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Thanks for providing this service. I am a white 25 year old male and will be applying for school to start in 2012 when I will be 26. I got a 700 on the gmt I graduated cum laude with a bachelors degree in chemistry and a bachelors degree in biology and a gpa of 3.44 since then I have been working in research and development for a top 15 pharmaceutical company. I have had increasing job responsibility and have been promoted twice in three years. I also have been transferred once as well. I head up multiple groups at my company and coach a youth soccer team, work for the American cancer society habitat for humanity and am in charge of different groups at church. I am looking into Darden and Tuck as well as a few other top 20 schools. Am I qualified for these if I apply in the first round? I am not necessarily looking top 10 I don't think I have the gpa to get into one of those. I did receive As in all my math courses, calc 1 & 2, and stats. I got a c in physics 2 and in physical chemistry 2 other than that all a's and b's. Hank you for your help. My LORs will be from my current manager and my former manager and my research advisor and all will be top notch. Let me know if you need to know anything else. Thanks.

Ares

Your background is actually pretty solid for a top10 (btw isn't Tuck a top10 school??)

- GPA: OK. Slightly under the '3.5' threshold.
- GMAT: Achieved the magicla mark
- Career Progression: Excellent
- Industry: Health care / bio tech /pharma which is a 'hot industry' especially for HBS
- Age: Right range for HBS and Stanford
- Leadership: it sounds pretty great for your age - 'heading up multiple groups'
- EC: Good involvement, better if you led initiatives rather than just participated.

I reckon if you have the time

Stretch (for everyone that applies btw)
- HBS or Wharton

Competitive
- Tuck
- Darden

Safety
- Something in top 15

Do one stretch and one competitive R1 (just in case your screw up your apps, you have time to refine for R2). Repeat for R2 if unsuccessful R1 or want to expand your options.

Obviously, you have to balance the number of schools you apply to with the number of LORs you want each recommender to write. You have 3 who you can stretch probably across 4-6 schools without overloading them.

XanthusAres,

Your GPA is just a shade below Tuck's average and a shade above Darden's and your GMAT is fine (if you think you could raise it above 720, of course, then you should try). I see a lot to like about your profile: leadership at and outside of work, 'fast-track' career pace, some potential differentiators. So you should be competitive at these schools or nearly so. Feel free to send me your resume for a deeper look.

Thanks for the help guys. I think that my GPA will be a bit of a concern for me, but as well having graduated with a degree in Chemistry and a degree in Biology I also have a minor in Math and a minor in Philosophy. I also worked full time, was the president of two different student organizations, tutored, played on the football team and, on a personal note, I met my future wife all during my four years of undergrad. I hoping that I can use my experiences well in my essays as well as my GMAT score to make up for my GPA.

Ares