Art museum/nonprofit background low GPA/high GMAT-- HELP!

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Hello, I would very much appreciate some input on my case - I have a bit of an odd situation with an atypical background and I'm not sure what sort of schools I have a shot at. I'm interested in H/S, Haas, Yale, Columbia, Stern, maybe Kellogg -- is that totally unrealistic? What can I do to make myself a more competitive applicant?

-28 year old, white, female
-Top 20 liberal arts college (think: Wesleyan, Vassar, Oberlin)
-Major: Art History
-Undergraduate GPA: 3.1 (polarized grades -- one year of extenuating life circumstances that can be written about in an application, but not on an internet forum).
-Nonprofit Management Graduate Certificate (6 courses) from a well known national university w/ 4.0 GPA
-After the graduate certificate, I took: Intro Finance, Intro Accounting, Intro Microeconomics, Stats I, and Calculus I w/ 4.0 GPA
-GMAT: 760 (I've only taken it once - might be able to raise it to something like a 770-780)

-I volunteer weekly at a domestic violence shelter and maintain an active feminist/socio-political blog, but most of my free time, over the past few years, has been taken up by studying math in order to make myself a more competitive MBA applicant.

-Work experience: interned at art galleries and an art museum, managed a women's clothing boutique, worked as an art gallery assistant at three galleries (press releases, sales, managing client files, marketing strategizing, etc.), marketing and development assistant, and also promoted from gallery assistant to development and executive assistant at an international, well-publicized start-up art gallery (which is my current position).

Why I'm interested in an MBA:

Directors of galleries and museums have, in the past, typically come from curatorial backgrounds, but it seems ludicrous to me that the directors - the people at the helm of these multi-million and often, in the case of major museums, multi-billion dollar ships - do not have the requisite management and financial backgrounds to run these nonprofit organizations in a more efficient manner. I would like to move from my position of assisting the directors to becoming a director myself. I would like to gain the business acumen I believe is necessary to positively influence the way these institutions are managed.

What are your thoughts?

My last comment: if my low undergraduate GPA and atypical background is too much for top 10 schools to blink at, would investing in an MA in Art Business or trying to get a management/directorial related position (or even something in nonprofit management consulting) and then applying in a couple more years improve my lot?

Thank you so much!

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by CriticalSquareMBA » Tue Feb 17, 2015 7:16 am
Hi there!

Congrats on an incredible GMAT score! You are DONE with that test. Don't even THINK about retaking it. Go pat yourself on the back and read a book. You rocked it!

Thanks for sharing the background detail - really appreciate it! So let's go step by step. While your GPA is a bit low, it seems it can be mostly explained and, coupled with that GMAT (congrats again, seriously) and your Nonprofit Management Certificate grades, you're ok. If you failed (or did poorly in) a specific business school preferred course - think calc, stats, econ, etc. - you might want to take an extension to fill that gap. But that's as much for you as it is for them. However, if your time is better spent on other things, then focus there. Marginal returns here.

Your work experience, while eclectic and a bit varied, definitely has a common thread through it and that's what I want to see. I'm especially liking your more recent experience with a startup that's getting some visibility! The experiences also tie to your goals and an MBA makes a lot of sense.

I'm assuming that you're aiming to apply R1 this fall? You'll have a much better shot than applying in R3 this cycle. I think you should definitely hit the top 10. If you're comfortable with a few safeties in the top 20, go for that - might include some $$. But the top 10, with that GMAT and an uncommon career path, will definitely be interested in hearing more. I think you should absolutely give it a shot! If you go the MA route, that could also get you there but if you went from the MA to an MBA, you'd have to go part time at that point (age) and that'll be a different experience. Still an option - but different paths. That's more of a question that needs a little bit of introspection, you know?

I hope this was helpful but we can only cover oh-so-much on a forum. If you want to chat about the path ahead or which schools might make sense, sign up here and let's chat!

Best of luck,

Bhavik
Critical Square | MBA Admissions Services

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