Please evaluate my profile MBA
I'm looking to apply for business school and wanted to get everyone's thoughts on my profile.
29yr old male
Undergrad GPA: 2.26 in Economics from a small unknown state school
Grad GPA: 3.7 Masters in Applied Economics from Southern New Hampshire University
GMAT: 730
Work Experience: 6 years at a F500 financial services company (1 yr in Sales, 5yrs in Investment Management)
CFA Charterholder
I'm looking to apply to the University of Chicago, Cornell, Dartmouth, NYU, and Columbia.
Do I have a shot or is my undergrad GPA going to get me dinged at each school?
A 730 GMAT and the CFA, with a 2.26 GPA... There has to be a story there, and that story will likely decide what kind of school you can get into.
I was dealing with family issues (very sick parent) and was going home each weekend to help take care of them. I was taking classes full time during the week and working full time at night after class to pay for housing/expenses. My studies weren't my top priority at the time and my schoolwork unfortunately fell on the back burner.
Optional essays exist for this reason. Whoever, the key is to write it so it doesn't come off as making excuses. Or so I was told in an MBA webinar. After all, you're going to be juggling a lot of time commitments as an MBA student too.
Hit the nail on the head. Op, don't listen to the noise below.
I think you're being a bit aggressive with your school choices but I think it's definitely possible you can get into at 1+ of them. I'd at least consider adding a safety such as Georgetown or Emory.
OP targets Booth, Cornell, Stern, Columbia, among others. So he's obviously aiming for IB. So in this case: Would you still suggest Georgetown & Emory? What about Yale SOM for instance?
(Would just like to grasp the strategy behind choosing schools)
SOM is harder to get into than Cornell/Stern so not really a safety but would be a good school to target. Georgetown/Emory have decent east coast presence at banks so would be suitable safeties.
Not happening man. Your GPA is below the published range of every school you listed, and it's not like you personally had a potentially fatal illness during undergrad.
If I were you I would aim for at least a few schools in the 15-25 range.
You definitely have a shot. Utilize your optional essays to explain the situation and reference your secondary GPA from your Masters in Economics as how you have grown. Remember, the weak Undergrad GPA is only one part of your whole application profile.
A 3.7 and 730 put you in a great spot for all of those schools, just need to solidify your story.
Hi rightonit10,
That 2.26 is a hurdle no question. I have a few suggestions for overcoming it. 1) Say what happened. What caused those grades and then point to top performance (and you have a lot of it) when you weren't dealing with whatever you were dealing with or when you had learned to handle it. 2) Apply to more and a broader range of schools than you indicated above. CBS and Tuck are real long shots. As someone in the thread suggested also consider a few schools slightly lower ranked that still support your goals. Spread your apps over two rounds.
Please check out a podcast I did on overcoming a low GPA: [ 5 A’s for Your Low GPA ]. (https://blog.accepted.com/what-to-do-about-a-low-gpa/)
If you want something more MBA specific: Applying to Top MBA Programs with a Low GPA.
Good luck!
Southern New Hampshire is an online school, a 3.7 has got to carry way less weight than if that was a larger program.
I think people are doing you a disservice telling you that you have a shot at the schools you listed. As was pointed out, your GPA is far below the 10th and 0th percentiles of your schools.
Think of it this way, how many people with 4.0s are they going to need to admit to offset your GPA and maintain their average? With a 2.26, they would need to admit three 4.0 GPAs just to maintain a 3.5. I hate to say it, but they are not going to do that for a male with finance work experience and an average GMAT.
In my opinion, I think this application just is DOA at Booth, Tuck, Stern and CBS and you are wasting time and money focusing on those schools (4 applications is like 6 - 8 weeks of work)
You need to pick maybe 1 from this list as a dream, then focus on lower ranked schools and show them TONs of love. Use the open interview at Tuck (make that your dream), Darden, and Duke to put a face and story to a name. Have a rock solid goal too that ties to your past experience.
Agree, your MBA resume will have a shit GPA and an online degree mill on top. Very tough to overcome unless you have superstar F500 firm star experience and flip your experience on top
The GMAT is definitely a plus but tbh even though your masters GPA is solid, SNHU is not really that reputable of a school so I dont know how much it would help. The undergrad GPA will hurt you but try to explain it in essays. I honestly think where you went to school could hurt you here. If you did the same thing but did the undergrad and masters at a better school (top 50 maybe even top 100), you could have a shot. I'd write off most of those programs. Even though schools like Stern and Cornell are GMAT ho's, and have generally lower average GPA's, it's not like you're rolling up with a 3.0 (somewhat low). It's a 2.26 and it will not fare well in the application process. I hate to tell you this, but thats my 0.02. If your GPA fell below the 10th percentile, id say go for it, but its below the 0th percentile for those schools. For example, Stern's lowest acceptance last year had a 2.51, and Columbia's middle 80% was 3.1-3.9.
To add to this - Stern's listed 2.51 GPA was almost certainly a non-traditional candidate or URM. White/Indian/Asian guys from finance don't catch that kind of break. Those low scores are usually like, an enlisted special forces candidate who didn't do well the first time but has crazy experience leading in combat zones or an URM who overcame a lot to apply to school.
Yeah exactly. If OP had like a 3.0 I'd say he has a decent shot but the GPA is just not salvageable
From the list you mentioned i think they are honestly all long shots. The fact that you have a nice GMAT and CFA will definitely help for top 25 programs. IMO i would choose one or two of these schools as your dream schools. Then i would choose UCLA/UT/UNC/Virginia as realistic options and than a few safety's like Georgetown/Vandy/USC
I honestly don't see Anderson/McCombs/KF/Darden as targets, these are reaches for a 2.26.
K
What are your goals, and why do you want an MBA?
^^^ fuck rankings, 1) what do you want to do, 2)where do you want to live? That'll tell you far more about where to apply than just aiming for "the best"
The double whammy is that your u/g GPA is not only low, but from a no-name state school. Why did you choose SNHU of all places? There are more reputable schools with online graduate programs.
Anyways, if you have the money to spare, I would take a gamble on the schools you listed and add some lower ranked programs to the mix as well. From my perspective, your GPA will definitely make you stand out, not in an ideal way obviously. At least you won't just blend in though-- use this to your advantage. Treat the essays like PhD students do their dissertations. My understanding is that adcoms only put weight on u/g GPAs.
Your overall profile suggests that you're not as dumb as your u/g GPA implies. Your GMAT, work experience, and the CFA are collectively 50% of the applications. Lastly, but very importantly, you'll have astronomically higher chances of getting into a part-time program. I know UChicago has an evening/weekend program for working professionals. Keep you're day job, because the financial aid is less, but if you're working for a F500, they should foot most, if not all, the tuition bill.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Agree backdoor into a part-time/evening program is the way for him to go. And all honesty non-m7 bschools do not move the career needle enough to make it worth the high costs.
Other option is an online Mba program from a reputable school if you want to boost the resume.
If I were you, I would schedule free consults with several MBA Admission Consultants. Some of them were a downright brutal reality check for me, and I had an arguably solid background.
A lot of experienced individuals on WSO, but honestly, there are people who get paid ~$5k to help you with the exact question you are asking, and they all do free 30 minute consults which are very helpful.
I spoke with: - MBA Mission - Stacy Blackman - The MBA Exchange - A couple boutiques
Ut facere atque libero animi quia. Neque ipsum sapiente et fugiat id.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Ut minima est id accusamus maxime sed dolorem. Sit quo sed dolores natus.
Et reiciendis ab ea rem. Aut ut ut placeat ea nulla fugiat et. Modi autem molestias veritatis magnam.
Non et officia minus perferendis labore. Sed error beatae aspernatur consequatur omnis quia. Repudiandae voluptatem magnam nam beatae debitis tenetur dolor.
Vero et voluptas est vel saepe aut debitis. Ducimus ut rerum explicabo. Repellendus commodi et veniam sit. Quibusdam expedita rerum id praesentium aliquid sit qui ad.