Pretty much title. Is it impossible or are there always that 1 or two kids with a mediocre GPA and GMAT/GPA but good holistically to get into deferred MBA programs.
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Subpar GPA and GMAT usually mean subpar MBA program that is usually not worth attending.
I get what you’re saying but I’m talking about for top programs? Is every person getting accepted have a stellar GPA and GMAT?
pretty much ... you have to be in the general range or have glowing work experience and recommendations.
what do you mean deferred?
poets & quants has a section that rank peoples chances of getting in to their desired courses, i.e. people submit their profile and gmat and these guys write a public review of their chances. I cant find it but im sure its still around if you have a snoop -
https://poetsandquants.com/2020/11/06/2020s-biggest-rumors-about-applyi…
edit: i think its this - looks different to what I remember - they used to do 4-5 people at a time:
https://poetsandquants.com/2020/02/10/introducing-mba-watch-discover-yo…
Like Harvard business school 2+2
There are outliers certainly, yes. I know of one guy who got into HBS with a ~3.2 and a 690 GMAT score......but he was also Cherokee and his pre-MBA employment experience was I think 2 years between the practice squad and 53-man roster for an NFL team (among other stuff, can't remember since I read this when I was applying to business school).
I think the question was about deferred programs - so kids who get in out of Undergrad then go in 2 years.
To my knowledge, you need to be an absolute blue chip candidate to get into HBS or GSB deferred (like 2+2 programs). The reason is you have nothing else on your resume and nothing separating you from the fact that you just were in school for 4 years and did mediocre. That does not mean you are out of luck for MBA - many people get great work experience for 3 - 5 years, get a great GMAT score and then apply and get in the normal way despite a mediocre undergrad GPA. This is how I went from 3.0 to M7: high GMAT and good work experience I could speak to
what work experience and gmat did you have? -- obviously very impressive. Why i'm curious
Engineer + big 4 Consulting, 770 GMAT I was laser focused on what I wanted to do post school and my story made sense. Got into Wharton, CBS, Sloan and Darden. Ended up going to one of the M7 with 80% scholarship. Not an under-represented minority either, just had great essays (spent months) top GMAT, great extracurriculars/volunteering that I'd done for much longer than the standard 6-months-soup-kitchen-for-my-application that a lot of people do, and really good recommendations. All told, outside of HBS/GSB, you basically get one "blink" - which for me was a 2.9X GPA, everything else had to be perfect.
Not a deferred MBA but I know one who got into HBS with undegrad GPA of 3.23, and 680 GMAT. Being international I don't know helped or not, but being from MBB definetly helped.
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