cacheque wrote:
Hello Linda,
I am a 23 years old, turkish computer engineer. my post may be a little long so I appreciate your patience.
Gpa:2.5 (freshman and senior year both over 3 senior year gpa being 3.2, and one of the turkey's best schools where the system is different and the grades arent handed out like american colleges)
my gpa is low because I worked part time in my sophopmore and junior years, in an subsidiary of an MNC.
gmat 740 however awa 4.5. toefl 277
there will be only 1 year ft work ex. by the time i wil be enrolled but in our family firm which is a seriously developing energy firm which i am already a partner and one of the prospective ceos and I think i will have good lors from there and the company that I worked for part-time.
one additional major drawback would be I am aplying to the march deadlines.
I have many academic accomplishments and some in the states when i was an exchange student in the high school.
Now , can you please evaluate my chances for the schools on the list below. Its a long list from which I need to pick out my schools asap. I really value your comments so please do tell in which schools below i do have a chance and I should apply for. I consider applying to more than 7-8.
1.yale
2.columbia
3.nyu
4.cornell
5.cmu
6.georgetown
7.purdue
8.boston uni
9.mcgill
10.vanderbilt
10.concordia
11.gwu
LSE Management, imperial college UK
and I really want duke, hbs, or stanford because I heard they think well of younger applicants but I dont think I have a slighter chance on those. But I may change my mind after I hear from you.
Thanks a lot in advance. I am looking forward to your answer.
Cacheque,
I'm answering for Linda. You have a lot going for you, including your GMAT, your Turkish background (unusual), and your early leadership experiences with the family firm. I don't think your GPA will be a large issue for the reasons you stated but also because of the GMAT. I believe you can be optimistic about admission at schools like GWU, Georgetown, Purdue, Boston U, McGill, Vanderbilt, Concordia, and perhaps CMU. Things get a bit chancier for the other schools, especially CBS and NYU.
Is it critical for you to be starting an MBA program this fall? If you can wait, I would recommend doing so, because I think you can aim a bit higher, perhaps Duke and above. I don't know enough about your profile (community involvements? post-MBA goals?) to give you a firm evaluation for the top schools, but my sense is that you could be a strong and distinctive applicant and could have a chance at them, especially if you give yourself more time to strengthen your profile. What's your hurry (why the push for the March deadline)?