So, you want to apply to business schools, but your GPA is really low. You might even be spending a lot of time searching Businessweek forums for "success stories" trying to find out if you have a chance. The recent economic recession has changed a lot of things. A lot of the "success stories" you find online just don't happen as frequently anymore. I had just under a 2.7 GPA and struggled quite a bit when I applied. I went to an Ivy League undergrad and had an engineering background. I interviewed and was waitlisted at many top 10-20 schools that a lot of friends w/ better GPAs and better GMATs didn't get interviews at. Ultimately, I ended up at a pretty good program in the top 15. I'm not guaranteeing the same will happen to you. In fact, I'm not guaranteeing anything. I'm just sharing my experience. All this information is free. Hopefully, it'll help you out as you go through the MBA admissions process.
Managing Your Ego and Expectations
Before I applied, I heard a lot of my friends say stuff like, "If I don't get into Harvard or Stanford, I'm not going to even bother with business school." Would I like to go to Harvard or Stanford over the program I'm in? Sure, who wouldn't? Everyone loves that ego boost. However, the idea that an MBA isn't worth it otherwise isn't true. You get out of the programs what you put in. I knew some people getting into top schools who weren't the best candidates and I wondered "WTF!?. How did THAT person get in and not me." This is the wrong attitude. It's time to forget what other people are doing and focus on yourself. Here's an appropriate Rocky Balboa quote to his son:
"It aint about how hard you hit, it's about hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward, that's how winning is done. Now if you know what your worth, go out and get what your worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits and not pointing fingers and saying you aint where you want to be because of him or her or anybody, cowards do that and that aint you, your better the that." -Rocky Balboa
If you go to Harvard and Stanford, yeah, you'll have a head start and probably some better opportunities initially. But, in the end, if you work hard at a different school and get the job you want, then it was worth it right? Aside from the education, the contacts you make and experiences you have in an MBA program are invaluable. Don't make the mistake of applying to only one or two schools. When spring comes around and everyone is accepting admissions to schools not in the top five, you'll be wishing you had applied to less competitive schools just so you'd at least have the option of attending an MBA program.
Putting Together Your Application
GMAT
From my experience, schools all say their system is holistic etc. etc. I think that is true for the most part. It's important to know your school's stats and see how you measure up. Most schools will release class profiles with GPA ranges and GMAT ranges. Now, your GPA is going to be on the lower end or not in the 80% range at all. (As was the case for me) Now if the median GMAT score for a school is 690, at minimum you need get 20-30pts above that. AT MINIMUM. Ideally, you'd need to blow it out of the water w/ a 750+.
Here's how I studied.
1. I bought these books and made sure I understood how to do every problem. Few problems in either of these books should be very challenging for you if you're aiming for a top school. :
2. I went to mba.com and downloaded the GMAT software. This is an EXACT replica of the test. The only way to get better at the GMAT is to take timed tests with this software over and over. Eventually the questions will start repeating.
3. If you need more help you can get a tutor or watch youtube videos. One great resource I found was khanacademy.org. They have a section for GMAT stuff now. I wish this existed when I took my exam.
ESSAYS
Now keep in mind, there are going to be tons of applicants with the same GMAT but a better GPA. I personally believe the most important factor in your application is your story. The essays were 100% the reason why I got interviews at top 10 schools and my friends with significantly better GPA's and GMAT scores did not.
Are you an engineer who has stayed at the same job and has not really done anything else? Boring. So has everyone else. Business schools want the kids who've worked, but started other companies or been promoted all the way to the top or LEAD new endeavors at work. Think about it from the school's point of view. They want to be able to brag to everyone about the diversity and "coolness" of their students. They want leaders, creators, inventors, entrepreneurs, actors. It's all about how you market yourself. Now that's not to say that you make yourself out be the greatest human alive. Just tell your unique story of how you dreamed and dared to do something different. Explain how your journey brought you to their school.
Know your school. Go to information sessions. Talk to professors and students. Is your plan to go to the school website, read the bio's of a few professor's and their classes, and then name drop those into your essay? Guess what? Everyone does that. It's annoying to read and shows your lack of effort.
LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
Obviously, you can't write the letter for the recommender. However, you can create a VERY detailed note sheet of everything you want in the letter. VERY Detailed. Make sure the recommender has specific examples that demonstrate your quantitative aptitude and your leadership skills at work. A friend on the admissions committee for NYU Stern told me that if an applicant is on the edge, the letter of rec is usually what makes or breaks it.
TAKING CLASSES
If your GPA is low because you bombed all your art history and chemistry classes, you probably don't need to take classes. What you really need to look at are your math grades. Do you have A's and B's in your calculus and statistics courses? If you have C's and D's in quant classes YOU NEED TO TAKE COLLEGE LEVEL CLASSES TO SHOW THAT YOU CAN HANDLE MATH. Taking classes at a local community college is fine, as long as they're "college level" classes. Take Calculus 1 (and 2 if you have time), "Accounting and Finance", and Statistics. Get nothing less than an A in all of them.
This being said, there's some debate as to how helpful this is. From my own experience, I think that the top 5-10 schools really don't care about this "alternative transcript." It's more about their stats for them. Top 10-20 Schools will be a little more forgiving. Again, this is just what my opinion is after speaking w/ a few adcom folk and my own experience. It certainly can't hurt you right?
OPTIONAL ESSAY
A lot of bschools give you the option of writing an extra essay to explain "special circumstances" such as a low GPA. Don't drag on in this essay. Just tell the adcom that you screwed up. But you kicked butt on your GMAT, and you took a bunch of classes and aced them all to mitigate any concerns. After you've done this the adcom will know that you can probably handle the work load.
The Environment and Other Factors
It's possible you could do everything right. Have amazing letters. Amazing essays. A perfect GMAT. Aced all your extra classes and still not get in. Accept this fact from the beginning. Recently, the number of MBA applicants has rocketed up. Remember, schools want to be able to brag about their students. They may not accept you simply because they don't want to report such a low GPA on their class profile sheet. It factors into their ranking, and ultimately that's more important than letting one kid with a low GPA in. When the applicant pool is so deep, there are going to be a ton of other students applying to the same school also with low GPAs. That's why you need to make sure you deflate your ego, and apply to some safety schools as well.
Again, since schools want to brag, they want a diverse class. The adcom's are not dumb. They realize that studying Electrical Engineering at MIT is much more challenging than studying Knitting at some unknown state school. They'll cut you some slack in that regard.
Another thing bschools want are students of different ethnicities as well as different work backgrounds. However, there is such a thing as an over represented minority. If you're South Asian or East Asian, consider yourself screwed even more than everyone else. I've heard a lot of people from India apply with perfect GMAT math scores. The same is definitely true of Chinese/Japanese candidates. So, for the sake of diversity, a business school is only going to accept so many people of a certain background. They'll tend to take the ones with good GPAs. You'll still have a shot. Just make sure your story keeps them on their toes.
However, if you're black or hispanic, you need to take advantage of your minority status. Blacks and hispanics are still underrepresented in business schools! Keep your list of schools broad and diverse. Schools will still want you as long as you're within their class profile range for stats other than GPA and you have a decent story.
I don't know if the case can still be made for women. When women were a minority in MBA classes, they may have had an easier time getting into b-schools. However, male to female ratios are balancing out.
Conclusion
I was happy when I first started reading up on bschools because I read they were much more forgiving of a low GPA than law schools and med schools. While this may still be true, I learned the hard way that it's still really competitive out there. A lot of times you'll simply get waitlisted because of your GPA. Unfortunately, showing your "desire to attend" the school doesn't really help in this case. Apply with a strategy. Do your best and eventually something good will happen.
If you have questions you can email me at lowgpamba AT gmail.com.