Duke / Fuqua MBA News

Interested in pursuing a consumer goods/marketing path but am open to all options. I applied with GMAT waivers because I had a high undergrad GPA + quantitative experience.

Received admittance from Mendoza ($$) and Darden (none) from Early Action. Awaiting R1 decisions from other schools.

Will be applying when I hit 4 Years of work experience.

Undergrad: CS Engineering at Top 3 Public Uni, 3 Sport Varsity Athlete (20hrs mandatory a week August - May ), 3.2 GPA (2.8 after first two years but got my act together in the last two)

Completed three Summer Internships for Business Analytics, Software Engineering, and Data Science (last one converted to full time job I am at now )

2 Years Work Experience as a Data Engineer. No promotions but nobody in my company at this time has been either. Managed summer interns on their projects.

317 (160 Q, 157 V) GRE on first try, might be able to get up based on mocks.

Looking at going into Consulting / IB

Extra:

Volunteer at local community center with kids 3x per week

Semi-Elite Athlete in my prior sport still (wins cash/awards at local events I participate in)

Hey everyone! I'm thinking about applying to M7 deferred programs but would like to get a second opinion on my profile. What are my profile's strengths and weaknesses? Thank you for your help!

**Demographics:**
23M, First Gen Low-Income College, Immigrant, ORM, Serving in the Air Force

**Education:**

* (Ongoing) MS in Aerospace Engineering (4.0 GPA), focusing on Bioastronautics and Human Factors, from a state school with a T10 aerospace program. Currently taking classes online.
* (Ongoing) MS in Econ Analysis at a T5 econ program in Europe, focusing on international trade and development. Living in Europe right now.
* BS in Aerospace Engineering with a Business minor, 3.8 GPA. Same school as my MS.

**Test Scores:**
GMAT: 715 FE

**Work Experience:**

* **Space Start-Up:** Interned part-time for 9 months and full-time for 4 months. Worked on new in-space construction tech and frequently pitched to VCs.
* **T1 Space Company (think SpaceX/NASA):** Integration/Test Engineering Intern for two summers. Led cross-functional teams across sites, saving $15M+. Directed flight hardware tests, built dashboards/tools, and solved technical issues under tight timelines.
* **Mid-Sized Space Company:** Interned in spacecraft testing. Streamlined workflows and redesigned hardware, cutting testing timelines by 30%+.
* **US Air Force:** Lieutenant. Managed logistics for one of the biggest ROTC detachments, leading a team of 20+. Currently doing grad school while awaiting pilot training.

**Extracurriculars:**

* VP of a university aviation club for 3 years, organized flying events for 200+ students.
* Volunteer pilot for an animal rescue nonprofit. Flown 15k+ miles and rescued 30+ animals over 4 years.

**Post-MBA Goal:**
Start a company focused on human factors products—think astronaut peripherals or performance systems designed to enhance safety and effectiveness in extreme space environments.

**Why Deferred:**
I’m about to start Air Force flight training and will be flying for \~2.5 years before becoming a reservist. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I’m super excited to go through it. I feel like I've done a lot so far, but I could fall behind of my peers in 2 to 3 years time because I'm going to be doing military stuff.

**Dream Schools:**
Sloan, GSB, and HBS, but open to other M7s.

Thank you again!

Post MBA I want to run my own health tech startup or join a health focused VC team.

Have a bit of a varied background. Italian-Ivorian but have been living in London since 2010. Went to the University of Oxford for undergrad where I studied history and politics. Have an international affairs masters degree from Sciences Po in Paris.

Started my career post grad school in innovation consulting (1year and a half) before a short stint at a VC firm in Amsterdam. Left that after 6 months because of culture to join a tech startup. Landed in an innovation role at a top Pharma co in London almost 2 years ago (in that role I focused on establishing partnerships with digital health players from startups and scale-ups to health systems).

I've always have done things on the side. Started a startup in 2018 with a bunch of former colleagues I had met in South Korea in 2016 - that folded in 2019; started another startup in 2020 - an edtech marketplace and closed that up in the same year. In 2022 I co-founded a non profit focused on supporting Africa-focused emerging fund managers as they raise their first investment vehicles - I run that on the side with my Co-Founders and we now have 2 employees. Played a key role in securing $259k in funding for the non profit.

Hello everyone. I'm a senior and going to apply for the Stanford, Harvard, and Wharton deferred admission programs next year. Would appreciate feedback from people here and what I should do to increase my chances

**Academic Background:**

Undergrad & major: Top Undergrad Business program @ Top State School (Think Ross/Mcintire/Mcdough/Haas level)

GPA: 3.9/4.0.

GMAT: 750

Race/nationality: Hispanic

Sex: M

**Work experience:**

\- Junior Intern & Going back full-time @ T2 Growth Equity Shop (Think Spectrum/Silversmith level)

\- Sophomore Intern @ MBB

\- T1 VC Spring Fellowship

\- 3 Consulting Projects @ different F100 Companies

\- Freshman Intern LMM @ Private Equity Shop

\- Venture Scourt @ Small VC Firm

\- Campus Growth for Series A Startup

\- Econ Research @ HYPSM

**Extracurricular:**

\-President of a large preprofessional URM organization (100+ members). Also did consulting projects for several F500 companies as part of the org.

\-Content creator (100k subs on all platforms doing career/undergrad related vlogs and podcasts)

**Future plans:**

\- Build out venture capital/entrepreneurship/tech companies in 3rd world country my family is from

\- Build out a creator economy tech company to connect the worldd

\- Build out student financing tool because of my background of being FGLI

**Goal of MBA/More info:**

\- PreMBA = Safety net to explore building or joining a renowned startup
\- During MBA = use as incubator to develop my own tech startup
\- Post MBA ideally startup becomes unicorn and I drop out but that's 99% not going to happen so go into early-stage investing at T1 VC or go to T1 GE shop

**Questions:**

Is growth equity a good differentiator compared to traditional roles like IB/Consulting

Really appreciate any advice, thank you!