I would like to share with you my situation and, kindly, to ask you to give me some advice on what else I could do.

I am a guy who wants to do a full-time MBA in the UK. I have what is called, in the b-schools admissions jargon, an atypical background and I would like to know if I have any serious chance of getting an offer. Please give me any opinion drawn from your own experience.

First of all, I am going to apply to the following schools: LBS, Cambridge Judge, Oxford and maybe Imperial College. And yes, I am targetting only top schools, mainly in UK.

Now, my background:

I am on my thirties and I have a MSc in engineering. I am really concerned because GPA is not high, however it was the first of that year and so it looks like I'm one very mean student. Any suggestions on this?

In addition, I am not working for a big company (however I did it and left after six months) I have been on the public sector for four years.

Those were the weakest points of my application.

The strong points are that I got high TOEFL and GMAT scores (7-something and 6.0).

In addition, I have a large international background.

I know that my profile is radically opposed to those of the typical applicants.

So, do you think I could make it for LBS? Should I try anything else not listed above? Any strategy?

Thank you a lot in advance and feel free to make any comment.

hola - i dunno. i think you have a pretty interesting background, dude. that gmat score should definitely get you a close look from those schools. they cannot ignore that. i think if you need to write a kickass statement of purpose, one that really convinces them that you should be in business school, you can get a close consideration from Imperial. do you have good references?

btw, i think an atypical resume could be interesting these days just as about a million people are fleeing finance jobs in london for refuge in mba programs.

good luck, amigo!

peace,
rye

Hi,

I don't think your GPA will be that important. My guess is that the schools will mostly take into account your GMAT, and any doubts regarding your academic performance as an undergrad could also be resolved if you have some proof of your award.

As for your work experience, it makes you a somewhat un-standard candidate, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Schools like to have variety among their students, and people with un-common backgrounds can be very important. As Ryan said, I think the important thing is to use your application to show (1) that during your 4 years of research you did some good, relevant and challenging work; (2) how your background makes you an interesting candidate for an MBA program; and (3) how your background fits in with your interest in an MBA. For (1), it is important to be clear about the work that you've done and how this has helped you become a better professional. For (2), remember that schools want people who will positively contribute to class discussions and will interact well other students. As for (3), it is important that you understand your own professional journey and the reasons why you want to change, and how the MBA fits with those goals.

I can't tell for sure, but i also think you stand a good chance - b schools are looking for diversity and interesting candidates. your work experience in research can also play in your favor - its just a matter of how you describe it in the application form and interview - after all, in research you have to work with other people in a team, and maybe run the team yourself. you also usually have to work internationally ect. these experiences are not worse then the normal work experience a prospective student is supposed to have.

Thank you very much for your answers.

They gave me the support I needed and they will be very helpful tackling the essays for the applications.

no problem! keep us informed - i would really like to hear about more about the application process(essays and interview in particular) in the big name schools - especially LBS.

Good luck,

Andy