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Do schools have baseline GPA requirements?

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by elee101 » Tue Oct 19, 2010 9:37 am
Good morning,

Do MBA programs, tier 1 schools in particular, have any kind of unspoken minimum GPA requirement for applicants who do not have an "extraordinary" story? For average Joe's like myself, I want to make sure I don't waste anyone's time - mine or the adcom.

In my specific case, I'm 5 years removed from college with solid work (financial services and a history of success/promotions) and volunteer (volunteer for youth sports) experience, a GMAT score of 740 (Q49/V41), and let's say above-average essays and recs. However, I had a 2.5 undergrad GPA (relatively reputable state school). I've since taken a statistics course and a marketing course (both A's) at a local junior college to address the GPA. Although I believe I would be an asset and would certainly gain a lot by attending a strong MBA program, I worry about the strength of my candidacy.

I currently plan to apply to a wide range of schools from the unranked to the top 10, simply because I'm unsure where I'd receive consideration, but it'd be great to be able to focus my efforts on a shorter list of programs.

Thank you in advance for your guidance!
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by money9111 » Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:38 am
From my research and inquiries they won't go lower than 2.5 because that's below a C average.
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by gk_jam » Wed Oct 20, 2010 10:44 pm
money9111 wrote:From my research and inquiries they won't go lower than 2.5 because that's below a C average.
Wouldn't a 2.0 be a C average (A=4.0, B=3.0...)?
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by Kaneisha Grayson » Fri Oct 22, 2010 10:57 am
Hi E Lee,

If there are schools you are genuinely interested in attending in the top 10, don't count yourself out by not applying at all. I think it's a wise decision for you to apply to schools spread across the rankings, but be sure to explain to ALL of your schools why your GPA is so low.

Some more advice:

1) Take Accounting and Finance at a local junior college like you did with Stats and Marketing (great move by the way). Show them that you can make good grades.

2) In your optional essay, have a very clear action plan for ensuring your academic excellence in graduate school. Tell them what formal and informal campus resources you will use, how you will overcome your prior weaknesses (e.g. Proactively reach out to professors for all of your courses.), and why they shouldn't be worried that they'll admit you and then you'll flunk out. AND IT DOES HAPPEN.

I recommend that you apply to 4 of the Top 10 Schools, 4 of the middle tier schools, and 2 unranked schools. Make sure that you would be happy attending any of the schools that you apply to. You are never wasting the AdCom's time if you submit an application that represents your best candidacy, but you ARE wasting your time if you apply to schools you don't really want to go to.

Good luck with your applications!

Kaneisha
Kaneisha Grayson, Harvard MBA + MPA '10
Founder, The Art of Applying®: get into the graduate school of your dreams and get money to pay for it
Deep experience with low GPAs, low test scores, Consortium, Knight-Hennessy, and joint-degree applicants
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