Advice on getting into a target b-school for IB?

Hi, I have an UG 2.9 GPA in Biology from a non-target. No background in finance. I was wondering what could I do to have a finance career in IB. I figured I would have to retool by getting a MSF, MS in Commerce, MMS, or 2nd Bachelor's. I know for IB prestige, high marks, and great OCR from a target are big contributing factors to landing internships/jobs. But how can I get into an Ivy, Private, or State target with such an unimpressive GPA, even if I did ace the GMAT, great essays, recs etc. Looking for some advice on if I have any options.

10 Comments
 

the answer is you won't. all of those master's you mentioned are worthless unless you go to a very top school, and i don't know why anyone would go back to get a second bachelor's. sometimes you have to move on with your life brah.

 

I'm not an expert on admissions, but from my understanding, if you crush the GMAT it can overcome low GPA to an extent. Bio is a hard major most places so they'll probably take that into account. My guess would be that your best bet is to figure out a way to dominate the GMAT and do something thats going to really set you apart. Start a business or a charity, do intense volunteer work, etc. If you are committed enough, join the military for a few years. While thats very extreme, my point is that there is always a way.

Definitely don't give up. I've read plenty of stories on this site of people in worse shape than you who broke into the industry. If you work hard enough you can make it happen.

Best of luck

 
Best Response
Chinouk35I'm not an expert on admissions, but from my understanding, if you crush the GMAT it can overcome low GPA to an extent. Bio is a hard major most places so they'll probably take that into account. My guess would be that your best bet is to figure out a way to dominate the GMAT and do something thats going to really set you apart. Start a business or a charity, do intense volunteer work, etc. If you are committed enough, join the military for a few years. While thats very extreme, my point is that there is always a way.

Definitely don't give up. I've read plenty of stories on this site of people in worse shape than you who broke into the industry. If you work hard enough you can make it happen.

Best of luck

I thought the general understanding was that crushing the GMAT but having a low GPA meant your low GPA isn't a result of you being a stupid fuck, meaning your GPA is a work ethic issue. you're still going to have to combat that problem by showing you were really involved oncampus/working 3 jobs so you can afford college or some shit.
 

Yeah I was a pre-med, had a 4.0 my first 2 years undergrad. Never really could wrap my head around being a MD or being in healthcare in general. Lost motivation to try in courses like Cellular Molecular Biology etc. as an upperclassman. I actually could have got into and wanted to go to a target coming out of high school, had a 3.95 gpa, etc. but got talked into going to a private, religious, unknown non-target institution by the parentals. Didn't know about OCR at targets, etc at 18. Basically an UG in biology is useless if you don't intend to supplement it with more education. Wish I would have transferred and changed majors when I got interested in finance in '08, but alas smh.

 

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