bad cgpa, but excellent final year gpa any good for top b-school?

Question

I have read some b-school admission FAQs saying that a bad freshman-year GPA is ok (say 2.5) as long as the candidate progresses the GPA year-over-year, ending with a great final-year GPA (say 3.6).

But what if I've been doing below average for a longer period of time (~2.5GPA for the first 5 out of 8 terms), do better this term (~3.0GPA+), and do excellent in my final year (both terms ~3.6GPA+)? Although the GPA has risen, the rise occured quite *late* (i.e. at the end of the second-last year in university). How competitive would such a GPA profile be for top b-schools? Second-tier b-schools? I plan to work maybe 4-5 years before applying for an MBA, since this will make my profile better as well as dilute the importance of the GPA.

I'm worried about my future. please help, thx!

In response to M:
The average entrance GPA at Stanford B-school is 3.56, so 3.6cGPA is certainly competitive, among other requirements.
Source: http://www.accepted.com/zones/Stanford.aspx

Answer 1

You have a cumulative of 2.8. For the top schools, that's not gonna cut it.

True, some b-schools (like other grad schools), like to see progress made over time. However, not only does your not follow that path really, but the top b-schools have so many applicants with top grades, that they have little reason to consider the applicant who wasn't great throughout. They aren't charity cases. So, unless you have some other great reason for them to take you, they're not going to in order to protect their average GPA so their ranking stays high.

Answer 2

Even if you had a cumulative GPA of 3.6, that's not good enough for the top business schools.

I'm sure you'll do fine at a state school though.