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Joined: 28 Jul 2009
Status:Darden Class of 2013
Posts: 1768
Schools:University of Virginia
Re: 770 GMAT, 2.5 GPA... What to do? (now in the proper format)
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27 Oct 2010, 16:37
Hi 77, no matter where you end up in business school, EVERY SCHOOL will look at your gpa with a concern. That's a natural instinct though. However, that's not saying that you will not be able to make it to a top b-school. The Wharton student who answers the online forum at Wharton's website got in with a 2.6 (I believe that's what he said). It's do-able, but it just takes work. You'll need to convince AdComs that you're not the same person you were in college, in which case an alternative trasnscript sounds like a fantastic idea now. I don't think there's going to be any easy way to "sneak" into any top b-school program, since most, if not all, business schools treat joint programs differently. To be honest with you though, with no real WE under your belt, it's going to be very hard for you to gain entrance to top b-schools. Both Stanford and Harvard are geared toward younger applicants, but they're both extremely numbers-oriented and care a lot about undergrad grades. Every other b-schools have an average WE of 4-5 years. I'm also not seeing exactly why you need an MBA at this very moment, as you mentioned that you'll do corporate legal stuff in the short term (which doesn't really involve the necessity of an MBA). This is going to put up a red flag in the eyes of an b-school AdCom. If I were you, I'd finish my law degree (or completely drop it and go for MBA), work for a few years if you do finish your J.D., then consider applying to one of the top schools in the nation. Otherwise, I'd say right now you're facing an extremely steep hill to climb.