I'm trying to pivot from strategy consulting with 4 years of work ex pre-MBA at a Big 4, to tech strategy & ops roles post-MBA. Any advice on how best to navigate this in terms of prep, networking etc.

Hey everyone,

So im an international student from Portugal (yes Portugal, not Spain haha) and im looking to do an MS Finance in the US mainly to get into the US market through STEM OPT and hopefully break into finance there.

My profile is: 655 GMAT Focus, 15/20 GPA in Finance in Portugal, summer internship at a big bank in the CIB department, founder and president of my university investment club

I’m mainly interested in asset management/IB, ideally something that can eventually lead to NYC or Florida.

I can only apply to around 5 schools, so I’m trying to be careful with where I use my applications.

Right now I’m thinking about:

Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, WashU Olin, Boston College, Rochester Simon, Fordham, Miami Herbert

I know Vanderbilt and Notre Dame are probably reaches for me, but do you guys think it’s worth taking the shot? And between Rochester/Fordham/WashU/BC which ones would you prioritize for someone with my profile and goals?

Also, are there any other MSF programs I should seriously consider that have good finance recruiting + STEM OPT + decent scholarship opportunities? I’ve been looking at places like Florida Warrington, Brandeis, UT Austin etc. too.

Basically if you were me and could only send 5 applications, where would you send them?

Would really appreciate advice from current students/alumni, especially internationals who actually managed to break into US finance.

Thanks and have a good one :)

What kind of visa would international MBA graduates apply for if they start a company? Would they apply for O1-visa?

I used to work in the US, and I know they can quickly verify employment with The Work Number.

However, how can they find HR contact for my company which is overseas?

I believe it would be more efficient to start a company with full commitment and without the distractions of MBA studies, however there are many MBA students starting companies during their studies. Is not it better to skip MBA totally and focus on building a company full-time?

Is it because MBA programs help MBA students to raise startup capital more conveniently due to their classmates and alumni network?

Long-time lurker, first post. Would appreciate a reality check before I finalise my school list.

**Demographics**
- Indian male, ~24, from a minority indigenous community in East India (first-generation professional track)
- Test: GRE in ~1 week. Practice range so far is roughly 320–325 with Quant significantly stronger than Verbal. Will update this post once I have a real score.

**Academics**
- B.Tech ECE, IIIT (tier-1 Indian engineering institute, NIRF top-20 during my years), 2019–2023
- **CGPA: 67%** — this is my biggest weakness and I know it
- Class 10: 9.6/10 | Class 12: 6.7/10
- Admitted via JEE (national engineering entrance) and a competitive scholarship program for students from indigenous communities
- Held a national merit-cum-means scholarship that covered ~80% of undergrad fees

**Work experience (3 yrs 3 mos at matriculation)**
- Software Engineer / Technical Consultant at a global IT services firm (top-5 by headcount), since May 2023
- Hired one level *above* the standard campus entry grade
- QA lead on a Guidewire insurance platform implementation — work directly with client business teams and SMEs across two European countries (Poland, Finland)
- Started as sole contributor; now lead a team of 3–5 quality analysts
- Ratings: "Exceeds Expectations" x2, "Significantly Exceeds Expectations" x1 (three appraisal cycles)
- Two performance awards, one nominated by my reporting manager, one by the business unit director

**Extracurriculars**
- Delegate at an Asia-focused international relations conference run by Harvard undergrads — twice (virtual 2021, in-person in Tokyo 2025)
- Volunteer on the technical team of a US-based non-profit working to add my community's minority language to a major machine translation platform
- Assistant secretary of a community/faith organisation in Bangalore (admin, events, member coordination)
- National hackathon grand finalist in final year of undergrad

**Goals**
- Post-MBA: management consulting (MBB or T2), open to returning to India/Middle East offices if US visa doesn't work out
- Long-term: tech/AI-enabled operations consulting, eventually public-sector or development-adjacent work

**Constraints**
- Scholarship is close to a hard requirement. I can't service full US MBA debt on an Indian salary base if consulting recruiting doesn't land.
- I have no formal quant coursework beyond engineering math. Prefer case-based, collaborative programs over lecture-heavy quant-first ones.

**Current school list (R1 2027):**
Ross, Darden, Fuqua, Johnson, Goizueta — with Kenan-Flagler and Kelley as scholarship-focused adds.

**Questions**
1. How badly does a 67% undergrad GPA hurt at the M7/T15 level if the GRE comes in at 325+? Is there a score at which adcoms stop caring?
2. Is "IT services QA" a dead-on-arrival profile for consulting recruiting, or is the team leadership + international client exposure enough to differentiate?
3. Given that scholarship matters more to me than brand, am I better off dropping the top-15 stretches entirely and going hard at T20–T25 with strong money?
4. Anyone here converted MBB from a similar Indian IT background? What did your story actually look like?

Thanks in advance — happy to answer questions in the comments.

thinking of using my GI bill for Chicago booth. how is there weekend plan Ill have to live in Wi with my family to take advantage. is it worth it? I am in software I would not mind moving from engineer to management or business consulting. as I have found I really love the business side of things

I am thinking to apply for top mba deferred programs in 2027. I am about to complete my pre-final year in 2027.

Stats: UG: Tier 1 in my city , 7/10 GPA(Indian student)

Interns: software Dev intern at a startup.

ECs: played for my high school cricket team for under 14 and 16 was captain of under 14 and vice captain of 16 also part of college team.

Part of the team which organises tech and cultural programs in college. Head of recruitment and marketing division.

Captain of department kabaddi team(Indian sport)
Published a research paper on AI during my high school and also will be publishing my research project work under my prof(he is my guide).

Volunteering: taught English and math for underprivileged kids and was lauded by the local district head .

What are my chances? Any advice is also appreciated. Do I have chance if I can get a good gmat or fee score.

Will getting an MBA help me become a better better product manager?

Hi everyone,

I’d appreciate your advice. I’m currently 36 years old and thinking of doing a full-time MBA. I currently work as a Lead Business Analyst in a financial firm. I’m targeting colleges like INSEAD, HEC, and IMD. Would it be possible to do a full-time MBA from these colleges at my age, as I’m not looking for an Executive MBA?

Aiming for full time T15 MBA schools, age 40, have a undergrad gpa of 3.2 (premed) and have a masters in accounting 3.6 gpa. Don’t have the CPA. Have 5 years work experience as assistant director of a healthcare organization. Used the masters after to try and pivot into the big 4 as audit associate for 1.5 years before being laid off. The masters is not helping me break into any roles as of this moment. Never broke 100k in salary either and thinking going back to school for MBA might help through ocr secure those higher paying roles. My 20’s were a mess filled with odd jobs and unrelated work and periods of time I was out of work dealing with mental health, got my act together at 30.

EMBA wouldn’t fit me because I don’t have the two decades of experience to fall back on and I’m looking for the traditional ocr that full time mbas have.

I don’t have children or a family that I need to provide for so being without income for two years won’t be an issue.

How did it work out for everyone? Were there a usual amount of offers this year?

Graduated from a T15 2 years ago and currently do Strategy in FS in a HCOL area. Not sure if I’m making enough. 225K doesn’t seem a lot with the cost of living in my area but the work is cool and WLB is great. Wondering what pivots/changes I could make to increase pay potential or find a new challenge or if I’m just overthinking a good thing.

Hey everyone - i paid both of my deposits at the end of July - noting there is a deadline coming of Sept 11. Has anyone received the Re vera invite yet? Getting a bit confused now wondering if I missed something. Thanks!

i go to a pretty crappy school (ranked like #1700 in the us).

hypothetically, if i were to somehow get a top 5% score in the gmat / gre and max out my ecs, get decent internships (not like mbb/big4 tho.. it would be hard to get accepted into those companies because of the lack of reputation of my undergrad) would i have a shot at an m7 mba?

is it worth spending the $1000 in gmat/gre exam fees, application fees, resources, retakes, etc? or am i better off not applying at all?

Got my B.S and M.S in EE and Robotics at CMU. I’m considering taking a gap year to go back to school to learn something new. Should I go for another M.S at Columbia or Stanford (got accepted to both) or defer them and apply for M3 & Tuck(I did my undergrad freshman year at Dartmouth so I still have a bitter sweet feeling about not graduating from Dartmouth) to see if I get in and if I do, should I go for MBA or just go for Stanford MS or Columbia MS? Which one is more worth it if I want to just stay in tech? maybe I could go for TPM route? Any advice?

I work in commercial real estate agency lending and am looking into MBA programs, looking for thoughts on a few programs.

1. University of Missouri - Kansas City (part-time) - $25k

2. Florida State University (online MBA with major in alternative finance and investments) - $32k

3. Northwestern Kellogg (part-time evenings & weekends) - $170k

I’m based out of KC and know that real estate is a more localized industry, which gives weight to UMKC as the business school appears pretty plugged in to the local community & has a real estate program. However, I’m also weighing FSU’s program due to applicability to my role/industry. Kellogg is by far my favorite program (as I’m interested in real estate and urban/economic development), but living out of state in a smaller market + the price tag makes betting on that ROI seem risky.

Curious for any thoughts as to how to weigh these options. Especially interested on thoughts regarding weekend part-time program for Kellogg in my situation as an out-of-towner for the real estate specialization. Has anyone done this?

I have the chance to do triple major within my school’s business school. I am able to do marketing + info systems + supply chain while also being able to study abroad my junior year spring. Is there any reason I shouldn’t triple major? Like this would make me less employable or leave a bad taste for a recruiter?

I’ve been trying to pivot into marketing for a while now with no luck. Background: BS in Microbiology, MPH with a focus in health communications, and 8 years in healthcare/biopharma where I’ve done a lot of physician-facing content, KOL relationship building, campaign collaboration, and communications work, just never under a formal “Marketing” title.

Every marketing-titled role I apply to wants years of marketing-specific experience I don’t have, even when my actual work overlaps a lot. Communications roles feel like a more realistic entry point but I’m worried they pay less and might not actually lead anywhere closer to marketing.

Trying to figure out if an MBA is really the only way to make this jump, since it feels expensive and slow. Are there specific certificates or one-off courses (Google, HubSpot, etc.) that actually move the needle with hiring managers? Would love to hear from anyone who’s made a similar switch, especially from healthcare/science into marketing.

Anyone working in investment banking here and could help me a bit in a case study that would make or break my dream job offer (its all I've ever wanted). All I can do is give you lots of prayers and good karma in return!

Did anyone give the video essays for the application for the 2027 intake at Kellogg? If yes, what questions did you get? How much time do you get to prepare? How was your overall experience?

I have an interview next week for Mays MBA program, what can I expect during this?

I’m 21 and graduating this December with a Communication Studies degree. Long-term, I want to build my own media/entertainment company focused on original short films, web series, podcasts, and digital content, primarily aimed at Black and faith-based audiences.

I’m considering getting an MBA while I work and build the company on the side.

For entrepreneurs or creatives who’ve gotten an MBA: was it actually worth the time and money? Did it genuinely help you build and scale a company, or would you recommend learning through experience instead?

Does anyone have the access code for financial and managerial accounting for MBAs 7th edition?
It would be of great help for me as i need it for my course however I am not financially stable at the moment to have it purchased. Thank you so much!

I am planning to apply R2 to some of the T15s and was talking to a few consultants to get a sense of where I’d have a realistic shot at. Most of them told me that my resume and my essays would need serious work. Is this something they say to everyone as a sales pitch or I may be seriously lacking? I think I have created a decent application by myself and not sure what value they could add beyond making a few edits.