Profile evalutation

[Suzash]

Age: 25
GMAT: Female
Nationality: Canadian
Undergrad GPA: 3.2 (Social sciences) while playing university basketball
Work Experience: 1 year playing professional basketball in Europe, 1.5 years in student recruitment for a Canadian post-secondary while also assisting in coaching college basketball.
GMAT: 610

I was hoping to apply in the second round to ASU and Pepperdine. Unfortunately I did not do as well in my GMAT as I had hoped and may have to delay applications until Fall 2011 in order to up my GMAT and put forth a respectable application. Since my GPA is far from amazing how high do you think I will have to shoot for my GMAT in order to offset the GPA and put these schools within my reach?

Thanks in advance!

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear Suzash,

While your GPA is not a 4.0, it is by no means anything to be ashamed by or feel it puts you at a disadvantage. A 3.2 is actually about average for many solid MBA programs. Since you also played on a university-sponsored sports team, which is a large time commitment, then your GPA will be viewed as pretty solid. I would think increasing your GMAT to the 640+ range will put you in a competitive slot for Pepperdine and ASU. Keep in mind, even if you don't increase your score by much, I still think you should apply to these two schools as your essays, recommendations and interviews count for as much in the admissions process and can make a huge difference in the admissions process. Your 610 is in range for these two schools, but a 640+ would make you more competitive.

Best of luck,
Lisa