Hi,
I'm gonna graduate this may 2009 from an average undergraduate business school program with a 3.19 GPA, I recently took the GMAT and scored a 720. I was wondering about my chances of getting into a top 10 MBA program, two to four years down the road.
Thank you in advance
R-Y
PS:I realize my low GPA kills me, so I wanted to know what things can I preemptively do to make my application more competitive?
I think your GMAT helps ALOT. If you got below a 700 then your GPA would be a larger factor. The academic part is over. (did you do decent in basic math/stat/econ courses in college or have a high quantitative subscore?- thats important when you have a low overall gpa)
So work on the other part. Which is everything else that you do between now and bschool application time.
I mean I think you have a good chance of getting into at least one top10 bschool sometime down the line. (e.g. I've heard of people in Columbia GSB and Wharton with high 2's for their GPA.)
There are a lot of different things schools look at other then your GMAT score for an MBA. For instance, you could organize your own bake sale and use the proceeds to help clean up you local park. You could also try volunteer at your local animal shelter, and help out some sick puppies in need of love.
If you can some how accomplish either of those, a top 10 MBA program would no doubt let you right in. Good luck!
The issue with my GPA is that I did horrible in my first year since then I matured and managed to complete my finance curriculum which has mostly been quantitative with a concentration GPA of 3.82, (I also passed the CFA level 1 on my senior year don't know if it helps). My transcript shows continued progress, does that help in any sense?:
Fresh:GPA_______Soph:GPA_________Junior:GPA_______Senior:GPA 1st sem:2.16____1st sem: 3.07____1st sem: 3.25____1st sem: 3.9 2nd sem:2.79____2nd sem: 3.22____2nd sem: 3.58____2nd sem: 3.8
Thanks for the reply, I will definitely focus on doing charity work
what matters most right now is the next four years, as someone mentioned before - work experience, as well as other things like volunteering. The issue is that Bschools love to look at GPA as it's an indicator of performance and dedication over time, and while improvement is indeed important, it's not easy to overlook 2 years of slacking. You'll have to work hard to make up for your first 2-3 years of college (seems to me you only "matured" your spring semester of junior year) but it's not impossible. Best of luck.
I just want to do what I didn't do before, prepare! Since I am planning ahead I want to make sure I play my cards right. Thanks for the comments, any other suggestions?
Adcomms also recommend that you take 1 or 2 business related classes at a local university and get A's but I dont think it is necessary in your case assuming you come from a top program. You can explain the GPA in one of the option essays but again not overly important. Your GMAT (assuming its balanced) should help balance it out.
As far as community service...adcomms are much more impressed by well rounded people than someone who does one-off community service activities. For example, I have been involved in an athletic program since I was 12 that I continue to contribute to by coaching, mentoring, public speaking, fund-raising etc. I played a sport in college and in the off season coached several youth teams in my spare time. I continue to do this (less frequently) in my current community. I also created an organization to collect used sporting equipment and clothes in my community. This is much more impressive than joining NYCares and cleaning a park one afternoon. Adcomms want to see genuine contributions and consistency over time.
Assuming you gain quality W/E over the next 2-4 years and draft solid essays you def have a shot at a top 10. The key is to differentiate your profile and make adcomms view you as a person, not a set of stats.
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