Latest / Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast / MBA Wire Taps 390—12 MBA Programs, Planning ahead, Aiming for Investment Banking

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MBA Wire Taps 390—12 MBA Programs, Planning ahead, Aiming for Investment Banking · Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast

• 0:16
  Speaker A: Welcome to the clear admit MBA admissions podcast. I'm Graham Richmond, and this is your wiretaps for Monday, October 21, 2024. For more than 100 years, Emory University's Goisueta business school has been a training ground for principal leaders and a laboratory for powerful insights. Whether you're looking to accelerate your career or make a career pivot, Emory's one year and two year full time MBA programs prepare you for a lifetime of career confidence. Learn more about Emory's top 20 MBA with top five career outcomes offering world class academics and small by design classes delivered in a dynamic global city. More at Emory. Bizarre clear admit. I'm joined by Alex Brown from Cornwall, England. Alex, how are things going this week?
• 1:05
  Speaker B: Very good, thank you, Graham.
• 1:06
  Speaker A: So I'm back from the US, back in Paris, and I'm missing all the Halloween stuff. You know, I was in the US and, like, it's Halloween, Halloween everywhere, and then it's not quite the same here. I'm guessing in Cornwall, they're not putting up skeletons everywhere either, right?
• 1:22
  Speaker B: I have not seen any evidence of Halloween.
• 1:26
  Speaker A: All right, well, we still got ten days to go, I guess, right? So, yeah, roughly. So we'll see what's going on. On. I'm hoping that things are not doom and gloom on the admission side. Hopefully there's some non creepy news coming out.
• 1:39
  Speaker B: I know. I mean, things are pretty active in terms of round one. Darden released decisions for their early action round last week. Ross rolled out interview invites. I suspect Booth might do the same from last week. We're recording on Thursday. It might come out today, might be tomorrow, if nothing, likely next week and so forth. In terms of what's going on next week, Johns Hopkins, Carey are releasing early action decisions. They also have a round one deadline, and Wharton is scheduled to release its round one interview invite. So that'll be a big day when those roll out.
• 2:21
  Speaker A: Yeah, definitely. And I think, if I'm betting, I'm guessing that by the time people listen to this show, I think Booth will have issued their invites. There's been some debate on the site, I saw about when that that's happening, but last year it happened, you know, around that time. So. So we'll see what happens there. But, yeah, lots to come. And it's exciting. I love this time of year where people start to get the invites and it's great. So speaking of excitement, on Wednesday of this week, we're doing a real humans webinar, which is, you know, the type of webinar where we gather current students or very recent grads from top schools to do sort of an ask me anything type thing. I mean, we offer some questions to guide the discussion, but it's really designed for prospective students to get interaction with current or recent grads from these top programs. So that's at 08:00 p.m. eastern on Wednesday. You can sign up by going to bit ly RH Live 1024. And the schools the students taking part are coming from Columbia, Uva, Darden, Duke, Fuqua, and Tuck at Dartmouth. So that should be fun. It's all kind of underway and again, will happen this Wednesday at 08:00 p.m. should be good.
• 3:27
  Speaker B: Fantastic. Love those sessions.
• 3:30
  Speaker A: Yeah. And then we've got a couple, well, a series, two series of events in November and December 1 is about deferred enrollment, which, again, for college students who are thinking about, you know, locking in a spot in business school in advance, which is just such a cool thing. Like, I wish that existed when I was looking at business schools. So we're going to connect with all the top MBA programs that offer deferred enrollment over the course of two different sessions to talk about that process. So if you know a college student who wants to lock in a spot at a top MBA program, most let them know we're gonna get. We'll get you short links for that event next week. And then we also have a similar session we're doing about masters in management programs, again with a lot of the top schools that offer those that'll take place in December. So stay tuned for more details. But we've got a busy slate of events all throughout the fall that I'm looking forward to, so it should be good.
• 4:21
  Speaker B: Would you really have applied defer admissions? Graham, were you thinking of MBA during your undergrad?
• 4:27
  Speaker A: You know, it's funny that you say this, because I remember between my junior and senior year, I lived in Philadelphia. I had an internship in the city, and I already knew that I might want to get an MBA someday. And so it was definitely on the radar. And I was really. I mean, I knew nothing about business school other than that it might be a goal. So I literally, while I was there that summer, I walked into the admissions office at Wharton to get a brochure, because that's what you did back in the day. And I kind of asked them some questions, and I could tell they were like, yeah, come back in five years. I mean, just because I was a college kid, right? So now what's funny is if I were to do the same thing, they'd say, oh, have you thought about applying deferred? So, yeah, I might have. If they had said that, I mean, I would have had to then scurry to take the GMAT or whatever because I hadn't done that yet. But yeah, it's an interesting option.
• 5:14
  Speaker B: Is that Sam Lundfist?
• 5:17
  Speaker A: He was there. But I got, you know, they shielded me from anyone who had any power. You know, I was just at the front desk, I guess. But anyway, yeah, no, that was interesting. And I remember being a little intimidated walking in there thinking, wow, this is Wharton, you know, et cetera. But, but anyway, yeah, one thing I wanted to mention is we did a couple of admission tips that I think are going to be really relevant to people who are currently in the throes of round one stuff. The first one is one of the all time most popular pieces of content on our website, and it's called the seven hardest MBA interview questions and how to answer them. And again, you and I did a video about this one too that you can watch when you're reading that tip. We also did another one, speaking of Wharton, about group interviews, which Wharton uses a group interview, so there's all the kind of detail. And actually was reading that, Alex. And you, you are quoted extensively in that article, in that admissions tip. I don't know if you remember that.
• 6:10
  Speaker B: Was I being positive?
• 6:11
  Speaker A: Yeah, you're just quoted about like, how to approach a team scenario. And you talked about how, you know, listening is going to be just as important as talking in this type of exercise. And, yeah, some really good advice. So. Yeah, so that's good. So check those out on the site if you get a moment. We did connect and continue to connect with students at leading MBA programs as part of our real Humans series of articles. So we talked to like six students at Georgetown, McDonough. I'll give you one quote because we can't go through all of them. But we talked to Angelina, who's from Michigan and actually went to Michigan state undergrad and worked as a journalist for eight plus years and I think across several different media like print, your tv, etcetera. So really interesting career. And this is just, I thought this was fascinating. So she went to a fair when she was thinking about business school to do kind of a career pivot. And she said it was there while talking to an admissions representative from McDonough that I was told something really impactful. And she said that the admissions rep said to her, McDonough School of Business does not try to be the best business school in the world, but the best business school for the world. And then. So Angelina then goes on to say, it was this statement that, to me, summarized the brand of McDonough. And what differentiates this school from all the rest is the commitment to developing outstanding global leaders who are committed to public good. So I thought that was interesting. I mean, I have heard Georgetown speak to that a little bit with the sort of jesuit heritage and stuff, but it was just interesting how that seemed to have a big impact on this student who chose to attend there.
• 7:47
  Speaker B: I know. Fantastic. And I love that sort of theme. I mean, I don't think it's necessarily unique to McDonough. I mean, I like the idea that top tier business schools help develop leaders who will positively impact society and the world through business and etcetera. But, yeah, no, it's a really good sentiment.
• 8:12
  Speaker A: Yeah, agree. We also caught up with a bunch of students at Chicago Booth, again, part of the same series. And I'll give you one quote. We talked to Jolene, who's originally from Brooklyn, went to Dartmouth for undergrad, and had been working at Microsoft as a product manager, but then was laid off. Remember back a couple years ago, they did like 10,000 layoffs or whatever. I mean, big, big cuts there. And so suddenly found herself without a job and decided to start her own company. And then, you know, after doing that for a little while, has now headed off to Chicago booth. And here was her advice about kind of an application tip or sort of process tip. She said, do not silently apply. Tap into your community. Ask for help if you can apply to the MBA prep programs or test prep programs, have a sibling, a friend, grandmother, or someone, read your essays and help to tell your story. I genuinely believe we all have an interesting story to tell, but sometimes it's those around us who can help show us parts of ourselves that we tend to overlook or take for granted. So I thought that was interesting advice from Jolene.
• 9:18
  Speaker B: Yeah, I love it.
• 9:20
  Speaker A: Yeah, it's great, right? I mean, and I do think, you know, that it's, you know, I'm thinking about this a lot because there are schools out there who often talk about candidates who are kind of silent in the sense that they have no idea this candidate's out there until the application shows up and how that can be problematic. It's good to show yourself, get involved in whatever the schools are offering, meet students, et cetera. So I think that goes hand in hand with the advice that Jolene is offering, too.
• 9:46
  Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, get involved, but also get the feedback. That sort of idea that those around you might be able to offer additional insight in terms of their perspective on who you are and how to draw that out, etcetera, etcetera.
• 10:01
  Speaker A: Yeah, totally.
• 10:01
  Speaker B: So I really like that. But it also brings up another point. Obviously, I've been going down a huge rabbit hole lately on AI and all the different tools and that, but using those tools as great brainstorming tools, I think can also help for those that don't quite have that same sort of local support network or whatever it might be. But, yeah, you can go ask GPT to give you feedback on a load of stuff. Absolutely brilliant.
• 10:33
  Speaker A: Yeah, totally agree. And then the last real humans group that we caught up with for this week was students from Florida. Warrington is the name of their business school. And one of the students there, Emily, who has a background in marine science and actually her career pre business school, was working at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and then at SeaWorld. So completely different sort of background in marine science, and then pivots to do the MBA. And we asked her, why did you choose to Warrington? What were the factors that led you there? And she said that she chose University of Florida Warrington because of the small cohort size and its incredible return on investment. I'm excited to be part of a program that creates a personalized experience for each student. For me, it was important to be part of a program where I could form strong personal and professional connections. So, as you probably know, I mean, they do have a smaller program, and so that obviously ticked those boxes for Emily at Florida.
• 11:27
  Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, no, brilliant. And that's the niche, that's the focus that a lot of these programs in that sort of top 20, top 25 tier need to really lean into this idea of personalization and intimacy and so on and so forth, because that is their key advantage. Right.
• 11:46
  Speaker A: Yeah, totally agree. So. And it would be so fun to have someone in the classroom with that kind of a work background. I mean. Yeah, just kind of interesting. All right, the last thing for this week before we talk about the candidates is that we, the University of Texas at Austin Macomb school, published their class of 26 profile. So as we've been doing these last few weeks, I thought I would share those numbers with you and get your take. They admitted, or I guess they have 255 students matriculating in the class. That's up a little bit. It was 241 last year. So the class is slightly larger. 33% women, that's down 2%. It was 35 last year, 29% international. That's up 3%. It was 26% last year. Average years of work experience are six. That's up a tiny bit. It was 5.9 last year, so very similar. The undergraduate GPA for current students entering UT Austin McCombs this year is a 3.48. That's up slightly from 3.46. The average GMAT score is a 704 unchanged. And the average GRE is a 321, also unchanged. So Alex, what do you make of these numbers from McCombs?
• 12:56
  Speaker B: Yeah, I think they look really good. I mean especially for, you know, in that tier of programs that is in that sort of top 16, top 20 type tier. These numbers look really good. You know, women down. I mean everything's just up or just down just slightly. And I think we're seeing that same theme for a lot of the top programs. Right. We're not really seeing any significant movement other than application volume, which, which Austin didnt report. But lets assume thats up because their class size went up. And actually thats quite an interesting increase. I think 241 to 255. I know the budget folks will be very pleased with that.
• 13:42
  Speaker A: Yeah, its 14 extra students. Its funny. I will say very minor movements. But one thing thats interesting that you note is that the percentage of women down slightly, percentage of internationals up slightly. Those usually go hand in hand, right. Because you do find fewer female international candidates as opposed to the domestic market. And then the work experience goes up ever so slightly again, probably because those international students have on the average more work experience by the time they come to business school. So it all makes sense to me. And yeah, as you point out, these are very solid numbers and consistent with prior years and with where UT Austin kind of falls in the ranking. So yeah, all makes sense to me. And I agree they must have had higher app volume. I mean, everyone else seems to have. So that makes sense. Cool. So let's move on. I want to talk about the candidates this week. I did want to remind everyone, you can always email Alex and I by writing to infocleeradmit.com dot. Use the subject line wiretaps and we're always open to your feedback reviews. Please rate us on Spotify and write reviews and stuff on Apple Podcasts if you can. It always helps because people then discover the show and it's been a little while. So we'd love to hear from you. Feel free to write us if you get a moment. Alex, anything else on your mind before we talk about this week's candidates?
• 14:58
  Speaker B: Let's kick on.
• 14:59
  Speaker A: All right, so this is wiretaps candidate number one. Our first candidate this week has twelve schools on the target list. And if memory serves, they've actually applied to all twelve in the first round. And so those schools are Berkeley, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, that is the Indian school of Business, Kellogg, Chicago, Washington, Foster, UCLA, USC and Uva Darden. So those are the twelve schools they've applied in round one already. They've been working in technology. This candidate is thinking about tech or maybe a media or entrepreneurship after business school. But for now they've mentioned a whole bunch of tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn et cetera as their target. They scored a 710 on the GMAT exam, which technically I think they mentioned was like a 655. It's the newer test, but they converted it for us, I guess, so that we would understand what it means in old sort of traditional GMAT terms. They had an 8.96 undergraduate GPA out of ten. This candidate is in India, which is why the GPA is listed in that fashion. They've got four years of experience and that will be at matriculation. So technically a little less than that. For the moment they've been working or they're thinking about working in product management when they graduate and then eventually something more entrepreneurial. They've had promotions, they've done well at work and they also do some fun outside activities, one of which involves building off road vehicles or baja racing I guess. And yeah, they're kind of active in sports clubs and things like that too. They think they have strong letters of recommendation and they did want to mention that their GPA led to them being named kind of first class honors with distinction. So Alex, what do you make of this counter? That's a lot of schools and it sounds like they applied to all them in the first round, but they are from India. Kind of overrepresented potentially. So what's your take?
• 16:57
  Speaker B: I mean obviously being in round one can be really helpful and hopefully by now they've got some early signals in terms of interview invites from some of these programs that they've applied. But as you point out, they apply to a lot of schools and I think sometimes that's a symptom of really not having real strong clarity in terms of the professional goal as well as maybe geographic specific goals. So I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, Graham, but I think their school list includes european schools, west coast schools, east coast schools, etcetera, etcetera. So we wouldnt advocate necessarily applying to upwards of what I think 14 programmes in round one. Thats a huge heavy lift. But if they have the wherewithal and resources to have pulled it off and were able to do so with real strong applications of each of these programs. I think theyve probably got a really interesting profile. In terms of their work profile, it looks like they've done very well. Growth and impact are usually the measures that we tend to look at. As you point out, they do some interesting things outside of work, car building or whatever it is, and racing and that kind of stuff. So their actual profile does look good. The GMAT's not outstanding, and especially when you're applying from what's potentially an overrepresented pool, that 655, which equates to a 710, is going to be just as tick below the median for many of the schools that they're targeting now. You know, if they're not successful, they might start looking at round two and look at other options if there are any schools left to apply. Graham. Because they've obviously taken a whole chunk out in round one. If that is the case, the couple of challenges that they'll face, one is as an overrepresented candidate, it's going to be slightly more difficult in round two as seats get filled for that type of profile, and they probably to overcome that and to shore up what is possibly the weakest element of their profile, retake the GMAT. If they think that they can boost that 655 up ten or 20 points, that would be worthwhile.
• 19:31
  Speaker A: Yeah, I think, I mean, you're making a really interesting point, which is that they applied to so many schools in the first round, it's like, what's left for them to tackle if things go, go south. But I do think you're right. I mean, when I look at this candidate, I see, you know, a stunning undergraduate performance, what seems to be great work and outside activities and, you know, solid recs. And so the one thing that jumps out is that GMAT, which, you know, 710 or I think 655 on the GMAT focus, it will be coming in a bit low for some of their target schools, actually, the majority of their target schools. So I feel like that would be the area to focus on if they had, you know, if they could do it all over again or could apply to some schools in round two, if they were able to go in and get a 675 or something on the GMAT focus, that would put them more into range and help them to stand out a bit more. But we'll see. My one thing, when I saw that they applied to twelve schools, I was like, oh, I hope they did a good job with those twelve because, as you say, it's a lot. It's a heavy lift. And so the risk is that you submit twelve sort of average applications rather than four or five really spectacular pieces of work. So we'll see. I know that they had some dialogue with you, but they didn't signal whether they've had any interview invitations yet or that sort of thing. So we'll have to wait and see. But I do want to wish them the best of luck. Hopefully, they'll keep us posted. But let's move on, Alex, and talk about wire taps. Candidate number two, before we do that.
• 20:52
  Speaker B: I have one question back at you, Graham.
• 20:54
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 20:54
  Speaker B: Round two with a better GMAT score, or if they're in a good work situation, wait until next season back into round one with that better GMAT score, slightly more focused target schools, of which many will be reapplications. What would you choosing? Well, you could choose both. Right. But what about potentially reapplying if they're in a good work situation?
• 21:22
  Speaker A: Yeah, I would wait. I mean, they only have three years of experience right now. They'll have four by the time they matriculate, or maybe they have 3.25 right now, but. So they won't have. It's not like they're going to be super old, assuming their work situation, like you say, is a good one. Where they could stay. I would stay. Take that test this spring, knock it out of the park to be above the median at their targets, and then apply to some of these top programs in the first round round next year. That would be my preference, because I think you're right. There's just, they're not going to have so many that they can add in round two, and it's going to be second choices for them, you know, because they obviously probably applied to all the ones they liked in the first round. So. Yeah. So that's great, great feedback. Let's see where things land for them. They'll. They'll keep us posted. Yeah. All right, so let's turn our attention now to wiretaps. Candidate number two. So our second candidate this week has. They indicate all schools for the schools they're targeting. So they haven't yet made that selection. But it's interesting. They talk about they have this job as a software engineer at a Fortune 100 telecommunications company. They know that post MBA, they want to stay in tech and work at a place like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google. They mentioned a whole bunch of companies. I won't list them all. Their GPA is a 3.59 in undergrad. This candidate is also located in India and wants to land in the UK after business school. And they actually mentioned that they literally just graduated from undergrad a couple months ago. Okay. And they have this bachelor's in tech, in kind of computer science and business systems. They say it's just from a mid range college in India. Their GPA was actually an 8.98 out of, of ten, which they converted to that 3.59. They were in the top 10% of their class. And as I said, they're working as a software engineer. So far, they've just been there for a handful of months. And so they know already, though, that they want to get an MBA. And so the reason that they made this post is that they're wanting us to provide them with advice on how to map their path to a top MBA program, which they're thinking, you know, they'll attend in like three to six years. Right. So I guess I'm just gonna put it to you. I mean, what, what would you advise someone, this person's early stage, the world is their oyster. Like they could really shape their candidacy. So what would, what advice would you give them?
• 23:43
  Speaker B: Yeah, I think this is brilliant, that it's kind of like you when you went to Wharton as an undergrad, Graham. It's like thinking about this in the future, right? So that they can make deliberate steps now to best represent themselves in that three or four years time. So what would I advise this candidate? One is really plan hard, revise hard, whatever you call it, to prepare for the standardized test. Get that knocked out the ballpark with a score that's at or above the median of the top programs, and they have plenty of time to retake the test. But get that done now so it's out of the way. Test scores will last five years, so it should be fine, et cetera, et cetera. And then it's like there's a two pronged sort of challenge ahead. One is at work to show impact and growth over the next sort of three or four years. Try to push to get into more challenging situations, challenging roles, working with your supervisor to sort of help make that happen, et cetera, et cetera. And then the outside of work activity. So what is this person passionate about? Outside of, obviously, software engineering, big tech, or whatever it might be where they could make a real material impact and start to build that aspect of their profile in a very deliberate fashion over the next several years. And that could be in the charity space, the volunteer space. It could be in the outdoors space or activities or whatever, but show some leadership in that regard, too. And then all along the way develop real clarity in terms of their goals and their focus and why they're pursuing this pathway that includes an MBA, etc, etcetera and so forth. And I love the fact that this person plotting and planning three or four years in advance, it really gives them a huge, huge advantage to make these very deliberate sort of decisions with respect to their career and outside activities, etcetera. And yeah, I think this is really, really good. And obviously, if they want to be in the UK in the long run or post MBA, really start to examine even now London business school judge and set side and some of the others that are based in that geography.
• 26:38
  Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. One thing I should add is that in the notes this person mentions that they say I was one of two year software engineering. They received a two year software engineering fellowship that was sponsored by Google for top female engineering students in India. So this candidate is a woman engineer. So I think it's ticking some boxes too. That'll be interesting for the admissions committee because it's less common. Right. So I think, yeah, again, there's a lot to like here. I could not agree more though, that if they know they want to be, if she knows she wants to be in the UK post MBA, then I would start at least like you're saying, do research into some of those UK located schools you mentioned, the big three, just to sort of figure out what they're all about and what the application process is. I mean, obviously these are different programs, right? In the sense that Cambridge and Oxford are one year only. LBS is two years. I mean, can be completed on an accelerated schedule, but most candidates will do it on a two year cycle. So, yeah, getting to know these programs, I would also say that you could probably go to Harvard and still land in the UK if that was your goal from the outset. So I think it just depends on what this person's looking for in the MBA program too. They probably want to think about that a little bit. But, yeah, I love when you see someone who's like this far ahead of schedule. Yeah. And for now, taking that test is probably going to be the most important thing.
• 28:02
  Speaker B: And target round one, you've got four years to plot and plan, so you might as well be in round one.
• 28:08
  Speaker A: Exactly. Yeah. Excellent. All right. One, I want to thank her for her post. Hopefully she will stay tuned into our community over the coming years and keep us posted. But let's move on and talk about wiretaps. Candidate number three. So our final candidate for this week has six schools on the target list. And these schools are Columbia, Cornell, MIT, Kellogg, Stanford and Chicago Booth. So literally five m seven schools and then Cornell as well. So a batch of really top schools. They want to start school next fall and they've been working in financial services and projects financing. They want to get into investment banking after business school. So they have Goldman, Morgan Stanley and a bunch of others on the list. Their GPA as an undergraduate was a 2.3. I believe that's probably converted because this candidate as well. You picked a theme here this week, Alex. All of our candidates are from India this week, so this candidate may be converting that GPA. I don't know, but any event, 2.3. So rather low five years of work experience. They want to land in the US after business school and they mentioned they've been working for a family business that specializes in project financing across various industries and they have a diverse range of clients and that they personally have been, you know, overseeing financing for six to seven clients. So they've been, you know, busy and they have a mechanical engineering degree, but they're also a CFA charter holder and they, they passed this other exam called the FRM level one, which is, I guess, a financial risk management test. So they've got some finance chops. They're currently preparing for the GMAT because you'll notice, Alex, I didn't give a test score and they're planning to apply to these schools in round two. So, Alex, what do you make of this? This is kind of unorthodox in that, you know, they haven't yet applied, they're still working on the test. So we don't have all the sort of pieces of the puzzle. But what do you make of this?
• 30:05
  Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think this candidate's going to face some challenges in terms of, you know, they're targeting round two instead of round one. Like you mentioned, this is also a candidate from India, so they're going to be overrepresented. So in round two, things will be more challenging. They're going to have to recognize that potentially the undergraduate GPA is going to be a red flag. There's no doubt about that. So they're going to need to explain that, mitigate it to the extent that they can. One of the best ways to mitigate it is obviously getting a huge, huge test score. So above the medians for sure of the programs that they're targeting is going to be necessary and I'm going to assume that their work experience is good. They're going to get really strong recs, et cetera, et cetera, and be nice to know a little bit more about who they are outside of work. But I do think that the challenge is going to be, as you mentioned, they're applying to m seven for the most part. Plus, I know Cornell Johnson's in the mix, too. They might be overreaching with their target schools, but the challenge then becomes, if they want to get into investment banking post MBA, they need to target some more high profile schools in order to move forward with that type of goal. So that's a challenge, too. But it might be worth them looking also at the next tier. So if you think about Johnson, there's several other really good programs, finance oriented within that tier, but they might need to look at the following tier at schools in that top 20 tier, maybe, rather than over index on the m seven side of their target list. Graham? That would be my big concern. And even then, it's still going to be challenging in round two.
• 32:17
  Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I'm concerned like you are with this candidate. I mean, I think it would be good to know what the test score is, which they're working on. But even with a really solid test score, you've got someone with a sub three GPA, overrepresented as an indian, presumably male engineer, and so, and applying in the second round, you know, where, you know, the odds get a little slimmer when you're overrepresented. So, yeah, I would be concerned, and I am a little bit puzzled that, yeah, they've got this, as you say, overweighted focus on the very top schools, which feels like not the right fit, given what we know about their candidacy. And they are coming from a family business, which presents other challenges when it comes to, like, getting recommendations. Obviously, they'll probably go to clients to get recs and things, but it's, you know, it's sort of like uncharted territory. The school's not going to be familiar with that business, and so they'll be taking some of the stuff with kind of have to take it for what it's worth. And it's harder than when someone's coming from a known quantity. So, yeah, so they have a number of challenges that make me think, wow, they should be casting a wider net in terms of their targets, like you say. And also, if they want to do banking, yeah, they're missing stern. There's some other schools, Fuqua, Carnegie Mellon's another one where strengths in finance that could help them to land a job in banking, which seems to be their goal. So, yeah, I think they're going to need to cast a wider net, but obviously we can reserve judgment on that until they get that test score in the next month or so, and then they can adjust and get apps together for round two. But I think it is going to be a little bit of an uphill battle. I would like to know more about the context of that GPA in terms of what was it actually on the indian scale and where did it place them in their class? All that kind of stuff. But it's gonna be a challenge.
• 34:02
  Speaker B: I think they gotta blow the test score out the ballpark and look at tepe, maybe Goizetta and a couple of others in that tier.
• 34:09
  Speaker A: Agreed? Yeah. So we'll see. I mean, sometimes candidates say, oh, I don't wanna, you know, I don't wanna cast a wider net, you know, we'll have to see what their appetite is. But I agree with you. Absolutely. So, any event, thanks for picking these out. I mean, while there was a theme, everyone from India this week, which is unusual for us, the other thing was kind of cool was just having that super early birdhouse, someone who's kind of last minute in this candidate, you know, trying to cobble together stuff in round two and then the kind of maybe over prepared person in the first round with twelve schools going in. So really cool stuff to talk about. And I'm happy to come back next week and do it all again if you're around.
• 34:42
  Speaker B: Very good. Stay safe, everyone. Take care.
• 34:58
  Speaker A: You.