Which M7 + Tuck Business School is most forgiving on low (<3.0) GPA?

Of the M7 and Tuck, which is the most forgiving in terms of low GPA? I have a 2.8 GPA but assuming everything else on my application (WE, Extracurriculars, Recs, Essays) is stellar and I've taken 8 quantitative non-credit MBA-level courses at an M7 school since graduating and gotten straight A's, which of the M7 + Tuck is most lenient on a sub-3.0 GPA? Obviously Harvard/Stanford are completely out of the question. I'm guessing Chicago is the most flexible considering they seem to be very focused on fit and place a lot of weight on their essays and that Columbia would be the least flexible. What do you guys think?

 

Take a look at the class profiles of the schools you're interested in. Most of them list middle 80% ranges for their GPAs- the lower end at Booth and Columbia is 3.2 and 3.1. Obviously this means that 10% of the students had a GPA below that figure.

You didn't mention your gmat score, which is probably the single most important thing you can do to mitigate the low GPA.

 

I have a 760 GMAT. I know about the 80% ranges and obviously I'm out of range for all of them. My question is which schools do you think would be most likely to select a huge GPA outlier (based on people you know, stories you've heard and the schools' overall reputations)? This is M7 we're talking about so I know it's extremely uncommon but do any of them place such an inordinate amount of weight on extracurriculars/essays (and even GMAT) that they would be more likely to forgive a low GPA.

 

Going to go with Tuck only because they emphasize fit the most. Columbia's reputation also does not necessarily align with their strategy in my experience. I think that Columbia really cares about having a specific rationale for being in New York. Lastly, Kellogg has recently been emphasizing GMAT over GPA and also cares about fit. Just my 2 cents.

 
Best Response

I'd say Truck because they may be more willing to blink a bit longer than H/S/W, and as YoshiIsAwesome mentioned, fit-oriented.

I'd also say Chicago and Colombia may be a bit more open, depending on your story. In fact, Columbia has the lowest incoming GPA among M7 schools, and Chicago the 3rd lowest. In addition, there is a bit more self-selection at those schools compared to an HSW or MIT, which cast a bit wider net. For instance, if you have a more "poets" profile with that low GPA (but can demonstrate via GMAT strong grasp of quant), you could stick out at those two schools as someone they'd like to round-out their quant-focused class.

However, what do you want to do? Most career paths at M7 schools can be found in T15 schools. Interested in consulting? Duke's single largest employer for it's most recent class was McKinsey. Tech? Amazon is the top employer at Ross.

 

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