Profiles - Admitted to Top B-Schools w/ Low GMAT or Low GPA

Shaselai,

I got into Tuck with a low GPA and GMAT. You can read the post on page 6.

-Via

thanks

I know someone from taiwan with a 2.1 undergraduate grade in mechanical engineering that got accepted to babson and thunderbird, and babson offered him a $20,000 scholarship for the first year of the program, was even waitlisted by SMU, didnt know if he was admitted afterwards
only one school that rejected him was UConn, but that was not the case since UConn could reject anyone with even higher scores or gpa's than that.
his gmat score was 690, and he has 3.5 years of work experience.
hope this cheers you guys up!

Hi all,

GPA: 2.6 (International. If my school were in the US, it would be equal to CMU). Increasing trend from 2.2 to 2.6 to 2.9 in final year.
Major: Electrical engineering. Class of 2009
GMAT: 660. (Planning to retake, obviously. Aiming for 730+)
I am planning to apply in the fall of next year.

Workex: F500 firm in engineering role. If you go to 2012 Olympics and take the subway to get to venues, there is a very good chance you will be travelling in a system designed by yours truly. If you plan to take subway to Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb, I would have played a small but very important role in getting you there safely.Similar story for a few other cities.

Short term goals: Consulting/Banking. My goals are quite specific down to the company and position I wish to be in (for both consulting and banking).

Target schools:
Geographic preference: Northeast/Michigan/Illinois
Target schools: Ross, Tuck, Booth (I love free markets and would be very happy if I were taught by profs from the Chicago School of Economics).

Kellogg was on the list, but I went to an info session and suddenly I am not so sure about it. It seemed a bit...meh. Undecided. But since they grant interviews I will probably apply.

What is on my list is Stern. I went to the info session just to practice my networking skills, but I loved the energy and enthusiasm of alumni. Earlier I thought it was too finance focused but apparently not.

Hail Mary: Harvard/Wharton. Harvard just because in the "3 best accomplishment essays" I can say I designed a system used by 200M people annually. And the system works. I know Harvard couldn't care less about what I did given my GPA, but what the heck. I would rather have Harvard reject me than me rejecting myself.
Others: Ivey/Rotman

That's my story.

gijoedude, I hope you'll come back after your application process and update your post with how things went! I'm always interested to read what candidates think about which components of their application helped them overcome their perceived deficiencies. What was your strategy? Did it pay off, or did something else seem to do the trick? Did you get confirmed feedback? What didn't come off well?

Good luck mate!

3.2 Ivy (econ). Worked 15-20 hrs/ week to pay for education
730 GMAT (50 Q, 38 V), 6.0 AWA
Applied to CBS ED August 23rd, Admitted September 21st.

Good luck guys. It can happen

^^^ Congrats but that is not low and its an Ivy.
Every single person in this thread would trade GPA's with you, me included

-

"low" GPA is relative as well? a 2.9 econ major from Harvard is probably better off than a 3.2 history major from xyz community college?

no offense to anyone but a 2.9 at Harvard is probably not a good sign since Ivy League schools' GPAs are so inflated...(or I'm just bitter )

Thanks method! Best of luck for your apps too!

AA5786? So how is your MBA pursuit going? Were you able to get into Chicago Booth?

bakfed, I agree GPAs from ivy leagues are inflated. Where I went to school (University of Toronto) we had C/C- as class averages in the vast majority of courses in my program. There are also a couple of D's as average grades for the class on my transcript.

https://tv.nationalreview.com/uncommonkn ... OTk0NzU%3D

Hi,

I gave my GMAT last week and was so disappointed with my awful score of 630, that I gave up all my hopes on applying to B schools.
However, as I took a look into this forum, I can vaguely see a thin ray of hope!
GMAT: 630 (how did it happen )
GPA: 7.13/10 from a prestigious Indian school.( Do not know the actual conversion process, but comes out low nevertheless on a scale of 4.0 )
WE: 2 years in one of the top Business Software firm
Extracurricular activities: have some of them to my credit, nothing breathtaking.

So, with an average profile like this, the only thing I was hoping on was a Great GMAT score(730+), but landed 100 points down.
After the GMAT, i gave up all my hopes and dint even appear for my TOEFL.
I was planning to apply for schools ranked between 30-50. Do you think I still have chances if i apply now(round 2).
Please don't mind in being blunt, I can take it!

Thanks...

30-50? I think you still have a very good chance. Write from the heart and don't let a single score define you.

Thanks for your story, it is really inspiring to read

Thanks 'Method'.
Yes...around 30-50.
I was aiming at:
1) UC Irvine( Merage): rank 36
2) UC Davis: rank 42
3) ASU(WP Carey): rank 27
4) UC San Deigo (unranked? )
5) USC Marshall( don't think I'll apply now).

However, mean scores of all the above schools are between 670-690. So, I was a bit apprehensive in applying.
Further I belong to Indian/Female/IT category which is quite overrepresented.
What do you suggest? Shall I still go ahead and apply?