MBA Admission Requirements ?
I know many of you may have dealt with these questions, but I wanted
to get a feel from you about my application for an MBA.
College GPA: 2.97 (Was a bad time for me)
GMAT: 98 Percentile (750)
Work Experience: Worked for 4 years with Microsoft as a Program
Manager for several programs with really good appraisals from my
superiors.
I am applying to :
Harvard
Kelloggs
Wharton
Columbia
Stern
University of Chicago GSB
UW-Seattle
UCB-Haas
Of these I really want to go to Kelloggs, Harvard, Stern or University
of Chicago-GSB, but will take what I get.
Could you please advise ? Can I write my essays in a certain way that
would make my application stand out. Would be very thankful if the
knowledgeable people of this board could help me out.
Cant there be anyway to present my case? If I let them know of the
difficulties that I faced on the family front when I was an
undergraduate, would that be enough to give them insight into why
grades went wrong. Or do they not care at all even if someone has made
the effort to redeem themselves from the mess. Would this be a part of
the supplementary statement
I need a realisitic analysis because I really want to go those
universities.
Unfortunately, I dont qualify for diversity but if anyone has any
ideas and has a similar profile as myself and made it to one of the
good MBA schools, please do advise.
try to look at your situation as an opportunity rather than a weakness.
True, top tier schools (and even 2nd, 3rd tier for that matter) will have a
suspicious look at your GPA and if you do not have top notch references and
GMAT score (at least the latter you stated you had) that will be enough not
to even consider you for a second round evaluation. BUT, as it seems you are
able to make it very clear with with your professional background, the
references and GMAT that you have improved a lot since those early days. And
in your essays you should take up the chance to explain the situation you
hinted at that got you into a bad life situation during your undergrad
studies. Make it clear that you overcame those obstacles and explain how.
THAT will certainly put you in an outstanding position among the all the
applicants. From what I have seen one of the very major things those
recruiters are looking for is the ability to develop your own personality
... something they call "understanding leadership potential" and that is
what you should focus on. I guess then you really stand a good chance of
getting even multiple admission offers which will again put you in the
luxurious dilemma of choosing the right one ;-)