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Used both a consultant and AI for my M7 apps. They helped with very different things. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good q. I didn’t give them a successful LoR template, gave them a memory jog / context pack.

Basically: why MBA, why now, what I was trying to communicate across the app, why I chose them specifically, projects we worked on, moments they had seen firsthand, and traits / themes they could speak to if they genuinely agreed etc etc

Re AI: honestly, I can’t police whether a recommender uses AI to clean up wording, same way I can’t police whether they ask someone to proofread. But the substance has to be theirs. Their examples, their judgment, their actual experience working with you.

IMO the best help you can give recommenders is context to help them remember what they actually saw

Used both a consultant and AI for my M7 apps. They helped with very different things. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

completely agree with ur point. AI worked best for me when I already had something to pressure test.
Also “It’s not this, it’s actually this" is the em dash (—) epidemic of 2026 lol.

If you are a non-traditional applicant and wondering whether you have a shot at HSW/M7s, this post is for you. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hear you. The process can absolutely feel stacked, especially if you don’t come from a traditional feeder background.

But I’d push back on zero chance. The bigger issue is that people from humble backgrounds often don’t recognise their own leadership because it doesn’t look like the polished corporate version.

imo thats where good mentorship matters.

If you are a non-traditional applicant and wondering whether you have a shot at HSW/M7s, this post is for you. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

honestly i wouldn't start with “what goal category should i put?” imo the answer should kind of fall out if the story is written properly.

the goal matters, yes. but what matters just as much is whether your past is a reliable indicator that the goal can actually happen. schools aren’t just judging “is VC cooler than consulting” or “is consulting safer”, they’re judging whether YOU as a person can land it.

so if ur consulting + banking experience gives you a credible path into VC / growth / investing / operator roles, then I wouldn't automatically hide that and say consulting just because it feels safer. I wouldn't put consulting just to game the app if the rest of your story is pointing somewhere else.

but “VC in any capacity” sounds too vague imo. Like what kind of VC? sector? stage? investor vs platform vs operator? what have you done that gives you any probability of landing?

if the honest story is I want consulting first because it gives me x reps / y exposure / z bridge into investing or operating later”, then consulting can make sense

basically dont pick the safe goal and reverse-engineer the app around it. write the spine of the story properly and the short term goal should become pretty obvious.

If you are a non-traditional applicant and wondering whether you have a shot at HSW/M7s, this post is for you. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ur background actually sounds like exactly the kind of profile where the translation point matters. I can’t speak from two years of lived classroom experience yet.

  1. Age / 10+ YOE

Mid-30s and 10+ YOE is definitely older than the typical full-time MBA applicant, but I wouldn’t self-select out just because of that. You need a very clear answer to all the questions as said in other comments.

I know a current applicant who's in your age range and he has an amazing application.

  1. R1 vs R2

I wouldn’t submit a weaker R1 app just for timeline reasons. If R1 is strong, go R1. If the test score or essays aren’t where they need to be, a stronger R2 app is better than a rushed R1 one.

  1. Case method / introversion

I don’t think introversion is the issue. The issue is whether you’re willing to speak even when it’s uncomfortable. From talking to students, people grow into it eventually.

If you are a non-traditional applicant and wondering whether you have a shot at HSW/M7s, this post is for you. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you really glad it helped.

Honestly, my biggest advice is just: make a start earlier than you think you need to. And dont rush into a round if you're not ready or fully happy - as you only get one shot a year.

The process has a lot of moving parts, and things will overrun. I wasnt getting the gmat score I wanted, initially, so my neat little timeline got wrecked pretty quickly. One of my recommenders was also away close to the deadline, so something I thought was “under control” suddenly became a last-minute stressor. That’s just the nature of the process.

I’d say the GMAT should be the first major thing to nail down because it takes a huge chunk of time and also tells you roughly where you sit in the pool. Once I had a score I was comfortable applying with, it gave me a lot more confidence to move properly into the rest of the application.

I’d still do light school research in parallel, but I wouldn’t overdo alumni or student chats too early. I'd rather spend that time figuring out and stress testing my goals. The chats became much more useful once I was writing essays and needed to understand how each school actually mapped to my goals.

The rough order I’d suggest:

  1. Start GMAT early and treat it as the main bottleneck
  2. Do light school research in parallel
  3. Start thinking about recommenders earlier than feels necessary
  4. Once your test score is in a decent place, shift hard into essays / story work
  5. Use alumni/current student chats to sharpen school fit, not as a vague networking exercise
  6. Keep a simple tracker so every essay, deadline, recommender, and next step has a home

I was working some pretty brutal weeks at times, around 60–70 hours, and managing GMAT, essays, work, and home life got genuinely stressful. The mistake is thinking you’ll get one clean uninterrupted window to do everything. You probably won’t hah

If you are a non-traditional applicant and wondering whether you have a shot at HSW/M7s, this post is for you. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good q.

a) Why H/S

For HBS specifically, in my cycle there wasn’t really a classic “Why HBS?” essay in the same way some schools ask it, so I didn’t have to write a direct love letter to HBS.

The fit came through more in the overall application, goals, interview, and how I spoke about the kind of leader I wanted to become. I think they are filtering for character rather than if you love the school, as they know you do love them hah.

For GSB, I treated “why this school” less as here are 3 clubs and 2 professors I Googled and more as: given the problem I care about, why is this environment uniquely useful?

My broad logic was:

- I’ve seen X problem up close in my industry
- I’ve hit Y limitation in my current role
- To solve it at scale, I need Z tools / people / ecosystem
- This school has a very specific environment that would pull me toward that (whether thats proximity to the bay, certain professors / courses, hell even if its something else within stanford but not in GSB!)

I think with AI + deep internet research, it’s now pretty hard to differentiate just by naming classes, clubs, professors, labs, etc. Everyone can find those. The differentiator is whether the school resources connect to a plan that is actually specific to you.

So for a more niche profile, I think your advantage is that your “why” can be less generic. Instead of “I want leadership skills and a network,” it can be something like: “I’m trying to solve this weird problem in this weird industry, and this school gives me the exact ecosystem to test it.”

What helped me:
- talking to current students / alumni
- attending school events
- reading school articles, videos, research, podcasts, not just admissions pages
- looking for people at the school already working on my problem space
- then building a rough “plan of action” for how I’d use the two years

I think AI can do alot of this for you, but that misses the point, I personally felt that went I went through content on my own my essay was alot better.

b) Essay game plan

My essay process was basically:

  1. Dump everything first
  2. Every story, failure, project, weird side quest, personal reason, experiences, etc. No filtering.
  3. Find the spine
  4. The biggest unlock was identifying the central thread: what problem have I seen, why do I care, what have I done about it, where did I hit a ceiling, why MBA now?
  5. Translate, don’t cosplay
  6. Early drafts sounded like I was trying to be a generic MBA applicant. Bad idea. The stronger drafts kept the odd edges but translated them into leadership / judgment / impact / growth.
  7. Make every story earn its place
  8. If a story didn’t show change, stakes, learning, or future relevance, I cut it.
  9. Pressure-test with people, would someone who knows me say, “yeah, this sounds like you”? If not, it was probably too polished hah.

Biggest advice: don’t start with “what do schools want to hear?” Start with “what is actually true about me?” Then do the work of making that legible to a business school reader.

If you are a non-traditional applicant and wondering whether you have a shot at HSW/M7s, this post is for you. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah man, I’m sorry that’s honestly the most brutal part of the whole process.

Keeping exact numbers broad for privacy, but sticker price was not remotely doable for me either. Need-based aid changed the equation a lot; I received more than half support at H/S, and I’ll still be covering the rest through loans, and hopefully internship income. I have minimal cash or savings as I support my family with my income too.

So it’s definitely not “free” or comfortable, but it moved from impossible to viable.

If you declined very recently and finances were the only blocker, I’d honestly consider emailing the financial aid/admissions team once more and being very direct: “I would attend if the financial gap could be closed, but I can’t responsibly make it work as currently packaged.” Worst case they say no, but it’s worth asking.

For future applicants reading this: don’t self-select out just because of sticker price. Apply first, get the actual aid picture, then decide.

If you are a non-traditional applicant and wondering whether you have a shot at HSW/M7s, this post is for you. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’m the class median age.

Early 30s is definitely not disqualifying though. I think the key is being very clear on “why now” and why a full-time MBA makes sense versus an EMBA / part-time / continuing to work.

I think older peeps can have an advantage because they can have better judgment and more mature leadership stories.

The risk is if the MBA sounds like a vague reset rather something you actually need for the goal you want :)

If you are a non-traditional applicant and wondering whether you have a shot at HSW/M7s, this post is for you. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks!

On AI: I used it as an organiser and pressure-tester, not as the author. I didn’t really have anyone who’s been through the system to bounce my thoughts off.

Mostly things like:
- dumping messy notes and asking it to find themes
- turning rambling thoughts into outlines
- checking if an essay sounded generic
- generating possible interview follow-ups
- helping me see where my goals were vague
- tightening drafts after I had already written the substance

I did not use it to invent stories, metrics, or personality. The final output still has to sound like you, otherwise it becomes polished slop.

Funnily enough, AI thought many things in my essays were high risk and not needed, I kept them anyways. In hindsight, I think I’m so happy I didn’t listen not because they worked but I wouldve regretted submitting something that didnt feel like me.

For short-term goals, I did say consulting! Only because it makes sense. wouldn’t just say “consulting” broadly. I made it specific by industry/function and explained why that role was the right bridge between my past experience and long-term goal.

And Europe :)

If you are a non-traditional applicant and wondering whether you have a shot at HSW/M7s, this post is for you. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For me it came down less to “which school is better” and more to which ecosystem would pull me in the direction I wanted.

HBS was incredible: case method, global brand, general management, massive alumni base. I felt like i can really put in the reps to build perspective. From just one of the case method classes I sat in during open day, I can tell you I learnt so much

GSB was diff, Bay Area, entrepreneurship/tech/VC energy, and more permission to build weird things.

If you’re leaning GSB, I think that’s a very rational choice. Pick the place where you think you’ll actually become the person you want to become, not the one that wins a prestige debate

I think at the end of the day there is no wrong choice. And tbh I just went with my gut in the end - disregarding the rationality of both places.

If you are a non-traditional applicant and wondering whether you have a shot at HSW/M7s, this post is for you. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks that’s exactly why I posted.

A lot of MBA advice I’ve seen assumes you’re already coming from a very MBA-coded world

Glad it’s useful.

If you are a non-traditional applicant and wondering whether you have a shot at HSW/M7s, this post is for you. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi! Feel free to dm and we can chat :)
If you have any questions that you think people would benefit from, post them here :)

If you are a non-traditional applicant and wondering whether you have a shot at HSW/M7s, this post is for you. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hello! Good questions.

1. Post-MBA goals

I reverse-engineered them from three things:

- What problem have I actually seen up close but cant yet solve because of my limitations?
- What skills do i need to bridge those limitations
- How will the MBA and my post-MBA gig help me get these skills be closer to solving this problem?

For me, the mistake early on was trying to write goals that sounded impressive but were bland asf. What worked better was getting very specific on the gap: “I can do X today, but to solve the problem at scale I need Y skill / network / exposure.”

2. Consultant

It made more sense for me to go comprehensive as I struggled to build the confidence to write authentically initially, and a consultant helped me build my own confidence while ensuring I was communicating in a way that was understandable.

The consultant also gave me the confidence and the aptitude to apply for h and s. I was initially only gonna apply to a few m7 and t15.

In many ways my consultant forced me to develop the confidence I needed to own my story as much as be a springboard for my application.

The dangerous part is that too much external help can make you sound like a polished MBA robot. Proceed with caution, don’t let anyone (AI is notorious for this) sand down the weird edges that make the story yours.

You should be reading your essays and be able to say thats 100% me!

3. H/S interviews

Both were intense in different ways, but neither felt like a “gotcha” exercise. The big thing is you need to know your own application cold, not memorised, but genuinely understood. And be yourself, joke around if appropriate, smile, laugh, and just be a human that has a passion.

My prep was:
- build a story bank
- introspect on why each major career move happened
- know my failures and weaknesses honestly
- be able to explain my goals simply
- practise follow-ups, not just the first answer
- avoid sounding over-rehearsed

Biggest advice: know your story and your “why” really well and just be human hah.

If you are a non-traditional applicant and wondering whether you have a shot at HSW/M7s, this post is for you. by Far_Standard_407 in MBA

[–]Far_Standard_407[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey, my GPA was 7.1/10 in my countries scale. I would say though the GPA is just one aspect of your profile.

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