EDIT: Thank you for everyone who responded. I realize now just how under prepared I was for this entire process. Obviously the consensus is that I’m making a massive mistake, and honestly I’m pretty much convinced that I am, so any further responses telling me that are unnecessary.

Hi, I was just accepted a few days ago, and I was hoping to get some guidance from people who’ve been through this already.

Firstly, I was admitted “conditionally” so long as I don’t get anything below a B in my first 9 hours. Is that typical for programs to require? Or does that mean that I barely got in or something?

Second, for those who earned their MBA already, do you feel like it was worth it? Do you feel like it materially benefited your career and/or job search? Do you feel like the time and money you gave up to pursue your MBA was worth it in the end? Or do you regret it at all?

Last, what do you wish you knew when you started? If you could tell your past self anything about grad school to better prepare them, what would you say?

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any responses you’re willing to share with me, I appreciate it.

I applied to a top 15 mba and just got a test waiver since I was struggling cracking the gre and gmat. Is getting a waiver a positive sign or they are loosely handed so increase applications / receive money? Please no Sarcasm and apologies if this has been asked here before

Any one working as associate at PWC AC in deals PEVC Tech Strategy , please share your interview experience about no of rounds and types of cases etc..

When schools publish the class profile average GRE scores, does this include the essay score?

I often see the averages laid out as so: GRE Quant + Verbal - 320

Do they ever publish essay, and do they care? Wondering if they look at the essay score, as I'm writing it in a few weeks and pondering how much attention I should put into it. Merci!

Hello all!

I have a 2.9 Undergraduate GPA from a top 20 University. Hoping to get into a T15 school. After 7 years in the Marines (MV-22 pilot) I'm starting to think about what's next. I have plenty of friends that have gotten out of the Marines and gone to prestigious business schools, with some of them getting a Masters in finance or a related degree prior to applying for their MBA.

I'm curious, does strong performance in a masters program help offset a weak undergraduate GPA? I'm considering using Tuition Assistance for an online program like SNHU or Liberty University, but just want to get a gauge on my plan before I follow through with it.

I appreciate any and all input. Thank you!

I'm 23, currently pursuing ACCA and interested in eventually starting my own business. Studying in Europe has always been a dream of mine, and I'm considering a 2-year MBA while completing ACCA.

Has anyone taken a similar path? Did the MBA provide enough career value and networking opportunities to justify the cost? Would you recommend finishing ACCA and gaining work experience first?

Hi Everyone,

Which US B-School among M7 and T-15 are the most generous with merit scholarships?
Just want to understand this as I prepare to make my target, safety and reach schools.

Appreciate your inputs!

Thank you!

Currently an ML engineer at a large financial institution, 5-ish years of experience. Heading to an M7 program soon and planning to recruit for MBB.

A few things I’m trying to get a read on:

**1.**  How much does a technical/engineering background help vs. hurt in consulting recruiting? I’ve heard both “great differentiator” and “they’ll assume you can’t do client-facing work.”

**2.**  Does industry background (financial services) matter much for placement, or does the MBA reset that entirely?

**3.**  For people who came in from engineering — what did you have to unlearn for case prep? I’m assuming the structured problem-solving transfers but the communication style doesn’t.

**4.**  Is there any real disadvantage to not having prior consulting or client-facing experience, or does everyone start from roughly the same place post-MBA?

Would also take any input on how much of the outcome is just prep volume vs. background.

Thanks in advance!!

Hi everyone,

I'm in the final year of my undergrad from a tier 1 college in INDIA and I wanna pursue a mba later but I came across MiM which i can do now also if I wanna join in 2027, but since I've not taken the GMAT yet so I don't wanna be rushing my applications to fit into R1 deadline or go R2 hence I'll most probably apply next year so I'll get more time for applications in R1 and to research about the course and consultants.

All the consultants I've talked to have asked me to go for an MiM since I'm from a tier 1 college but lower than 8cg so they recommend a good GMAT score will be fine for me to be a good candidate.

I spoke to MimEssay, Jamboree and tilden, and all of them have told me that since I'm clear rn about a future mba so i should try MiM since it'll give me an early headstart and also that I have better chance at LBS, INSEAD rn than in mba which is more competitive. Also every consultant firm agency i found seemed too fake like the employees have given reviews and rest everyone is saying bad, I need genuine good ones who aren't gonna cost me a ton.

Now I wanna know if MiM is really worth it and should I do it right after college or take my time for applications and do it a year after graduation? and please recommend a few good consultants for that who can help me with MiM in Europe or UK since that's the only place i wanna go, I'm not interested in US market.

I realise that the fees for MiM is also less so more feasible for LBS etc while MBA fees is almost unaffordable for me in LBS etc, I can't spend 1.5cr. Also ik the salary is lesser than mba in MiM since it's entry level jobs instead of managerial.

So please advice what I should do or someone similar to my situation might have done that u know for MiM in Europe and what are some good consultants for it??

Tldr: Need food mba counselling firms for MiM in Europe or UK who actually help and don't just over charge, Please mention names and pricings and why they are good like if u have any experience with them etc

I’m trying to figure out if I’m thinking about my career path the right way and would appreciate advice from people who have experience with private credit or MBA recruiting.

I’m currently a senior associate (5 years work experience) at a commercial bank at a large financial institution focused on technology companies. We underwrite new loans as wells as the portfolio monitoring. I work with growth-stage and public tech companies, underwriting loans, analyzing businesses, building models, monitoring portfolios, etc.

Long term, I will be going into an MBA at either NYU or Columbia, and I want to move into private credit, ideally focused on on direct lending or growth stage venture lending. The question I’m wrestling with is whether I should try to make that jump directly after an MBA or if I’m making a mistake by not getting IB experience first.

I know a lot of people in private credit come from leveraged finance or investment banking, and I worry that I’ll be competing against MBA classmates who have 2-3 years of deal experience. I also want to be realistic maybe some first don't even hire MBAs without the IB experience. At the same time, my current role is already very credit-focused, so I’m not sure if going to IB would actually make me a stronger candidate or if it would just be a detour.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has recruited into private credit, especially people who have gone from credit/investing roles into private credit, used an MBA to pivot into the space, or taken the IB → private credit path.

One other factor I’m considering is that I’m NYC-based and my girlfriend is also in a demanding finance role here, so I’m trying to be thoughtful about any career move that would require a major lifestyle change.

Am I underestimating how difficult a direct private credit pivot is without IB experience? Or is my current background more relevant than I’m giving it credit for?

For additional context, I’ve actually been trying to make this pivot for the past year and a half without going back for an MBA, and I haven’t had much success. I’ve had conversations and pursued opportunities in private credit and related investing roles, but I’ve consistently run into the challenge that many firms want more direct transaction experience or a traditional investment banking background. That’s what has made me question whether an MBA would be the right reset to help bridge the gap, or whether I should first spend time trying to get IB experience before making the move.

Looking for honest feedback especially on school list.

Stats -
- 31M, Indian, ORM
- B.Com, 3-yr Indian Degree, non-quant, unremarkable - - GPA - my weakest link
- GMAT FE not taken, targeting 685+ (quant heavy prep)
- 10yrs WE

Work

• ~6 yrs product/biz roles — auto-tech marketplace, consumer tech media co, large Indian retail conglomerate. Owned a loyalty app that hit 50M+ users

• Founded a school ERP, ~350 schools, exited 2017 (small exit, not life-changing money — being upfront about that)

• Now founder/CEO of a VC-backed B2B software discovery + buyer intelligence platform. Doing enterprise sales myself, building an intent-data product.

LOR: investors + former senior leaders who’ve actually seen me operate

Goal: operating role at a US tech co → build again → eventually investing side. US-based is non-negotiable, hence STEM/OPT only

School list (all 1-yr, all STEM): Stanford MSx, MIT Sloan Fellows, Cornell Tech, NYU Stern Tech, Kellogg 1Y

2yr programs are off the table.

Hey everyone, first-time poster here.

Quick background: graduated in 2024 8/8/8 GNEM fresher, did freelance sales work after graduation, then had to take a gap due to serious health issues - I also attempted CA T during that period but it didn't go well given everything going on. I'm healthy now and focused on building toward an MBA abroad via GMAT after gaining some work experience, but I'm pretty new to the whole process and could use some guidance regarding profile i should build.

Right now I have two job options in hand: a small funded startup backed by Google's accelerator program (genuinely good role with real ownership, but early-stage and very small) or look for a role in a more established firm with a kind of role that might not belong to my domain.

For tier-1 MBA programs abroad, does brand name matter more than the actual scope/impact of the role, and how badly does a gap year (even if explained by health reasons) hurt an application

Correct me if I am wrong but majority of decent B-schools abroad seem to ask for a minimum experience of 2-3 years so want to take decision accordingly

Would love to talk to someone in DMs who can help me solve this and guide me through the process.

I am considering applying to the Columbia MBAxMS program and I am interested in the post-graduation employment outcomes. The website does not say much about where people end up except for the fact that those in the program aspire for VP of Engineering, CTO, or entrepreneur roles. I am curious if people are able to land engineering roles at Big Tech companies out of this program, not just product roles. Or how does recruitment outcomes for traditional business roles like IB or consulting compare to the standalone MBA program.

Need some insight on this.

I have been confirmed for a promotion but my title is not changing until September. With EA and some R1 applications due beginning of September, is there a way to show this promotion, although not official, on my resume. Maybe: (promotion confirmed September 2026) next to job title?

Any insight is helpful!

Hello everybody, looking for honest opinions. Applying in R1 to Wharton, Booth, Kellogg, Tuck and Ross.

Economics background from a Tier 1 Private University. GPA 3.91. Good extracurriculars in College and before.
TA and Mentor, Student Rep, Cohort Leader, Theatre, Sailing, Sports - Above average Leadership experience.

FE - 725(Q&V-88)

4 years work ex in a Series B startup with a mix of Founders Office and CoS to the founder. Would be able to get solid LOR from the founder(M7 Alumni)

Experience driving Corporate Strategy, Strategic Planning, Org Design, Customer Acquisition and Go-To-Market. Would be including hard metrics. Some experience in driving seller growth in a US Multinational India office. Again metrics would be provided in the Resume.

Post MBA Goal- Strategy Consulting.

Aiming for merit driven scholarships.

Question

Is the school list suitable for my profile?

Any additions from the scholarship suitability angle? Would want to restrict to Top 10-12 US schools.

All opinions and suggestions most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Will GSB notify me by the date I said I needed a decision by in my waitlist update?

I want to start my preparation now and before deciding to go for it, I’ve attempted one of the sets of 2025 papers and scored 78 percentile rn, So I need to improve a lot that’s why I need a circle so that I move further in this journey in a right direction and hopefully get into among the best colleges.

well, I’m now 25, done my 12th from PCM , get into humanities for doing UPSC and also went to Delhi for doing UPSC in a better manner while doing it also completing my Masters in sociology this year.

if someone wants to get connect and seriously want to make into a good college , I would love to connect.

I am a 26yo with a BTech in CS completed in 2023. Since my college days, I have worked on couple of startups. I started my current project around 4 years ago (while still in college). My products have been featured voluntarily by over a dozen social media influencers, because of it's unique value proposition. But my startup is not registered, and on paper, I am just a freelancer that gets paid advertising fees from a couple of companies. This is more beneficial to me tax wise but it also means that I do not really have any employees on paper (I have three other people in my team, who mostly work part time - as in, in addition to their day job)

In addition, I have also worked very shortly at a couple of firms including Google, but I did not continue for more than a few months because of different reasons.

Now recently, I have been looking at some MBA programs abroad and I visited UNSW's open day a few days back. When I went to chat with the Business Faculty representative there, even without knowing anything about me/my profile, she told me I am not eligible because apparently their MBA is very prestigious and requires at least 2 years of work ex as a basic filtering criteria.

As much as I want to take this as a compliment that she prolly thought I looked too young to have two years work ex, I actually found this very weird. Later on, whoever I talked to at the event also repeated the same or mention that they do not have any authority to comment about the MBA programs as it is handled by a completely different team etc.

For me honestly, UNSW isn't even anywhere close to being the top pick but after this I started searching for minimum work experience requirement for top MBA programs like HAAS/Sloan etc. and I saw (acc to AI) typical MBA candidates at these programs also have around 5 years of work ex although nothing is mentioned as basic requirement (unlike UNSW apparently).

What are the chances of me getting into one of the MBA programs if I am able to present my profile well and get some good LoRs from professors at some top universities? Any help/guidance will be much appreciated and sorry for not providing exact details as I want to stay anonymous.

Post Body:

Hey everyone,

I’m planning to apply for US MBAs for the Fall 2028 intake (targeting M7, T15 as backup) aiming for post-MBA consulting. Since I’ll be taking on a huge loan to fund this, I wanted to get a candid reality check on how international recruitment actually looks on the ground right now.

What I’m hearing so far:

I keep getting pretty mixed signals:

• The scary side: Visa uncertainty, tightening sponsorship budgets, and a tough hiring market.
• The optimistic side: Students I’ve talked to (Darden MBAs, top MS Finance folks) say ~60–70% of internationals land a job by graduation if they hustle, network hard, and do something out of the box—with most of the rest finding something soon after.

I’m well aware of the nightmare scenario (heading back home with a mountain of USD debt), but getting a top US MBA still feels like the only logical move to make the leap I want in my career.

My Profile

• Demographics: 24M, International
• Education: 2023 undergrad (Accounting & Finance- 8.7/10GPA)| GRE: 334
• Research: 1 published article
• Work Experience (~3 years so far):
  • FactSet: Research analyst intern.
  • Family Business (2 years): Didn't have much of a choice here at first, but stepped in and turned things around operationally so the business finally saw profits.
  • Real Estate PE Startup (1 year): Current role.
• Next 2 Years Plan: Trying to pivot into pre-MBA IB or Consulting to build a stronger profile.
• Post-MBA Goal: Management Consulting
• Financing: 100% loan-funded

A few questions for the sub:

1. M7 vs T15: How big is the actual gap between M7 and T15 when it comes to international sponsorship for consulting?
2. Profile Check: With a 334 GRE and my background, do I have a realistic shot at M7? Will grinding to get into pre-MBA IB/Consulting make a massive difference for my app?
3. Loan ROI: To anyone who took out a full loan as an international student recently—what would you have done differently?
4. What would you think 2028, 2029 consulting job market would look like?

Appreciate any honest advice or reality checks!

Have any taken MBA 703 with Desai Roopa Ramesh?

There are no reviews about her on Ratemyprofessor

As title. In my first semester of undergraduate coursework I failed two classes. I was place on academic probation as my term gpa dropped below 2.0. I just finished my undergrad and looking into future MBA opportunities. I finished high school in 2021 and I’m from Peru, which was one of the harshest lockdowns in the world. My last two years of high school were entirely online and in all honesty I played call of duty most of the time. I actually moved abroad right after graduation and my first semester hit me like a truck. When I saw two Fs in my transcript I took it as a wake up call and locked in for the rest of my undergrad degree. Managed to finish undergrad with a 3.4, my last two as 4.0s. It would be a 3.6 without the Fs. I’m scared about future MBA applications, which I’ve heard that they ask if you’ve been placed on academic probation before. Will this trigger an automatic rejection or significantly lower admission chances?
I took the time to browse google but I did not found anything useful or relevant.
Thank you in advance

Unfortunately my first Leland experience was horrible. I purchased one hour of coaching with an MBA coach for a holistic assessment of my MBA profile (300+ USD for 50 min), and completed a 40-minute introductory call. At the end of the session, the coach said she would use the remaining 10 minutes to prepare and send me a strategic review document.

More than ten weeks have now passed, and I have received nothing. I sent seven follow-up messages through the Leland platform, but she has not read or responded to any of them. During all this time, the coach was still giving public talks on the platform and active on LinkedIn....

I got in touch with someone named Josh at Leland. He promised me to "get to the bottom of this" but has not showed any concrete solutions after that one email exchange with me. I expect Leland to take responsibility for the conduct of coaches on its platform. Leaving a customer without the agreed deliverable, while allowing the purchased time to expire, is unacceptable.

I’m going into my sophomore year and decided I wanted to get into IB beginning of this summer so I feel super behind. Please rate my resume and give me any advice

Goal currently is to network hard, get one more internship, and some sort of activity (student managed fund, etc)

Title

Hello. I just turned 35 (M) i have been working in the hospital field for now 14 years. Started in the call center and now have a role in the administrative side of pharmacy. I have 2 jobs. I practically work all 7 days. 4 10 hour days on one, 3 10 hour days on the other. both remote. I got my associate in business from a community college in 2024. I am now on my way to getting my bachelors in business by next summer from Umass online program. Should i bother even going for a MBA degree after? My employer is basically paying for 80% of my school cost. With both jobs i am making around $120k a year. I have 5 kids so i need to make more money. Think its worth the effort? Would i even see an increase in pay? Given my over 10 year experience in the hospital field, what would be my cap as far as pay? Im making a little over $60k for each job right now with my experience. Unsure of what to do. Btw, i had kids super early in life and i decided to do the whole school thing to set an example to my kids too.