Hey Newbie,
I'd say it's "possible" but definitely not "probable".
What a lot of it breaks down to is that not all 2.4 GPAs are created equal, so schools are willing to at least hear about the candidate. For a Bill Gates type who may have sloughed off in class while creating a successful company, that low GPA story is one that can probably be pretty easily overcome. Similarly, if one were in an intensive double-major plus ROTC or something, you can probably find a way to justify that the GPA doesn't really reflect what you gained out of college, and then use the rest of your work history to demonstrate why you're an excellent candidate.
It's also true that some schools suffer from rampant grade inflation whereas others really make you work for it. Especially as schools recruit internationally from a pool that has attended thousands of diverse colleges, they need to look a little closer at each candidate.
The tough thing is that a lot of MBA candidates manage 3.0 or better even despite extenuating circumstances, and have similarly impressive subsequent work histories, so a GPA under 2.5 is an uphill battle. In addition to posting a high GMAT score, candidates can help to balance a low GPA with additional college-level coursework, particularly in math or business-related classes, and with business or organizational leadership to demonstrate a more recent pattern of excellence.
Even at that, a 2.4 is going to be a tough scarlet letter on an application, so candidates should consider looking at undervalued programs (Yale, for example, is a top 20 program held back mainly because of a lack of history...it's much "younger" as a b-school than others in its class. There, I do have a friend who was admitted with a sub-2.5 GPA...but also a 780, I think, to balance it out, and some great work experience and recommendations) or at part-time programs that may offer a transfer path to full-time (to be honest, I don't think NYU-Stern allows for that anymore but in the past that was a method that worked for some).
Brian Galvin
GMAT Instructor
Chief Academic Officer
Veritas Prep
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