2.76 CGPA(Canada), 7 Years W.Exp, Writing GMAT in Jan, MBA Possible?

Question

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post here and I was just looking for some application guidance. My motivations for pursuing an MBA are to further my career goals, which is to work in finance (think analyst for asset management, trading, or hedge fund analyst if possible), and later on become an entrepreneur by running my own investment house. I also have a strong interest in a few other areas such as the business of sport, and the business of entertainment such as the movie industry. I am from the west coast of Canada, and some of these areas are essentially non-existant up here, except for a few big pension funds/brokerages for asset mangement. This is part of my motivation for seeking an MBA - to further enhance my professional credentials so that I can gain the skillset necessary to be successful in one/a combination of the above roles.

I am wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction for schools that I may have overlooked that will help me achieve my goals of working in asset management/hedge funds, trading, or the business of entertainement or sport. I am also a Canadian citizen and hoping to become an American citizen after my MBA, and I believe having an MBA can prove to be a key path to citizenship as I want to work in finance and did not attend a target school, but rather a small regional school in Canada.

Note I am aiming for a 740+ GMAT score to offset my GPA.

Dream MBA Schools:
The University of Chicago
Northwestern
UCLA
UT Austin
University of Washington
MIT

Potential Other Schools:
Carnegie Mellon
Yale
Columbia
NYU
Michigan
Berkeley

The Good News:
--> I still have 1.5 years left of study to improve upon my CGPA. Also, for UCLA I am aware that they only accept GPA from what is reported on the Bachelor's degree, and my low grade courses were taken outside of my bachelor's degree, and I've confirmed with admissions that any courses outside of the formal degree program would not be counted towards GPA. As a result, my "program GPA" ends up currently sitting at a 3.13, which I am hoping to also improve upon. 
--> Similiarly, I believe at the UT at Austin, they only accept grades from upper division courses. This means my GPA for UT Austin should also be a lot higher than 2.76 as long as I can perform well in remaining courses.
---> Same goes for University of Washington which places emphasis on most recent 60 credits (2 years) of study. 
---> UCLA I found out, will also consider my 7 years of work experience which was accumulated during my degree.

--->Also, I have not yet attempted or studied for the GMAT. However I am registered for it in January and I've registered for a Veritas prep course this September. I hope to be putting in 200+ hours to study for the GMAT as I feel it is a last academic beacon of hope to improve upon my academic credentials for the graduate business school admission.

---> I have 7.5 years of work experience, and it is mostly progressive in nature in terms of responsibility, though it is spread out among 2 different positions. One was I started working as an administrative assistant at a private holding company and worked my way up to investment analyst / relationship manager. I was responsible for portfolio management decisions over a small portfolio as well. I also have 2+ years as a real estate finance consultant, where I was responsible for training new hires and managing a the team's marketing budget at the firm. As well, I have an internship at a major Canadian research university in their education department.

---> A few extracurriculars, though nothing long term. Economics department tutor for a university for a year, youth basketball coach, and conducted an international graduate research presentation.

The Bad News:
---> My GPA at 2.76. Enough said. Anyone else know about other schools with favorable/non-standard GPA admissions policies (last 2 years, upper-division GPA, or "program GPA" within a bachelors only, etc.). I've heard rumours that Canadian grading scales are a bit tougher than in the US but I am not really sure about this as I haven't heard anything official. 
--->Although I feel my work experience is decent, I definitely feel it could be better, as I've switched jobs a few times. 
--->I will take a lot of time to study for the GMAT as my first blind practice test with no studying was really low. Though I havent studied math in over a decade, and my Quant score is low but my verbal is pretty good considering I haven't done any studying. 
--> I also have like 20 W's on my transcript. Don't really have a good excuse for this other than carelessness.
---> as I do not currently have a degree, I have no "post-graduate" work experience. Obviously this will disadvantage me for schools that have a hard work experience requirement and/or no early career admissions.

Obviously, there are a lot of reaches here, but I feel a slightly higher GPA of 2.9/3.0 and a high/highish GMAT score could put me in the running for some schools. And of course, I'm willing to get post-grad experience to open up more doors as well. Ultimately, I would also do another 2 years of study for a second bachelor's to get my GPA up as well (as I can gain admission to a target school for finance economics).

Are there any other considerations I am missing in this write-up? Am I doomed for a school like the University of Chicago? They honestly seem like the perfect fit for me in terms of my career goals, as well as my affinity for an academic culture (though you wouldn't notice it from my CGPA haha but I do love the academic world). If I can get a 740 GMAT score then could I gain acceptance to Chicago? I am really in love with Chicago's MBA program as I love economics and finance so obviously the school is a leader in both of those areas. However, the big state schools like UT Austin, UCLA, and University of Washington seem like a great fit for me as well personally. Lastly MIT is a top pick as their academic rigour/environment appeals to me in a similar way to University of Chicago. Also, what GMAT score would I need for Stanford or Harvard? I'd probably prefer Chicago or the state schools mentioned earlier, but I just thought I would pose this question.

Really hoping to get some advice from this wonderful forum! I'm looking to study a lot for the GMAT and my remaining courses but is there anything else that I should consider? Thank you!

Admissionado · Answer

IndependenceDay : Thanks for sharing all of this information with us. You are no doubt presenting a somewhat tricky situation. There seem to be a ton of unique circumstances that need to be managed throughout the application process. For someone with your background and GPA, I believe you need something like a 730+ to give yourself a shot at the top programs. A score between 700 and 730 would be solid, but may not be enough to get you over the hump for programs like Chicago Booth, MIT, etc. For the larger state schools, clearing the 700 bar will be very important and could end up mattering a lot more where the mean/median scores are generally lower. I am not entirely clear on your explanation for your current status, GPA, etc. It sounds a bit convoluted. I am glad you checked with UCLA about how they will count your work experience. Unfortunately, I think you are going to have to put in that leg work for the other programs on your list. It's not straightforward and you don't want to overestimate or underestimate your strengths going into the process. As for your jumping around, that could to be an issue. If it can be explained in a clear and cohesive manner, it's not a huge deal. In other words, if you can articulate why you went from job A to job B to job C, etc. in a convincing fashion and what you've learned from all those roles, you should be okay. In total honesty, I think you will have a very hard time with the top-top programs (Harvard, Stanford, etc.) and even the top programs (Booth, MIT, etc.) as candidates tend to have very little room for error. If Chicago is your dream program, you should throw in an application - you never know; however, I would make sure you focus more on the lower ranked schools on your list. You can also stretch this out over two rounds such that you make sure you are accepted to at least one of your choices in round one and then shoot for the moon in round two since you have that "safety net." We are happy to discuss further and walk you through how our consulting services can help you manage many of these matters in your upcoming application. Also, good luck on your GMAT! Please reach out when appropriate: https://admissionado.com/free-consultation/

2.76 CGPA(Canada), 7 Years W.Exp, Writing GMAT in Jan, MBA Possible?

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards