profile evaluation

[katie]

Can someone please let me know if you think I have a chance at one of these schools: Harvard, Stanford, MIT, UChic, Yale?

Female, Asian American, 3.1 GPA at Stern undergrad majoring in Finance and Marketing, 720 on GMAT (49 Q, 39 V).

Work exp: 3 yrs at consumer marketing dept in the largest publishing firm. Managed to overcome initial manager's poor review and win a marketing acheivement award/promotion.

Extracurriculars: co-chair at young professionals group for non-profit org, project manager for non-profit consultancy work, tutor for Harvard Tutorial Program for high school students, treasurer of Fashion Business Association at NYU.

Others: interesting life story - parents are high-school dropouts, sent to live with aunt. studied classical piano for 12 yrs, directed a documentary for college project, pursuing MBA to become an entrepreneur of a women's apparel start-up

Thanks for your input!!!

[MBAApply]

In short, your profile is strong enough to warrant at least giving the schools you listed a shot. In other words, someone like you wouldn't be out of place at any of the schools you mentioned.

Your GPA won't be an issue at Chicago, Sloan or Yale - but at HBS and Stanford, the folks who get in tend to have higher GPAs than those at other schools (not a function of HBS/Stanford preferring high GPAs, but the fact that these schools can afford to be more picky).

Practically speaking, focus on putting together a strong application conveying the fact that you're a well-rounded person with a lot of interesting experiences and perspectives to offer, and you should be competitive.

Good luck

Alex
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com

[katie]

Just wanted to give others with low gpa hope - received my first interview invite from HBS the other day!

Proves that a lot of weight is given to how you present your story in your essays.

[MBAApply]

That's great news! Good luck on the interview!

Alex
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com

[jingy]

that is awesome katie! Go nail that interview! I too am struggling with a low GPA, much lower than yours in fact. But I feel I have other attributes and perspectives that I can offer from my life experiences that will hopefully make me competitive. Good luck to you and keep us posted!

[katie]

Ended up only applying to stanford, chicago and hbs. In at Uchicago and still waiting for HBS' decision next week...will keep you all posted.