Profile Review Request

Question

Debating whether to do a full time program or keep my job and pursue a part-time MBA. What should I focus on in my essays? I know my GPA is pretty bad, but I was heavily involved in extra-curriculars. Would this be a viable explanation for a low GPA? Can my GRE score overcome my low GPA?

Thanks!

Mechanical Engineering, UC Berkeley
White Male, 27
GRE: 169 Q (97 percentile), 164 V (94 percentile), 5.0 Writing (93 percentile). Translates to a 760 GMAT.
Undergrad GPA: 2.79

Work experience: 4 years total (2 in leadership development program in operations. Then 2 years in an Engineering role with significant leadership experience)

Extra curriculars:

Undergrad:
- Research on fluid mechanics of stroke patients
- Volunteer at organization that brought in doctors, dentists, and legal help for the homeless population (Suitcase Clinic)
- Habitat for Humanity
- Engineering World Health
- Fraternity

Post-Grad
- Board member for One-on-one cancer non-profit
- Improv
- Mountain biking
- Kickball

Goal of MBA: Go into Operations Management and eventually become VP of Operations at large biotech company

Insane reaches: Harvard, Wharton, Booth
Reaches: Sloan, Kellogg, Haas, Tuck, Yale
Targets: Cornell
Safety: UCLA (Part-time)

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

Thanks for sharing your profile. Your GPA obviously is your red flag but given you went to Cal and had a challenging major and a great GRE things could be worse for you. These things should help minimize some of the damage of your GPA. As far as essays go, it is first about answering the question, and then doing it in a way that is interesting and highlights your interpersonal skills and how you have made an impact. I usually suggest starting out drafting 3-5 mini-stories, they are designed to be independent of the essay questions asked by schools and more-so select stories that you choose to reflect the 4 dimensions of Leadership, Innovation, Teamwork and Maturity emphasized by many MBA programs that we will later apply to the specific essay questions asked from each school. The focus is on highlighting your strongest and most in-depth personal, professional, and extra-curricular life experiences.
 
aim for 3-5 mini-stories covering a diverse set of experiences. With each story include a short description and then some supporting bullets describing some of the players involved and why the situation was transformative to you especially the impact and what you learned from the experience.
 
The best essays combine multiple personal elements, and touch on different characteristics and skills developed. For the sake of this exercise briefly summarize how the main takeaways/characteristics are represented in the story. This will help you get the juices flowing for your essays

engineermba1620 · Answer

Awesome! Thanks so much for the advice. I've also found that the best way to get started on the essay writing is simply, by writing them. I think one of my essays was 2,000 words long, full of intricate details and grammatical errors. While the details helped me come up with themes, I eventually chose 2 themes and worked the essay down to 500 words. Just some advice for anyone struggling with the essays.

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