I saw that the bottom end of Stanford's 80% GPA range was a 3.36 (!). What do you have to do to be in that bottom 10% that gets in?
Let's say you have blue chip credentials: ugrad college attended, tough major, strong leadership, strong work experience, essays, recs, etc... what else would you need?
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change the world or the way people are looking at it... at least trying
you need o be specific with your details...
if you need to assess your chances..why don't you post your profile on Poets & Quants.
World-class athletes (olympics, NFL/NBA/etc.) would be my guess.
How do I get the AOs to know that I’m a world class athlete? Do I show it in my CV? Or my essay? Or somewhere else in particular?
Black/Hispanic/Native American
I understand that the down vote was likely due to an egregious lack of tact, but the basis of this post isn't necessarily incorrect. I believe that regardless of race/ethnicity, you can be a 4.0 student and a leader and a visionary and anything else you want to be.
But from a pure numbers perspective, Stanford can turn away a huge proportion of 3.8/720 GMAT applicants who are white or Asian because they represent the vast majority of applicants. Underrepresented minorities are valued because of diversity quotas, sure, but also because they can often bring different perspectives and experiences and motivations that are valuable in an academic or professional setting. Because far fewer underrepresented minorities are actually applying,
Stanford will still have a rigorous application process regardless, but they may be more willing to overlook a lower GPA in an underrepresented minority due to having a smaller applicant pool and NOT simply to fill quotas or "seem" diverse.
Just a possibility.
Whoever threw shit at this guy is an idiot. Sandy Kriesberg of Poets and Quants openly admits that being a visible minority is a massive advantage when applying to elite business schools.
It sucks for everyone involved, but it's 100% true.
Why did this guy get shit on? Being a URM helps tremendously.
You should have realistic expectations of your chances. If your gut is saying that you won't get in most likely you won't! Maybe going to a big ten school or a regional MBA program would be best with a low GPA.
The people being admitted w/ sub-par GPAs almost always have incredible life stories. A 3.36 person is rarely the lazy HYP grad who landed a GS TMT position.
Be an URM
Other than have parents who have donated large sums of money to the school, everything else has to be well above Stanford average. Low gpa/sub 720 GMAT probably an auto-ding
As mentioned in previous posts, if low end of 80% GPA is 3.36, then low GPA is obviously not an auto-ding. Even without high-rolling parents, a particularly impressive story or contribution to society will cure many GPA ails.
Also, sub-720 GMAT is obviously not an auto-ding, since 720 is only 10 points below average, meaning many students get in with 700s. Also, the range is 590-790 so, there's that.
I am a URM with a 2.8 and could prob get into stanford.... all about total profile
How did things go with HBS this round? Get the interview invite?
To whoever threw monkey shit:
Show me I'm wrong.
Show us you're right.
Legal basis for affirmative action, here. UMich directly states that they have been using race as a factor in admissions. Court upholds decision:
"The Court's majority ruling, authored by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, held that the United States Constitution "does not prohibit the law school's narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body." The Court held that the law school's interest in obtaining a "critical mass" of minority students was indeed a "tailored use". via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grutter_v._Bollinger
One of many examples of diversity recruitment programs suggesting business schools, specifically, are interested in minority candidates:
"Our clubs and student associations actively reach out to prospective candidates who are interested in earning an MBA. This creates an active and supportive environment for under-represented racial/ethnic groups throughout the admissions process, during their two years at Wharton, and once they become alumni." via http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/student-experience/students-of-color.c…
Evidence that African Americans systematically under-perform on the GMAT (among other standardized tests):
"Students seeking admission to graduate schools of business are in most cases required to take the Graduate Management Admission Test. In 2005, 8,448 African Americans took the GMAT test. They made up 7.9 percent of all GMAT test takers that year...The mean black score on the GMAT was 425. (The test is scored on the familiar 200 to 800 scale used for each section of the SAT test.) For whites, the mean GMAT score was 532. This is 107 points or 18 percent higher than the mean score for blacks. The average GMAT score for admitted students at the nation's leading business schools is over 700. Perhaps only 1 or 2 percent of all black GMAT test takers score at this level. Therefore, without continuing affirmative action admissions programs at Harvard, Penn, Stanford, Northwestern, MIT, and other top MBA programs, the nation's leading business schools will have very few black students." via http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/51_graduate_admissions_test.html
I'm not sure what more proof you need. Affirmative action has been done in the past, challenged in the courts, and upheld as legal. Business schools explicitly attempt to recruit under-represented minority applicants. URMs under-perform dramatically under-perform on the GMAT compared to their white and Asian counterparts. Yet they are still admitted to M7 programs in numbers generally commensurate with the population of blacks/Hispanics/etc in the general population of the United States.
I don't think it's a stretch to infer that there's a "URM boost" in B-school admissions. And I haven't even brought up the volumes of anecdotal evidence give to us by Poets And Quants, Betsy, Alex, etc.
This thread took an interesting turn...
My problem is that the details that makes my application strong despite my shit GPA are unique enough to make me publicly identifiable pretty easily. But I'm still not sure if that background is strong enough for Stanford (or what I should do to make it strong enough).
Here's what I'm really asking: each year, ~40-45 people get into Stanford with sub-3.36 GPAs. Does anyone here know people in this bucket? I'm curious what kinds of things they bought to the table. I'm sure there are some non-URMs (or NFL players) in that group of 40-45.
Dude relax! Just apply and see what happens. There is no point in obsessing over little details.
Man, so much MS in this thread. Reminds me of @Beny23. Your thoughts please?
Not taking sides here, but its actually a proven fact that the ones who benefit the most from AA are actually women, white and otherwise.
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