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cozuysal94
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Low GPA Business Schools Advice Updated on: 06 Feb 2019, 08:56
Originally posted by cozuysal94 on 06 Feb 2019, 00:44.
Last edited by cozuysal94 on 06 Feb 2019, 08:56, edited 1 time in total.
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Hi everyone!

I graduated with high 2:2(3.0-3.2 gpa) from non-target UK university, I worked in the best boutique investment bank in Turkey for a 1 year and then I joined a VC backed bigdata startup in San Francisco as a managing partner.

Ethnicity: Turkish
Age: 25
Work experience: 1 year in IB 1 year in startup
Undergraduate background: Business studies from non-target UK university 2:2(3.0-3.2 according to Fullbright)
GMAT: 750

Next year I am planning to apply Insead,HEC,Bocconi,Imperial

Would startup experience look bad for adcom?

I would be glad if you guys could give me some tips to strengthen my profile
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Low GPA Business Schools Advice Updated on: 07 Feb 2019, 00:23
Originally posted by MBAPrepCoach on 06 Feb 2019, 00:55.
Last edited by MBAPrepCoach on 07 Feb 2019, 00:23, edited 1 time in total.
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I'm not actually very concerned about your grades, because you have an excellent GMAT. I'm going on the assumption that your Quant is strong. As long as that is intact they will not have any concerns about you being able to perform in the classroom.

However I am concerned about your work experience, not so much the quality but the quantity. European schools are far more keen on seasoned applicants, they're actually a lot more flexible on the GMAT but like seasoned applicants almost kind of like an emba concept where they feel that they are shopping other applicants work experience to their colleagues.

So I would really do your best to articulate impact in your applications make sure that you have a way to quantify everything you do, impact is the mantra for you.

INSEAD does allow 20% of the class in with two years of work experience but their criteria is that you must show impact. Average age there is 29; the average age of at HEC is 30. All that said both could be interested in winning your diversity (Turkish) and also your GMAT. This might overwhelm the job experience quotient.

Still, I would encourage you to really think about how you have moved the needle. I'm honestly a little confused about why you're going for European schools, given that you're probably going to be able to get into a pretty good school that would have a good name in Europe .. it's a little easier to transport top US schools to Europe than vice versa. HEC, SDA, are you going for luxury or something?

You could always do a semester abroad, given that you have a good GMAT score and lower work experience a u.s. school actually would be a slightly better fit. You might look into something like Wharton Lauder if you want an international MBA experience.

Given that you have a decent level of contribution and interesting narrative I would really encourage you to look at top 10 and maybe even top 5 in US. I love Europe I loved studying there and I have good many things to say about it but for you, 2 yrs, they're probably going to try to get you to do an MIM. This is what happened to me when I tried to help a candidate with two years of experience get into LBS. He didn't get in there but is at Wharton now.

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Low GPA Business Schools Advice 06 Feb 2019, 14:24
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Thank you for this info. It helps me too!
MBAPrepCoach
I'm not actually very concerned about your grades, because you have an excellent GMAT. I'm going on the assumption that your Quant is strong. As long as that is intact they will not have any concerns about you being able to perform in the classroom.

However I am concerned about your work experience, not so much the quality but the quantity. European schools are far more keen on seasoned applicants, they're actually a lot more flexible on the GMAT but like seasoned applicants almost kind of like an emba concept where they feel that they are shopping other applicants work experience to their colleagues.

So I would really do your best to articulate impact in your applications make sure that you have a way to quantify everything you do, impact is the mantra for you.

INSEAD does allow 20% of the class in with two years of work experience but their criteria is that you must show impact. Average age there is 29; the average age of at HEC is 30. All that said both could be interested in winning your diversity (Turkish) and also your GMAT. This might overwhelm the job experience quotient.

Still, I would encourage you to really think about how you have moved the needle. I'm honestly a little confused about why you're going for European schools, given that you're probably going to be able to get into a pretty good school that would have a good name in Europe .. it's a little easier to transport top US schools to Europe than vice versa. HEC, SDA, are you going for luxury or something?

You could always do a semester abroad, given that you have a good GMAT score and lower work experience a u.s. school actually would be a slightly better fit. You might look into something like Wharton Lauder if you want an international MBA experience.

Given that you have a decent level of contribution and interesting narrative I would really encourage you to look at top 10 and maybe even top 5 in US. I love Europe I loved studying there and I have good many things to say about it but for you, 2 yrs, they're probably going to try to get you to do an MIM. This is what happened to me when I tried to help a candidate with two years of experience get into LBS. You didn't get in there but he is at Wharton now.

https://mbaprepcoach.com
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Low GPA Business Schools Advice 07 Feb 2019, 00:24
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MBAPrepCoach

Thanks a lot for taking your time to write. I actually want to go to a US school but I honestly didn't think that my profile would be good enough to apply. Considering that I have a low GPA from a non-target UK university. I heard that EU business schools are more forgiving to applicants with low GPA so that's why I wanted to go for European business schools. I am planning to work 1 one more year in the startup and hopefully, we can make an exit. As I said my post-MBA goal is to be a Venture Capitalist or Bulge Bracket investment banks. Which schools would recommend me to apply?
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Low GPA Business Schools Advice 07 Feb 2019, 00:32
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Thanks, glad to hear that.
You've got quite a school list there Asad, are you serious about applying to all those?
AsadAbu
Thank you for this info. It helps me too!
MBAPrepCoach
I'm not actually very concerned about your grades, because you have an excellent GMAT. I'm going on the assumption that your Quant is strong. As long as that is intact they will not have any concerns about you being able to perform in the classroom.

However I am concerned about your work experience, not so much the quality but the quantity. European schools are far more keen on seasoned applicants, they're actually a lot more flexible on the GMAT but like seasoned applicants almost kind of like an emba concept where they feel that they are shopping other applicants work experience to their colleagues.

So I would really do your best to articulate impact in your applications make sure that you have a way to quantify everything you do, impact is the mantra for you.

INSEAD does allow 20% of the class in with two years of work experience but their criteria is that you must show impact. Average age there is 29; the average age of at HEC is 30. All that said both could be interested in winning your diversity (Turkish) and also your GMAT. This might overwhelm the job experience quotient.

Still, I would encourage you to really think about how you have moved the needle. I'm honestly a little confused about why you're going for European schools, given that you're probably going to be able to get into a pretty good school that would have a good name in Europe .. it's a little easier to transport top US schools to Europe than vice versa. HEC, SDA, are you going for luxury or something?

You could always do a semester abroad, given that you have a good GMAT score and lower work experience a u.s. school actually would be a slightly better fit. You might look into something like Wharton Lauder if you want an international MBA experience.

Given that you have a decent level of contribution and interesting narrative I would really encourage you to look at top 10 and maybe even top 5 in US. I love Europe I loved studying there and I have good many things to say about it but for you, 2 yrs, they're probably going to try to get you to do an MIM. This is what happened to me when I tried to help a candidate with two years of experience get into LBS. You didn't get in there but he is at Wharton now.

https://mbaprepcoach.com
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Low GPA Business Schools Advice 07 Feb 2019, 01:16
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Hi cozuysal94

so glad I took the time to write because despite your profile, there is a chance you might have struck out at the schools you listed because they would not be able to help with your goals. If you go for INSEAD you must apply January batch because intership; HEC is OK for IB but really you need to do a summer internship to start as an Associate.

I'm going to answer this more for BB IB than VC so know that. Where did you hear that about European schools being more lenient re: grades? I don't know if I agree. No matter where, 3.0-3.2 is not going to stop you if you get some leadership on the board (definitely do community/volunteering/board activities!)

For US schools if you have a high GMAT they will forgive your bad grades to some degree, I would say that you need something over 3.0 to be on the safe side and It also works if you have like a 2.5 To a 3.0 if your GMAT is particularly high relative to the average for that school. In the optional essay you should give them a good reason for them to believe that you're going to perform better in graduate school. For investment banking the top 5 schools are going to be great for that: HBS, GSB, Wharton, Booth. So you might pick 2 from that “band.” And then there is Yale, CBS, Ross, NYU and Darden, pick 2+ or so from this band.

Obvs NYU is a good target because Wall Street but there are offsetting entries for that school IMO, you should be very certain about IB there whereas Ross has strengths in many areas

That said I am an EVANGELIST when it comes to having your plans sorted with a career coach and informational interviews before getting to b-school where you could likely become overwhelmed with career shiz, waste your time and end up spending $200K to maybe or maybe not get a job. Plus, there is no time to "explore" anyways because the internship search is getting earlier and earlier.

I know for a fact Cornell looks the other way when it comes to grades, if you have a strong GMAT, so put that on the list as your safety school. Great for IB as well. Really nice how the 2nd years with return offers mentor the first years. If you want backups for the backup there is Georgetown and USC.

Check out this podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L634uXdYdTE

Good luck with getting bought~! Enjoy Bay Area weather because you are most likely to be somewhere cold for b-school :) Reach out if you like.

cozuysal94
MBAPrepCoach

Thanks a lot for taking your time to write. I actually want to go to a US school but I honestly didn't think that my profile would be good enough to apply. Considering that I have a low GPA from a non-target UK university. I heard that EU business schools are more forgiving to applicants with low GPA so that's why I wanted to go for European business schools. I am planning to work 1 one more year in the startup and hopefully, we can make an exit. As I said my post-MBA goal is to be a Venture Capitalist or Bulge Bracket investment banks. Which schools would recommend me to apply?
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