Wire Taps 235—Promising MBA candidate, unknown additional activities. Unconventional candidate, with weaker numbers. 730 GMAT, should they retake?

Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast

Happy Memorial Day! This week's podcast kicks off with some discussion of latest wait list movements and anticipation of more activity over the next couple of weeks. Graham then discussed the Application Overview Workshops that have now concluded and previewed Clear Admit's July webinar series, which will be focused on each MBA program’s essays. Graham also noted a special webinar event on June 8, focused on entering the management consulting field (signups are here: https://bit.ly/caconsultingjune). Graham then highlighted two 'Real Humans Alumni' pieces; a Cornell / Johnson graduate working as a Technical Account Manager for Google and a Columbia MSFE graduate working as a Software Engineer (also at Google). Finally, your hosts discussed the news of the new dean at Michigan / Ross. For the WireTaps portion of the show, Alex selected three ApplyWire entries to review: First up, is a candidate with outstanding numbers (3.9/740) who appears to have done well at work. Alex and Graham had some thoughts regarding their goals, and would like to know more about their activities outside of work. With that said, all the information on hand does look promising. The second candidate this week has an “unconventional" career trajectory and will need to expand on the “whys” behind those career decisions. Their numbers will raise concerns at the very best MBA programs, so they need to attend to that. Graham and Alex also wanted to know more about their goals in green tech. This week's final candidate has a 730 GMAT, and despite that high score, we debate whether it’s worth a retake. For some candidates, this may well be the case. Their GPA is 'modest', and while it appears they have done well at work, their work experience is going to be a little 'over-represented'. We also have questions about their 'consulting in non-profit' goals. This episode was recorded in Cornwall, England and Paris, France. It was produced in 'always sunny' Philadelphia by Dennis Crowley.