AnthonyV wrote:
First off, thanks so much for doing this! I've completed my profile and wanted an assessment of what schools I might fit in.
Education: 2.9 GPA at Ivy undergrad while an athlete and triple majoring. I was also a chemistry major for 2 years and this killed my GPA. I realize this is very low, so I've taken 3 advanced math courses online and have received an "A-" or an "A" in all of them.
GMAT: 750 (50Q/42V)
Work Experience: Started in I-Banking but moved to TFA. Promoted at TFA and achieved highest results with students at school. Also started a mentoring program for students that changed culture and created a data analytics program for teachers that increased student achievement by 21% on state standardized test. After TFA I joined one of top schools in my state and have continued to push my students to achieve highly. I've also been selected to a number of leadership roles at my current school, including a committee that reviews the district budget.
LOR: One strong and one very strong from current supervisors. However, their enthusiasm for me probably needs to be tempered with the fact that they have never written a business school LOR before.
Extra Curriculars: Heavily involved with education non-profit. Also a mentor with a refugee non-profit. Division 1 athlete as an undergrad. I interview prospective undergrads for my alma matter for admissions (last 3 years). I also am a part of a nationally ranked competitive trivia team (It sounds ridiculous, I know. But it is a thing!).
Demographics: 27 year old white male.
Post MBA Goals: Transition to consulting with EdTech as a backup option.
Stretch Schools: Tuck, Yale SOM, Kellogg, CBS, Sloan, Wharton
Target Schools: Ross, Fuqua
Safety Schools: McCombs, Tepper, Cornell
I'm just trying to get an idea of what my chances are at these schools or where I should apply. Any help would be much appreciated!
Well dude,
You have a strong and interesting profile, and thankfully at least a pretty darned good reason as to why your GPA is so low... The question is: Will it stick? IT's so much of an outlier, that it can be a problem, but given that you have also graduated Ivy League if you can tell the right story, I think you should be fine.
Your school list seems to me to be pretty reasonable. The only thing I would say is that since your GPA is a bit of a wildcard, if you want to apply to a lot of your "Stretch schools" (Which I think you should) I'd suggest you apply to more schools rather than less.... basically as many as you can.
Other than that, get your story right. I personally think that after TFA, you can sell an EdTech/Education Consulting story far better than your run of the mill consultancy goals, so you might want to think about how you can make the best of that.
Hope this helps!
Best,
close
16 Oct 2017, 09:02
