Hey guys, not sure if any other ladies made it to the Forte Foundation forum in NYC last night, but I thought I'd share what I heard. I attended a panel and spoke one-on-one with a few Admissions Directors and here is a list of random items that came up (source: Admissions Directors or Assistant Admissions Directors at various schools):
- Low GPA friends: if you attended an institution outside of the US, your GPA is not included in the school average and thus it won't have an impact on rankings. Very simple and very profound (to me anyway). I went to school outside of the US and have been stressing out about my GPA for quite a while (as GoBruins and many others know
), and this made me feel so much better. I know a lot of the low GPA people on this forum are from the US, but for those who aren't, I hope this helps put things into perspective for you. Of course you have to prove quantitative ability regardless, but your low GPA is going to be viewed somewhat differently.
- Darden: strictly prefers recommendations from current and past supervisors. If you're unable to provide a recommendation from a past supervisor, it is essential that your current supervisor write one for you even if you have been on the job for less than a year. If one of your recommendations is not from a supervisor, they will expect you to explain why briefly in the optional essay. Keep it succint and if you have more than one issue to address, use bullet points.
- Tepper: as you might expect the quantitative courses on your transcript are going to be scrutinized. Two courses are a must: calculus and statistics. If you haven't taken these or have anything less than a B (preferably an A), strongly consider retaking. GMAT mitigating a low GPA: For a GPA of around 2.0, women would need about 710-720+ to make up for the low GPA. There are obviously a lot of factors that come into play, so use this as a very rough guideline. If your GMAT is lower, consider retaking, but do not take more than three times.
- UNC: I was told I quote: "women usually don't do as well on the GMAT and we don't expect them to", so ladies, take that for what it's worth. While not terribly surprising, I've never heard anyone come out and flat out say that before.
- Ross: low GPA people, make sure the quant portion of your GMAT is 80+ percentile at the minimum. If not, consider retaking, they will only take your highest score.
Quality of work experience trumps quantity. Having a Plan B for your career is also a good idea, but not essential as long as you have a good story and convey it well.
One of the panels (sorry don't remember who said this, it was an Assistant Admissions Director at a top 20 in the US though): every year Admissions officers are somewhat puzzled that there are applicants who know exactly what firm they want to work for and in exactly what capacity. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, they recognize that that does not work for everyone. While it is essential that you have a clear career goal in mind, it is not necessary to cite specific firms. Either way, this is not going to be held against you. Just make sure that you tell them where you've been, where you want to go and how THEIR program in particular will help you get there.
Hope this is helpful.