What are my chances to top-10?
-White male, 27 years old
-710 GMAT (45Q, 42Q)
-Bachelors in Econ from fairly prestigious public undergrad (think UVA, UNC, Michigan, UCLA etc)
-Weak GPA ~2.9, ~ 3.3 within my major)
-3.5 years work experience as an analyst doing business development for a Fortune100 financial services company - colleagues moving on to b-school typically fare pretty well (majority top-10 programs)
I've poked around with some b-school admissions predictors online but don't really trust them, so i'm hoping to get some feedback here.
I believe I'd at least be competitive just about anywhere, were it not for my undergrad GPA. But due to the low GPA, I'm not sure if the top tier, like Wharton & HBS, is realistic. What about the next tier down, like Fuqua, Darden, Cornell? Just trying to get a sense of what range of schools I should plan on applying to when i start the process next summer/fall.
Also, I didn't test as well as I normally do when I took the GMAT. I'm fairly confident that I would score higher - realistically think I can get 730 if I re-took the GMAT after another few weeks of prep. Do you think it's worth retaking, or would it not make a huge difference unless I cracked 750 (would going from 710 --> 730 have only a marginal impact on my chances)?
Thanks in advance for the input.
710 to 730 is not a huge difference IMO but with your GPA any little bit will help
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Chances are pretty low and I don't even know that much about MBA admissions. No diversity, low GPA, decent GMAT. Sounds pretty unimpressive so far.
Do you have any extra curriculars? Strong references? If you got your GMAT up to 750+ and had strong EC's, references, and killer essays, you may have a chance at the lower tier like Fuqua, McDonough etc. because GPA is just one aspect.
Check out GMAT Club forums for tons of data points on MBA programs.
If you went to a top public undergraduate, I wonder if applying to the same school for graduate would be looked at more favorably or less favorably.
I have a hard time believing that a low GPA is something that cannot be overcome, especially if you have been out of college for a while, have demonstrated strong work experience, etc...
Is it really an auto-ding, in the sense that a GPA that low would be an auto-ding for FT IBD analyst applications? Or is it just a big red flag that can be tolerated if the rest of the application warrants consideration?
did you not read anything i just wrote?
I think the last poster is being too harsh. You should talk to an admissions consultant. I have seen plenty of similar backgrounds get into Virginia, Cornell, Fuqua MBA programs
You are asking a forum with a bunch of college kids to evaluate your chances. There are very few here that know anything about the admission process. I am no expert but I will be applying in a year. I have spent hours upon hours reading form, listening to webinars, and digging through resume books and I believe you have a good chance at a 10-15 ranked school. The work experience might be enough to make up for the lower GPA. If you were serious about MBA i would get your GMAT above the median so that you dont have both gpa and gmat working against the class median.
Head over to gmatclub.com if you want good advice.
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I think the above post by NYC is again extremely overly harsh. I've seen tons of people with 2.9/3.0 GPA's and fortune 500 work experience get into top 10 to 20 business schools. NYC - do you have experience applying to MBA programs? Just ridiculous.
For the record, I fully believe he can get into top 10-20 range MBA programs, but he specifically asked about HBS and Wharton, which I said pretty low chances. Before someone thinks I'm being "overly" harsh.
Top tier is not realistic for you. I could see you getting into the very bottom end of top 10 though.
Surprise to see so many negative viewpoints; is GPA that important? A lot of people with engineering degrees have grades in that range.
As far as I can tell, he's got good work experience, prestigious undergrad, and a decent gmat that he'll improve (math is far easier to improve than verbal imo). I would probably close-off HSW, but he should have a shot at the others?
Engineers get into school with lower GPAs because engineering degree programs are actually difficult. I'm assuming the way he wrote his post that his degree is not in engineering from a strong engineering school so that is irrelevant.
GPA matters because the rest of his background is very plain, vanilla. It is an average GMAT(or less at top school), average work experience, white male. He wants to know if he can get into a top 10 school and with what he posted it is doubtful. There are plenty of other white males from better schools with better GPAs and better GMAT scores with equivalent work experience. It's not that there is something wrong per se but you need more than not being bad to get in to a top school, you need to have a reason why you should get in. I think he will do fine at Fuqua, Darden, etc level but not for the schools he is asking about. Unless there is something truly special and unique about his background there just isn't anything to compel an admissions officer to overlook the low GPA.
Note:I'm currently in b-school at a top program and am just comparing his stats/background to what I've seen of my classmates and heard from the admission offices when I applied.
Thanks for the candid input, guys.
I agree, HSW is not realistic, but glad to know that i have a shot at the next tier up, like Darden and Fuqua. Just wanted to get some feedback to determine whether i should continue my MBA pursuits.
Probably not top 10, but you should be able to get into the easier schools like Darden, Fuqua, etc. I've seen many people with 2.x GPA get into those schools.
Agree that top-10 will be very tough with a GPA and GMAT below the mean at most of those schools. I see you ending up in the 11-16 range (Anderson, Ross, Darden, Fuqua, Stern, Yale).
Given my profile (GPA, current GMAT, work experience), and where I'm looking to go (~#10-20, with maybe some 5-10 stretch schools), do you think i should retake the GMAT? 710 first try, think i can get 730+ though..
assuming i get 730 or 740, would that help my application enough to warrant a retake?
If you have only taken it once, and believe you can improve, definitely take it again. Most people do better there second go around, and a 750+ would be a huge difference maker.
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