What Stanford and Harvard Really Want

There is a thriving MBA admissions consulting industry that will charge you $5,000 for advice on how to get into the top programs. Save yourself some money and read this instead.

“Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it” — a poster over the urinal in a bar that used to be called JR’s Bait Shack*

I began my MBA application process with a misguided belief: if my GMAT score is good enough, I’ve got a good shot to go anywhere.

This seemed sensible enough. For most of my life grades and test scores were essentially all that mattered in traversing the academic landscape. I understood MBAs were a bit different in that they deemphasized undergraduate grades and elevated work experience and I found this rather convenient as I thought my history of early promotion might overshadow my lukewarm 3.3 GPA and, if paired with an impressive GMAT, get me an audience with the admissions folks at any university of my choosing.

So I studied hard for the GMAT, scored a 740 which was, at the time, higher than the average of any top program, and though I’d at least landed myself an interview at whichever school I chose.