Berkeley / Haas - 04-08-2024 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

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April 8, 2024 1:42pm ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Carnegie Mellon / Tepper, Cornell / Johnson, Duke / Fuqua, Harvard Business School, Indiana / Kelley, Michigan / Ross, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, UCLA Anderson, UPenn / Wharton, UT Austin / McCombs, UVA / Darden, Yale SOM

Pre-MBA Career: Operations Management, Government, Higher Education

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Venture Capital, Entrepreneurship, Non Profit/SI, Other Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey

GPA: 2.4

Years of Work Experience: 3

Notes:

Prospective Fall 2028 applicant looking to get ahead of the curve by seeking advice early to strengthen application...

+Graduated from a rigorous Service Academy with a 2.4 GPA despite personal and medical challenges.
+In order to offset low UGPA, planning to attain CFP and PMP certification, complete an MPA/M.S.Ed, establish for-profit and non-profit organizations, score high on GMAT, and accumulate more work experience.
+Currently researching MBA admission strategies that cover taking extra courses, building a personal brand, leveraging diversity and unique background, connecting with faculty, and more outside-the-box approaches.

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Show Comments (7) Last: April 29, 2024

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 As you’ve noted, it will be really important to explain the low GPA, then mitigate it with a higher-than-average test score for the programs you’re targeting, and supplement with additional academic course work.

Then it will also be important to show impact and growth at work. And connect this with your post MBA goals. Adcom will also be very interested in your interests and activities outside of work.

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underdog-toa Likes Earned: 3 @alexbr4 I appreciate you investing your time into my development and validating my approach to addressing my low UPGA! Is there specific coursework and subjects (i.e. statistics, economics, etc.) that I could pursue online that you'd recommend? I want to build my for-profit on education consulting and non-profit dedicated to youth leadership development, so that I can create a smooth narrative for my transition into MBA focusing on Entrepreneurship within the field of education. Would this unique approach supplemented by my Bachelor's from a rigorous Service Academy and underrepresented ethnicity (Asian & Pacific Islander) be worth Adcom's attention? (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 The 2.4 will always be your biggest challenge. Get a great test score, that will be very important. Prep for the test now, so you’ve got plenty of times for retakes.

There are tailored programs like MBA Math, HBS CORe, or GMACs Business Fundamentals that you can take. For additional courses, economics and statistics works, make sure they’re graded courses, not pass/fail.

Are you just starting your entrepreneurial endeavours?

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underdog-toa Likes Earned: 3 Apropos to testing, I understand and will spill my soul into testing. Graded courses and not P/F. Got it. Yes, I am in the beginning stages right now. I am balancing that with a public sector job and certificate studies at the moment. I need to be a real stand-out candidate with an established narrative, so I am giving it my best. I'm even considering connecting with respective graduate school admissions ahead of time as I build my brand to hop on their radar. I'm considering reaching out to program faculty, attending business school conventions, and other out-of-the-box ideas to do whatever it takes to build my case. (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2024/04/mba-wire-taps-350/ (1)

underdog-toa Likes Earned: 3 Mr. Richmond and Mr. Brown, thank you very much for discussing my application on your podcast. I was vague with the details, not realizing that my profile could potentially end up being highlighted. I appreciate the pieces of advice you shared about my profile. The podcast has helped open my eyes to new approaches. I will be looking to take HBS courses and analytics courses to strengthen my academic profile. I hope to post an update on my status 2-3 years down the line with more details to give you all an update! (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 Great! Best of luck in the meantime. (0)