Best way to build alternative transcript

Question

Hi,

I am brand new to this forum and am starting the very long process of applying to MBA programs. The huge red flag in my applications will be my undergrad GPA (3.2). What is worse, is that I think I have almost straight C's in all of my quantitative classes in college. I would like to invest in taking a few classes (calculus, finance, etc.) to offset my undergrad GPA and am not sure what type of program will look the best on my applications.

I was thinking that in-person classes from a top school would be the best. I am currently in NYC so I was thinking Columbia or NYU. However, would local classes at a community college carry the same amount of weight?

I was also considering online classes from a reputable school (I was looking at Harvard online courses), would that carry the same amount of weight? What are the most reputable online classes?

I have a 3.2 GPA from a ivy-league school in a business-related major, and am aiming for a 720 GMAT score. I would be applying for MBA programs fall 2019 or fall 2020. I am aiming for a top 20 MBA school but I would love to go to a top 10 school and have my heart set on one in the top 5 (I know it's a long shot but I'm hoping there is a way).

Any advice would be extremely appreciated, thank you so much!

ThadGA08 · Answer

Hey  Angelfish  this might be already what you're thinking, but I think your primary focus should be crushing it on the GMAT and only once that is out of the way (or once you have some strong practice scores in hand and you're really really confident on your ability and time to do both) should you focus on the alternative transcript. Just a rising MBA1, but the advice from admissions consultants on this forum has seemed to be that a high GMAT score is always the best thing to outweigh a lower GPA. With your goal of Top 5/10 I would try to shoot for higher than a 720 since a lot of averages at those schools are around that/above that and you have the lower GPA counting against you. That's not to say you might not have something else in your profile that will earn you an admit, but if you're wanting to give yourself the best shot you'll likely want to be aiming higher. Also I'd do some Google searches and search through old posts to try and see what schools are friendlier to lower GPAs (I think I remember seeing that Stanford, Harvard, and Haas are not, but don't quote me on that). Take that info into consideration.

GMAT is the biggest way to make up for the lower GPA (have seen a number of people have success with sub-3.0 though and your 3.2 is at an Ivy League). Another thing to address though is your low grades in quant classes. You want to be able to prove to admissions you can handle the quant at business school. If you do well on the quant section of the GMAT that is one way to offset that, which is why again I'd make sure to devote most of your time before applying to killing the GMAT. Besides that I would base the other steps you're taking on when you're applying. Not sure if you mean applying to attend in Fall 2019/2020 (so applying 2018/2019) or applying Fall 2019/2020 to attend 2020/2021. If applying this Fall you're cutting it close to study for the GMAT (you may have already been putting some time into this), work on essays for Round 1/2 (likely helpful to do R1 to mitigate against the GPA), and take a couple math classes to where you'd have more of a meaningful alternative transcript. Instead I have seen a lot of recommendations on here for MBA Math. It's reasonably short 20-30 hours I think and business schools supposedly hold it in high esteem (your grades on completion can be sent directly to the schools). If however, you end up applying in fall 2019 or 2020 then you'll have more time to do a few of the math classes. NYU/Columbia vs. community college I'm not sure but imagine the difference isn't big enough to be worth the added cost (just my opinion). I have gotten the impression that you just have to prove your ability to do the math and that could be GMAT quant score, MBA Math, or a few community college classes. Doing a couple of the classes in-person could show dedication and planning and reflect well on your candidacy apart from proving quant ability though. If no admissions consultants come along to this post, you might repost in their specific forum to get a more expert opinion about Columbia/NYU vs. community college and whether you just sort of need to check a box (maybe doing MBA Math could save you a lot of time and money and in-person classes wouldn't add much- not sure about that). And again just a recently accepted applicant myself, so this advice is all based on forum posts and what I've picked up. Good luck!

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

I'm the big Promoter on this forum for mbamath. Lol. It's actually like 12 to 20 hours. https://MBAPrepCoach.com

mbaMissionKrista · Answer

Hey  Angelfish 
Given everything you say above and your timeframe, my recommendation is HBx Core. It's comprehensive and can be completed online, which is great. It's also very highly respected by admissions officers. There are certainly other options out there but given that you have the luxury of time, HBx Core seems like the strongest signal to send to programs. To be fair, it's not the 3.2 that worries me as much as what you say about the straight Cs in quant classes. One thing to note with the 3.2 though...this is often the bottom end of the 80th percentile GPA range for most programs. So only 10% of students have GPAs lower than 3.2. To me this will mean that you'll need to really diversify your applications. Of course apply to all your dream schools, but also make sure you add some lower-ranked schools that are acceptable back-ups. I don't think you need to go outside the top 20 necessarily but definitely just make sure you have a good mix of reach, target, and safety schools.
Hope that helps!
Krista

MBAbot · Answer

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Best way to build alternative transcript

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