I've looked at the GPA and GMAT ranges for the top 10 B-schools. How does someone w/ low #'s get in?

Question

The GPA ranges from 2.8 to 3.9. The GMAT ranges from 560 to 790. How does someone w/ a 2.8 GPA get into a big 10 MBA school? This question assumes their parents didn't donate a ton of money to the school or something like that. What are the other factors and how do they break down when schools pick students?

GPA = 50% ???
GMAT = 20% ???
Work Exp = 20%???
Other = 10%???

I would have thought that the people who went to the top schools were all 3.7 GPA's and 700 GMAT scores. I always thought they were academic juggernauts.

My point was that people w/ low GPA's and GMAT's have gotten into the big schools. I'm curious as to how they got in. A 2.8 GPA isn't bad by normal standards, but for a top school it is kind of low. As for myself, my GPA and GMAT are at the median for these schools. I hope to at least stand a chance.

Answer 1

You should join more activities in your school and commutiny .When you write your essay for colleges, put feeling into it. Make it look good.

Answer 2

A 2.8 may happen but is the exception not the rule for a top ten. The true median is probably around a 3.7 for gpa and a 720 for gmat. The 2.8 person may be a minority, a legacy (a celebrity's or heavy donator's son), someone with an 800 GMAT to compensate, or almost extraordinary work experience (working for Donald Trump). You should apply though, you're only out the app. fee if you are turned down. Always pursue your dreams.

Answer 3

Very few people with a low GPA and a low GMAT score get into the top schools. Some get in with high GMATs and low GPAs and some get in with high GPAs and low GMATs.

GPA is not nearly as important for MBA programs as it is for masters programs in academic (as opposed to professional) schools.

I found that the following factors are all important:

1. GPA
2. Quality of major and institution
3. Work experience
4. Recommendations
5. Essays
6. Interview

I've been at four schools that have been in the top ten (MBA from Duke, PhD from Berkeley, taught at Wharton and MIT). What I have seen in the MBA students is that they might be able to get in if they are weak in one area -- but very few are weak in two.

Someone with a 2.8 in electrical engineering from MIT with 720 GMAT may well get in. Someone with a 2.8 in sociology from Slippery Rock with a 560 GMAT will not.

Someone with a lower GMAT score may get in -- but they usually have a decent GPA and interesting work experience.

There are exceptions. A few people get in because of connections. It is unlikely that George W Bush would have gotten into Harvard Business School with his grades -- had his father not served as a Congressman, the Ambassador to China and the head of the CIA (he had not yet become VP or President).

You also asked about the relative importance of the factors. Schools differ on this -- but the essays, work experience, GMAT and GPA are all extremely important. A bad essay is the one thing that will kill your application right away. One of my classmates at Duke applied to ten of the top 20 schools and got rejected at all of them. He showed his essay to a friend who helped him to rewrite it. He applied to several of the other top 20 schools and got into almost all of them.

Answer 4

it would help to have a "secondary transcript," yet do no longer assume it. regulation faculties are generally ranked in keeping with their elementary undergraduate GPA and LSAT scores. I wish i might prevalent that for the period of the previous i might long gone to grad college and working so annoying to maintain a 4.0! The job might remember once you're on the border line, yet relatively the GPA and LSAT scores are key. Your superb wager is to knock 'em out of the park with a great LSAT score. on your income, many innovations-blowing ranked faculties have long gone to taking the innovations-blowing score relatively than averaging the scores as they have finished interior the previous. So take an LSAT type, learn and then learn some greater, and get right into a large college!

Answer 5

A MBA is an MBA,unless you just have to have a big school name connect to you degree. I attended a smaller school and got more out of it and more attention to resolve and understand.

One thing the big schools dont tell you is ,alot of time there is no help . Which founds a lot of Grad students in a funky position ,do whatever it takes to pass. Cheat or Repeat. Smaller schools offer more help,better access to there faculty and have a sincere open ear to help you.

Answer 6

It doesn' matter, they will let you in on probation.