Ask Stacy Blackman

Hello,

I graduated with a low GPA (~2.7) from GATech. I majored in computer engineering. I would want to obtain my MBA from the same school. Their average GPA for the MBA program is 3.43. I understand that I need to score in the 700s for my GMAT. However, I am wondering if it would also be wise for me to take the GRE test instead of additional classes?

Comments and any other suggestions are more than appreciated.

Thanks!

hi,
I am an fresh electronic engineering graduate from Mumbai university,INDIA and I am planning to give GMAT after 5-6yrs.The problem is my academic performance is average with an aggregate of only 58% in engineering.what can I do in the next 5-6yrs to compensate for the low marks so that my application gets accepted by any of the top 20 B-schools in U.S.Do you recommend any courses.Pls help me out.

Hi Lisa!

I am Mechanical engineer by education and having 7 years work experience primerely in Enterprise Sales & Key account management.

I am preparing for GMAT right now and planning to write GMAT in 1st Week of Aug, expecting 620+ & looking forward to get admission in EMBA in good Bschool of Asia / Europe.

Would request your personalised advice to prepare other aspects of my application,

Praddy

I like many of you also have a low GPA 2.54 to be exact. However I am shooting for decent top 50 schools for my MBA. I have been running a company for the past 3.5 years basically building it from the groundup. I was active in volunteer work and other extra-cirriculars while at a top 75 National University. MY major was History, so that cannot really help me getting to School. I recently took the GMAT and recieved a 630 first time out. My ideal schools to go to are Wisconsin, Boston College and Minnesota all tough to get in with my current credentials. Any idea where I should be with the GMAT to feel comfortable? Do I have to take graduate level courses to create my secondary transcript or would undergrad be okay? I am willing to do anything to get into these schools. any feed back would be helpful.

Hi Lisa,

I would appreciate your input on my situation. I attended UC Berkeley and graduated with a B.A. in Political Science with a GPA of 3.0. I apologize for my frankness, but it is necessary for you to get the full picture. Basically, I had moderate to severe depression throughout the duration of my undergraduate career which obviously made it difficult for me to perform at my best. I received help after my junior year and definitely brought my grades up in my last year, but obviously the damage had been done.

A year after working in the legal field I decided to get into the retail industry. I attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, CA and enrolled an accelerated program where I received an associate's degree in Merchandise Marketing and graduated with a GPA of 3.8. Most of the classes I took (i.e. Management Concepts, Marketing Essentials, Org Behavior, etc) focused on business concepts.

Currently I am working at a Fortune 500 retailer as an allocation analyst.
At the time of enrollment in an MBA program I will have 2 years at the company.

I am interested in part-time (evening) programs at Babson, Boston College and Bentley. I haven't taken the GMAT yet, but I plan on studying for at least 6 months and plan on scoring at least a 680. What do you think my chances are of getting into such programs? Also, do you think I should reveal my medical issues as an explanation for my low undergrad GPA?

Sorry for the length and thank you!

-Bindu

I have just graduated from Law School but I am really interested in getting an MBA.

I was a non-traditional student who mis-spent my twenties and my overall undergrad GPA (around a 2.5 as calculated by LSAC) was very poor. When I finished my UG degree in my early thirties I had a very good trend in grades my last two years (3.7) as well as a decent LSAT score which helped me get into a tier two law school. I just graduated from law school with honors and a 3.46 gpa (Top 25% of my class). I am in my mid-thirties but do not really have much quality business experience.

I am really only interested in going to a top 25 MBA program. Will those schools look at law grades in lieu of UG? I know that most law schools do not look at graduate grades (the assumption, right or wrong, that graduate level programs tend to grade much higher). I was wondering if b-schools view law schools the same way, even though most law schools have pretty sharp curves.

I am taking the bar later this month and will probably go to work with a firm. How much work experience are most MBA programs really going to want? What kind of GMAT score do you think I may need to be competitive with my background (at a top 10 or Top 25 program)?

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

Hey, I am just beginning this process and wanted to see my competitiveness to get into the top 20.

I graduated from a top 30 national university with a degree in psychology with distinction and biology and latin american studies minor-(3.23 cum GPA, 3.8 Major GPA) During the last two years of undergrad I achieved a 3.8 GPA (gradual improvement). I am currently getting my masters in education at night/weekends (4.0 GPA). I have taken the GRE (1270) which i know Stanford and MIT are accepting. I am also currently studying for my GMAT hoping to get at least a 650. I have two years of working experience in education, teaching middle school (with a well-known and respected non-profit affiliate organization). I am also working as a summer intern on a design project for the organization and also training/teaching other new incoming teachers. I want to get my MBA (non-profit management/ social enterprise) in order address once of the most pervasive social problems in the U.S.: Educational Inequalities. I eventually make systematic changes in the public school systems because I believe we are not servicing all of our children equally and we should be treating the education system as if it were a fortune 500 business. I was originally interested in public health, but now want to pursue a MBA too. I have already gained admission (deferred) to Columbia Public Health and I want to apply there for a dual degree MPH/MBA. I am also interested in many other top 20 schools business schools including MIT, Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Northeastern, Chicago, and NYU to name a few. Finally, I am also a first generation Latin American/Hispanic, first in family with undergrad/grad education. What do you think my chances are?? What kind of GMAT score do I need?? Is there anything else I can do to improve my chances?? Help.

Lisa, thank you for your input. I greatly appreciate it as I have been seriously doubting myself and your words have put me at ease. Thank you!

Hi, Stacy -
How do adcoms generally view applicants with low overall GPAs, that were brought down significantly during their first two years in college. I dramatically improved my GPA during the second half of college due to better time management and clearer focus on the subjects that interested me most.
Thanks,
ConfidenceIsKey