Profile Evaluation - Low GPA Reasonable GMAT

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Profile Evaluation - Low GPA Reasonable GMAT

by Rf224455 » Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:38 pm
Hi,

Could someone please evaluate my profile?

My undergraduate record is spotty (2.96 Finance from good state school). I started off in engineering and struggled with a few courses. Afterwards I switched to business and earned a combination of good grades and mediocre on a semester to semester basis. Its not purely a downtrend or an uptrend. My quant grades are strong: Calculus 1 B+, Calculus 2 A, Quantitative Methods A, Advanced Finance B+, Investment Analysis A, Interest rates A, Intermediate Finance A, Economics B+, A few accounting courses I got Bs and Cs and I received Bs and Cs in some general courses as well. My last semester didnt have challenging courses in it as I had to meet general requirements and wanted to dedicate more time to my philanthropy event planning.

I was pretty involved in college, as philanthropy chair of my fraternity. I planned a 150+ participant fundraising event and orchestrated our particpation in over 15 campus wide events. I also was captain of one of our softball teams, and played intermural soccer and ult frisbee

My WE: I spearheaded the financial management of a large consulting project. During my time, I proposed recommendations that resulted in 5% profitability increases. I also was recommended for a role analyzing the portfolios of several managing directors and evaluating the month to month corporate trending. I was promoted in my first year and received a Gold Beacon Award.

At Booz Allen, I've been involved in portfolio management for the past 7-8 months, and became the junior lead after 6 months.

At both institutions I was involved in extra curricular (however you spell that) activities (Led a mock proposal effort, am particating in a tech focus group)


My gmat is 74% Quant and 95% V. I'm also very concerned ab my gpa. I'm applying to Berkeley, Duke, UCLA, Darden and UNC. They are all competitive programs and the avg gpa is ab 3.5/

Please let me know if i should pad my school list a little bit.
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by Scottie@VeritasPrep » Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:29 pm
More than likely, you will need to explain the fluctuations in your grades in your essays and/or interviews. It helps that your quant grades are pretty strong. You didn't mention an actual GMAT score however it will strengthen your case if it is solidly within the 80%-range for the schools on your list.

If your GPA and GMAT scores are average then you really need to focus on strong essays and well written LORs. Be sure to dedicate the appropriate amount of time to these two areas. You should also consider applying to at least one safety school since the MBA admissions environment is extremely competitive right now.
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by Rf224455 » Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:37 pm
Hello, my actual gmat score is 710 awa 5.0. What range safeties would be appropriate? Usc/emory/texas?