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Schools: HBS - Class of 2005
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Joined: 30 Nov 2009
Last visit: 26 May 2024
Posts: 9,229
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 69
Location: Chicago, IL
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Schools: HBS - Class of 2005
Posts: 9,229
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Scabe
JonAdmissionado
Scabe
Hello! I am a 24 y/o white male looking to apply to some top programs. My main concern is overcoming my GPA and how that might affect what schools I should realistically be applying to
Some stats:
GPA: 2.9
GMAT: 740 (48Q/42V/8IR)
University: Chemical Engineering at a top 15 University

Work Experience: 2 years of work experience at a national coffee manufacturing company at the time of applying: 1 year was a 'Leadership Rotational Program' in which I worked in several different departments and learned the business. Year 2 (and 3 before starting B school) is working in the analytics group at headquarters, basically building the group from the ground up with a few others.

College extra-curriculars: Rowing on the crew team, president of residential college, leadership ambassador at the center for leadership

Current volunteering: spent 3 months volunteering with an afterschool program to get kids interested in STEM (science experiments and things), frequent time spent volunteering cleaning up the environment (river restoration, trail clearing etc.)

I am considering McCombs (top choice, both parents did undergrad. Dad did McCombs) Jones, Anderson and Booth as reaches

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hey there good sir!
Good to hear from you.
Well, although you do have a poor GPA, you did do the next best thing - kick ass on your GMAT. So that should be a first thing to balance your profile out.

Your work experience seems pretty good, but unless I understand how many people you lead, what you actually do, and how big the company is, it will be hard to evaluate things.

Anyhow, all things considered, I could roughly say that you should be quite competitive at both McCombs and Jones, have a shot at Anderson, and Booth, well it's quite a long shot, but why not? :)

Other than that I would be curious to hear your criteria for selecting your MBAs, as I may have a few more suggestions. so feel free to write me back about that, and also elaborate upon your goals,

All the best,
JF

Thank you for the reply!
My main criteria are fit, curriculum, and location (...and of course prestige). For example, I ideally would like somewhere with strong coursework in analytics and the opportunity to do projects with companies.

My goal is to get into brand management (although lately I have been considering consulting). I enjoy working in consumer goods and would like to use my data background to help me with a data-driven, strategic approach.

To elaborate a bit on my work experience: the company has about 6500 employees with $4b in annual revenue. The rotational program was working through departments at a manufacturing site to give a floor level experience while grooming the participants to be future leaders in the company. I only supervised ~15 employees for about a month as part of that program.


Hey,
Well honestly, things look pretty good. You do have that pesky GPA, and if you have a good story to explain that it may also help.
Overall, I think the "M7" schools (or Tier I) will be challenges for you (although do apply to Kellogg for the marketing program), and Tier II is where it's at (rankings 5-20 approximately, as per US News and World report rankings)

Otherwise, apply to the two Texan schools + Kellogg as your 'dream school' + whatever else makes sense for you in that range, and with good essays, you should be fine.

Best,
JF