Help me choose what tiers of business schools to look at?

Question

700 GMAT, 3.2 GPA with degree in Mechanical Engineering. 2 years work experience at an engineering firm in DC plus 16 months of internship experience through undergrad.

Have been President of fraternity, wrote for school newspaper, and recently completed an Ironman Triathlon.

I want to go to top 25 school, but I'm not sure where to even begin to look. Can you guys tell me if I have a Good/Decent/Low chance at the following schools:


BU
BC
MIT

Georgetown
Maryland
George Washington

UNC
Duke
Virginia
Texas

Michigan
Northwestern
Chicago

Thanks!!

Answer 1

Your GMATs are good enough for any school -- being about average at the very top schools.

Your GPA is a little low for the top schools. The good news here is that GPA isn't quite as important as it is in other disciplines and that a 3.2 in Mechanical Engineering is more impressive than a better GPA in, say, Sociology. If you have a story about your grades (like you started off with low grades and improved) be sure to address that in your essays. You don't mention where you went as an undergraduate. If you went to a good undergraduate school, then you have a better shot at making it into a top MBA program.

The top schools want about four years of work experience. You have two now -- but have another 1.5 years before you would start an MBA program -- so you should be in good shape there.

If you went to a good undergraduate school, can write good essays and interview well, then you should be able to get into several schools in the top 25. Getting into a top ten school is possible -- but difficult. You will probably be turned down by most top five schools. I can't stress the importance of writing good essays. Get someone who has gone to a good B-School to read them before you send them in.

BusinessWeek and US News both rank B-Schools. I've included the links below. You should apply to a couple schools that are a reach for you, a couple of schools that you should get into and at least one safety net school.

Of the schools you mention, I would rank them as follows:

Chicago
MIT
Northwestern
Duke
Michigan
UNC
Virginia
Maryland
Texas
Georgetown
BC
George Washington
BU

I wouldn't bother applying to the schools rated lower than UNC -- with one possible exception. Maryland's finance group is much better than the rest of their school. If you are interested infinance, you might want to consider them.

I've taught at MIT and Maryland (as well as Wharton). I have a degree from Duke (Fuqua) and Haas (Berkeley). I had classmates at Duke who had similar qualifications to yours.

Answer 2

BU - Good
BC - Good
MIT - Decent

Georgetown - Good
Maryland - Good
George Washington - Good

UNC - Good
Duke - Decent
Virginia - Good
Texas - Good

Michigan - Good
Northwestern - Decent
Chicago - Decent

Your test scores are good, and your grades are strong for someone in your field. It may seem that your grades may be a bit low for some of the top programs, but with ME as your major, I think you can consider them. You have about the right amount of work experience for most MBA programs. Depending on the rest of your applicaton, I think you'll do well.

I do think that you should definately apply to MIT's Master's in Manufacturing Mgmt program, at the Sloan School. Not only is it a highly respected program, but it's a good fit for your background. As I said, you may or may not get in, but you do stand a shot. Worth applying.

I also think you may want to consider Northwestern, which is on your list, as well as Harvard, which is not. Harvard gets a lot of companies recruiting there, looking for people with your background. Depending on the rest of your application, it may be a good fit for you. Will you get in? Actually, you might. If you're interested in California, also look at both Stanford and UCal Berkeley, for the same reasons. Also add Wharton to your list.

Consider Carnegie Mellon. Another possible good fit, and with their strong rep for technology, may be attracting the right sorts of recruiters.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Check this out!
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/eng/brief/engrank_brief.php