Ask Stacy Blackman

Hi There!

I am a recent graduate from Ohio State's undergrad business program. I made the unfortunate mistake of declaring myself as an econ major early in the game. Noticing I was not doing well, I declared myself a second major in Marketing. My in marketing GPA was a 3.7 yet my overall is a 2.95 from all those Econ classes (and a few advanced chem. classes freshman year...)

Anyways, I am now working at an Advertising firm and looking to go back for Fall 09 to B-School. I loved school and am excited about what an MBA can offer. I am looking at top programs (NYU, UPenn, Columbia) for a few reasons:

1. I am originally from the east coast and would like to relocate/work there again
2. Although my GPA is low, I ran an independent web/graphic design business all throughout college to pay for tuition
3. I was in every club/organization possible during school. President of the Greek governance council (Pan-Hellenic), Exec member for the Greek Honorary, Senator for student government, and I won OSU's outstanding senior award, Greek woman of the year, and several other leadership/achievement awards. I am not saying this to be coincided, but rather that I hope this explains why I was not graduating with a 3.9
4. If I am going to be in debt for a long time, I want it to be worth it

Okay, so essentially what I want to know is the following:

1. What range will I have to score on the GMAT? I know these schools average around a 700 but what is the minimum I will need to get considering my GPA is on the lower end of their range? (I have never been the best test taker - especially ones with so much pressure attached!)
2. Will it count against me that I have only been working for 2 years? I am very enthusiastic about learning and heading back to school - and I think I have a lot to offer (including the fact the my 2 years is in addition to the 4 I worked in college and a full summer internship, plus a lot of management/leadership positions in college)

Sorry for the lengthy questions - I appreciate your help!

-Grad2Be

Hi Grad2Be,

It does sound like you have a lot to offer, however, doing poorly in econ is a bit of a concern. The MBA curriculum is highly quantitative, and a lot of the consideration of your transcript is how well you performed in classes like econ, statistics and calculus. If you achieve a high score on the quantitative section of the GMAT you may be able to mitigate the adcomm's concerns about your quantitative ability, if not, I would take some classes in those subjects at an extension program and get As.

The length of your work experience is fine, as long as you have demonstrated progression in your career - progression and management potential are the crucial aspects of your work experience.

Good luck!

Amy

Hi Amy,

Thank you so much for your quick reply.

I agree with you that retaking some classes is a good idea. I did well in statistics and calculus, so perhaps I will redo some of those finance/econ/accounting classes that frustrated me (many of them were "weed out" courses for incoming freshman that I saved until my junior year)

I have been working on practice GMAT tests and I seem do be doing well with the Quant section in order to balance that portion against my grades.

I guess my final question is if I am reaching to far with my school choices and what are the profiles of students they DO take with lower GPA's?

I am a bit frustrated (and mostly anxious) about my situation. I know I could preform fantasticly at any of these schools and contribute to them as much as I take a way - I just feel my acedemic preformance (and only that preformance) automaticly takes me out of the running.

Thanks again, you are very helpful!

-Stephanie

Hi Stephanie,

Academics are important to admissions, but they are only one part of the application and GPA is only one part of the academic evaluation - of course having a high GMAT will help mitigate the low GPA, and so will an alternate transcript of more recent classes you excelled in.

As far as a profile of people with low GPAs who are admitted - I don't think there is a standard profile. Some other factors that are important are demonstrated leadership qualities and experience, management potential, a trajectory of achievement at work and other aspects that will demonstrate your future potential.

It may be useful to look at the sticky thread about GPA and GMAT also.

Good luck!

Amy