Profile evaluation request - low undergrad gpa, high gmat

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Hi,

I would be really happy to have suggestions as to which schools to target.

35, male, Eastern Europe
- UG GPA 2.5, engineering, top school in country.. I was interested more in extracurriculars
- Have a quant heavy masters from a global top 5 program; finished first in class (3 years ago)
- GMAT: 770, q:50, v:45 ,(recent)
- resume highlights: 3 years entrepreneurship, still profitable sme.
3 years with a global bank, joined through a hard to get into leadership development program. Worked in 4 countries.
3 years strategy consulting with a top 5 firm. Strong leadership experience

I want to do an mba to transition into private equity ecosystem in san francisco. I had some relevant projects with my job.

Thanks and happy new year!

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by MargaretStrother » Wed Jan 20, 2016 5:50 am
Hi Welett,
Lots of good stuff here! You don't discuss community leadership, volunteer work, so if you haven't been doing that you'll want to start to engage, because this is important to top business schools.

Your biggest challenge, as you know, is that low GPA. Given your awesome GMAT, this was clearly a "maturity" issue, not a "smartness" issue, so you'll take that approach in your applications, using an optional essay to discuss honestly what happened there and how you grew out of it.

However, you'll also want to review the acceptance patterns at potential target schools by analyzing the incoming class profiles. Look at that GPA range -- if the 80% range only goes down to, say, 3.4 (HBS, Haas) the chances are that for this school, your undergraduate GPA is a deal-breaker. If the bottom of their 80% range is 3.0 or below -- and believe it or not, there are some top MBA programs (Duke, Tepper) that do have that broad a spread -- that's telling you that they are viewing applicants more holistically, and you will have a better chance of making your case with this school.

Good luck!
Margaret Strother
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by welett » Wed Jan 20, 2016 6:23 am
Thanks Margaret,

Forgot to mention, have community leadership roles in different countries over the years, and some volunteer coaching / mentoring in a number of NGOs.

I was also looking at the MSMS program at Sloan; would you be able to share any views on that?
..And Stanford MBA, which doesn't list a GPA range in student profile page

Welett

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by MargaretStrother » Wed Jan 20, 2016 9:43 am
Hi Welett,
Unfortunately I don't have enough knowledge of the Sloan MSMS to advise you on that one. Stanford is simply a long-shot for everyone, even with the best numbers possible.


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by welett » Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:03 am
Thanks Margaret