Chance for MBA admission

It depends. Your company does not necessarily have to be PROFITABLE (although if it is that will be a differentiator for sure - most start ups fail, and most are not profitable. If yours is, that will get the adcom's attention for sure), but ideally it will at least have a track record of success/impact. What matters most though is your role & the impact YOU'VE had at the company. When you've started your own company most likely the adcom will not have heard of it (if they had you probably wouldn't need the MBA), which means you need to PROVE to them that the work you've done is significant & meaningful & has given you a strong foundation in business that will allow you to uniquely contribute to their school. It's not that hard/unique to start a company. (As you know, most of them fail). It is unique to start a successful company & to have had big impact via that company. In other words, there's a huge difference between having stared a company that has 5 customers and a few thousand dollars in revenue vs. a company that has hundreds of customers or $1MM+ in revenue. The more impact you can show that you've had via your company the better. If your company is small or has not had much impact that's not to say there's no way you'll get into a top school - you'll still have gained valuable skills - but you'll need to be sure to show the impact you HAVE had in other parts of your career since ultimately the adcom does want to see results. Time is an important factor as well here - ideally you've got at least 2 years of experience at this company so that you've had time to show meaningful results. They won't be impressed just with the act of starting something. They want to see what you've accomplished there.

To answer your question, it's not inherently better to have worked at a place like Microsoft. Yes, Microsoft is a known company with a good reputation so that helps, but again, what matters is the impact you've had and the career progression you've shown. So if you've driven meaningful quantifiable results at Microsoft and have a promotion or two under your belt in the span of say 3-4 years, awesome. Ideally they want to see you driving increases in revenue, leading initiatives that reduced costs, managing teams, etc. If you've worked at the same job in Microsoft for 3 years and have little to show for it in terms of results then it's going to be tough to get into a top school. The brand name isn't going to save you.

Let me know if that answers your questions!

Thank you so much for this clarification.

Hello Jon,

Thank you so much for the great reply. It is not a high-tech business, but it is an automobile dealership with an overall sales revenue of $20 Million. I co-founded the business with other investors and served as the marketing director of the business. I supervised around 200 sales agents all over the U.S. college campuses and also did some marketing and advertising jobs for my company. I hope the only reason that they might reject me is that I used to drop out of my first university many years ago (had a 1.55 gpa in biomedical engineering).

SC

The fact that it's not a tech company can actually be a plus in terms of differentiating yourself, and it sounds like you gained some great leadership experience there. If you can directly show the ways in which your actions helped drive that $20MM that would be awesome. The initial GPA problems will be a challenge to overcome but you can point to your stronger GPA in later years of school as well as your work experience as better indicators of your ability. If you think there's any chance some additional studying will allow you to increase your GMAT that will also help outweigh that initial GPA. Some strong LORs will help as well & if they can point to your quant/analytical abilities all the better. Hope that helps & good luck to you!

Is there a safe GMAT score that offsets the low GPA I got in my first university eight years ago? I know I won't get anything near 720, but a 680 with a perfect quant score is certainly possible.

Hello,
I was wondering if you could give me advice on what my chances are at several programs.

28 year old Caucasian male
3.65 GPA in chemistry from the University of Missouri-Columbia
3.55 GPA from a master in organic chemistry from Boston College
4 years as a synthetic organic chemist in pharma/biotech drug discover (medicinal chemistry) (2.5 years at a large pharma/just over 1 year at the biggest independent biotech
680 GMAT (taken one time last month and will take again at the end of May)
My top two choices are Tuck and Darden but will also look to apply to Duke, Stern, and Cornell/Johnson

Posted from my mobile device

Stevenchen1991, a 680 with a near perfect quant score would help outweigh that GPA for sure!

johnsoyp, it's hard to say for sure until we know your final GMAT score. In general you want to hit and ideally exceed a school's average. In your case, since you're coming from a non-traditional, non-business background, ideally you're going to want to exceed the average to convince them that you're up for the rigors of b-school. It will likely be trickier for you to demonstrate business skills via your work experience just given the fact that you're a chemist, so they will be placing more weight on the GMAT as a result. If you want a strong shot at these schools, I'd target a 720 minimum, and 740+ would be even better. I'm assuming your post-MBA goals have something to do with biotech/pharma. Ideally, you'll want to position this non-traditional background as an advantage in your post-MBA goals.

Hello Jon,

Last week, I retook a GRE exam and received a 333 out of 340, with a near-perfect quant score and surprisingly high verbal score. It looks like a score around 333-335 is good for Sloan or HBS, but I know I will not stand a chance in these schools due to previous academic probation and dismissal at the age of 17, which was caused by a very low GPA (I went to my first university around the age of 15, got a 2.9 in the first year and 0.4 in the second year).

I am wondering do I stand a chance if I apply for Kellogg's part-time MBA program or Georgetown's online/professional MBA program during the first round?

Thank you so much!

Congrats on the GRE! Yes, I think you do have a good shot at those schools. Part-time programs are much easier to get into than their full time equivalents. I'd give it a shot & use the optional essay to explain what happened with your probation & why your work experience is a better indicator of your potential than that time in school. Good luck to you!