Low GPA Planning to Apply for Top Tier MBA Programs

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asimahm: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 3; Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2011 12:40 pm

by asimahm » Tue Aug 02, 2011 9:06 pm

Hi,

Here are my stats and background:

GPA: 2.5 (Was a Pre-med, overloaded on Science courses, not serious about school)
Practice GMAT test : I took 5 exams and averaged 725, I am planning to take the GMAT in November, my GMAT goal is 780
Age: 25
Yrs of Work Experience: 1.5 years

Extracurricular Activities During College: Student Association President, over 150+ hours of Volunteering at Free Clinics and Hospitals, Taught underserved public elementary school's First Aid.

Post-College Work & Experience:

Co-Founded/Current Board Member and VP of a Nonprofit Organization, Interned at Mayor's Office, Started SEO Private Consulting, Currently working as a SEO Specialist, and Founder/CEO of a SEO Agency.

- Guest Lecturer at Local University on SEO
- Performed Workshop for Local Businesses on SEO
- Scheduled to Speak at Conferences on Digital Marketing

Obviously my biggest flaw in my application is my GPA unfortunately, I have taught about attending a local community college to take Stats and Microeconomics, but I have no idea what else to do.

Here are the schools I have my eye's set on:

Kellogg
Duke
Stanford
Wharton
Indiana University Kelly
UT Austin
UNC
NYU
Dartmouth
Michigan

I plan on applying for the entering class of Fall 2013.

Let me know what you think I should be doing or should be working on in order to get into these top tier schools.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant | Tue Aug 02, 2011 9:06 pm

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Jon@Admissionado: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 3135; Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 8:55 amFollowed by: 332 members; Location: Everywhere; Thanked: 589 times

by Jon@Admissionado » Wed Aug 10, 2011 1:26 am

Well if you get that 780, you will have done as good as you can to wipe out that low GMAT. Plus, you should definitely be writing that you were pre-med in an optional essay an write it up about your GPA.

The schools you have your eyes set on seem reasonable for the most part. Out of the first four, (top 10/ top 5 programs) I would choose TWO that you are really most dedicated to, cause I guess you won;t have time to apply to ALL of them.

But actually, although you write that your biggest application weakness is your GPA, what seems to me to be a bit bigger issue to deal with is your 1.5 years work experience. You may not have enough great stories (although the NGO you started gives hope), and you'd be about a year under in work experience. But if you DO have the stories, (because of all your other activities) than you should be good.

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MBAPrepAdvantage: MBA Admissions Consultant; Posts: 810; Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2011 1:12 pmFollowed by: 35 members; Thanked: 127 times

by MBAPrepAdvantage » Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:35 pm

If you received poor grades in math classes taking a math class like calculus or statistics would be an excellent idea to build an alternate transcript (just make sure to get an A).

The other concern about having only 1.5 years is that MBA admissions committees could feel you might not take academics seriously again. In other words, if you were a 40 year old EMBA applicant reflecting about not taking academics seriously 20 years ago, the admissions committee might not be concerned. So, be prepared to answer this in the optional question. Another strategy, of course, is not to mention you didn't take academics seriously but talk about other time commitment pressures like a part-time job or extracurricular activities.

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