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darkric3
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Low GPA 2.5 please review my profile 07 Jul 2011, 16:25
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Hello,

Please review my profile and I'm open to any feedback. What are the chances, what will increase my chances of getting in these higher schools or should I just not even apply to UCLA and like schools because my stats aren't strong enough?

2.5 GPA
640 GMAT
B.S., Management from California State University of Northridge
3+ Years working exp. in a corporate environment

I'm looking to get into B-School in Southern California and here are the schools I'm thinking about applying to:

University of Southern California (Marshall)
University of California - Berkeley (Haas)
University of California - Irvine (Merage)
University of California – Riverside (Anderson)
University of California - Los Angeles (Anderson)
Loyola Marymount University
Pepperdine University (Graziadio)
California State University - Northridge
California State University - Long Beach
California State Polytechnic University – Pomona
California State University – San Bernardino
California State University - Fullerton
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bakfed
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Low GPA 2.5 please review my profile 07 Jul 2011, 20:51
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In short, for the following schools - Berkeley Haas, UCLA Anderson, USC Marshall - you'll have a hard time gaining admission. Your GPA and GMAT will be a huge roadblock for you. For the other schools, simply look at their admission statistics and see where you fall on their spectrum. I'm going to assume that your GPA will be below all of their average, so you'll need to compensate it with a higher GMAT score.
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nphelan
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Status:Writing my first GMAT on MArch 28/2012
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Low GPA 2.5 please review my profile 07 Jul 2011, 20:56
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This very much so addresses my issue as well, maybe you can make sense of it for me bakfed. How high of a GMAT score would be good enough to make up for a lower GPA?
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darkric3
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Low GPA 2.5 please review my profile 07 Jul 2011, 21:15
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Thanks bakfed. I agree with you. To increase my chances at any of these schools I would first need to concentrate on my GMAT scores and bring it at least closer to 700. I'm wondering if I shouldn't put my focus on all those top-tier schools at all and just try my best for those other schools.

Nphelan - What are your stats and where are you planning to apply to if you don't mind sharing. I'm just curious as we seem to be on the same boat.
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bakfed
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Low GPA 2.5 please review my profile 07 Jul 2011, 22:23
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To know how high of a GMAT score is like asking to know what the lottery numbers are going to be. There are simply way too many variables in the application (22 or so variables) that will, can, and may play a role in your final decision. To name a few, certainly GMAT and GPA play a crucial role. But what's also important is your work experience, the quality of work, the name of your work, the responsibilities you've gained and the actionable items you've achieved, the extracurricular activities that you've shown, led, and initiated, the essays that you're going to write to discuss your goals and other subjects, your letter of recommendations....

With all that said, it's hard to say what will counter a 2.5 GPA. My suggestion to you is that if your dream is to achieve a certain rank of school (such as UCLA Anderson range [I consider Haas to be a bit higher in ranking]), look at the averages and see where your statistics lie. And of course, at the end of the day, your chances of admission if you don't apply is zero. So I would still apply if it's your dream. To answer your question with EVERYTHING in mind, a 720+ on GMAT would be a good target for Haas, Anderson, and perhaps even Marshall.
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nphelan
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GMAT Date: 03-28-2012
GPA: 2.8
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Low GPA 2.5 please review my profile 08 Jul 2011, 06:08
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awesome response bakfed, thanks! Darkric3 my stats currently sit at 2.75 GPA, and I haven't written my GMAT, right now it's all study process but my GMAT test date is scheduled for the fall, so i'm just trying to set an attainable yet sufficient goal. Currently i'm looking at applying to schools such as Ivey (Western), Rotman (University of Toronto) and Schulich (York). If you can't tell i'm Canadian. each of these schools are the best offered in Canada and are ranked worldwide anywhere from 10-50, so pretty well top 35 in the US depending on which magazine is ranking them at that particular time. So hopefully that helps as comparison for the schools that you're applying too.