Hi mbaapply23,
Thanks for posting. You have a very strong candidacy. I hope the below address all of your questions. Please let me know if I miss anything or if I can follow up on any points.
Your GPA is lower than the averages of the schools you are applying to; this article regarding another candidate with a low GPA may be of help:
http://www.stacyblackman.com/comprehens ... ies/case5/For recommendations, a lot of entrepreneurs worry about this area of their application. We wrote a case study about this here:
http://www.stacyblackman.com/2011/05/19 ... r-dilemma/For whether you should include safety schools, it depends if you are determined to attend business school in the upcoming year. If you are, you should include safety schools, however if you are comfortable waiting an additional year just in case, you won't need to.
You are a competitive candidate. Right now you need to work on crafting your essays to express your leadership experience and how you can contribute to an incoming MBA class. The essays are much more critical than most applicants believe.
I hope this was of help.
Cheers,
Conrad and the
Stacy Blackman Team
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