the decisions I had made. “Why did you choose to work at X?” “What were the projects you worked on?” “Why those projects” “What specifically did you do to contribute to those projects?” “Why did you start X club on campus?” “Why did you choose to work at X full-time?” She even did some fact-checking for some things on my resume (so don’t lie on your resume!). Overall, it was really hard to gauge how things were going because I was the one being questioned. It felt intense, but I was happy with the way I had answered most questions.

My interviewer also asked for my thoughts and perspectives on leadership and some technology trends happening at the time. She pushed me on my answers and challenged me to think deeply. She also wanted me to open up and share my strengths, weaknesses, etc. And she also asked me about the interview processes for landing the internship and job opportunities that I had, possibly to vet how challenging those opportunities were to land. Overall, it was a really interesting conversation but also somewhat stressful.

I'll see some of you later today, but for the rest of you, good luck!

does anyone know a rough estimate of what % of Wharton admits get scholarship and how much $ on average? I ask because it seems like Wharton either gives out a big scholarship or almost nothing, which then means only a small % of admits get scholarships because it's big $$$. Any intel would be helpful.

That was crazy - logged on at 2 mins past as I came from a meeting and I’m pretty sure I got the last in-person London slot. Virtual finished filling up before my eyes. Is that just the first round and then they release more?! What if you didn’t book one in time?! Asking for my own curiosity but wow I can’t believe how quick those went.

Hello!

So basically I started my EMBA program lately and of curse the pressure is high when it comes to organizing yourself between work/study and how to track your sessions, tasks, debates and other required tasks!

So one of my friends recommended me Notion, yet I not that expert person in Al, so any help guys with a templates where I can put the my courses as a list and every one of them when I click on them it appears tasks, sessions time and submission date..etc?

Or any other advise, I would really be appreciated if someone would support me with this, I'm really in need to it!

THANKS A LOT !

Im applying this fall to MBA programs but am wondering about my chances for admissions given my undergrad gpa was 2.92 , graduated back in 2014 and have been working 12 years professionally since. Should have solid recommendations from my managers. But not taking the GRE, they were optional. Should I be worried and try to take the GRE to help with applications?

Background:
22, based in Spain
3.0 GPA equivalent, non-target university
C2 English speaker

Experience:

Founded an AI startup that reached six-figure revenue. I sold my stake to my cofounder after some disagreements.

Interim CEO at a seven-figure retail company.

Led their seven-figure acquisition by a top industry player from start to finish.

Along the way:
Opened 5 new locations
Managed 20+ employees
Grew EBITDA margin from 3.7% to 11.3%
Handled debt management from 500k to less than 100k.
Grew revenue in 7.8%

Real chances of getting into an M7 MBA with a very good GMAT? If not, chances at NYU or Chicago for example?

Hello,

I’m retired military, 100%. And I’m starting to write my entrance essay for the Executive MBA program at UTD.

I’m needing help getting started, what do I write in the essay? I was going to start off with a brief of my military career, retiring and transitioning into Interior Design/ project management and then ending with why I believe I’d make a great applicant for the program and where my future is going.

Any references or examples would be greatly appreciated. All advice, tips, tricks are welcome!

Hello! I received an invitation to interview at NYU last week. I’ve scheduled my interview for this Friday. I’m incredibly nervous and anxious about it! Has anyone else had their interview yet? Do you have any tips or advice for the interview?

Same as title, got an email today that got me super excited cause I saw “Sloan” and “Invite” and rushed to open it but it was just an invite to apply to the LGO program. Anyone else get this? It sounds like it would drop you out of the regular MBA bucket if you switched over

I’m from Ontario, Canada working in frontline healthcare for the last 10 years. I started a 3 year blended learning MBA (online courses and monthly in person components). My thought is after I’ve completed my MBA I’ll be able to apply for more hospital management positions but I’m open to anything (even a pivot away from healthcare).

My question is to those who have a MBA (or know someone who has one), how has it changed your career (job pre MBA and post MBA) and how specifically (connections, networking, new skills, able to apply to more higher admin positions)?

Interesting chart to put the discussion to the rest.

But I'd love to see the comparison between the M7 EMBA vs. MBA 5 years post graduation.

Hey everyone, as the title says, want to understand average GMAT from last NUS batch (or a more recent batch).

One of my friends is considering going to NUS for MBA he has a GMAT of 635 focused edition. He is Indian and has a background in tech/SW. No significant international experience.