Dartmouth / Tuck - 09-18-2023 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

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September 18, 2023 1:21am ET

Applying: Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Indian School of Business, Oxford / Saïd, UPenn / Wharton, UVA / Darden

Intake Year: 2024

Pre-MBA Career: Not-profit

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Entrepreneurship, Non Profit/SI Companies: BCG , Deloitte , PWC

GRE: 325

GPA: 3.28

Years of Work Experience: 4

Notes:

I wanted to know about safety schools that I could apply to. My gpa and gre lie within the middle 80th percentiles for all the schools that I am considering. Yet, as they are all top programmes, I would also like some info on potential safety schools.

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Show Comments (5) Last: September 27, 2023

grichmond Verified User. Likes Earned: 1310 A couple of thoughts here:

1. You do have a bit of a range already, in light of mixing an M7 (Wharton), some top-16 (Darden, Duke, Dartmouth), and some non-US offerings (Oxford, ISB).

2. It's really hard to say what might be a safety for you without having more information about your background and the reason for your goals/pursuit of the MBA. For example, are you over-represented or under-represented in the applicant pool? How are your ECs? Did you attend undergraduate in the USA? At what caliber school? In what major?

3. While both your GPA and GRE may be within the middle 80 percentiles at these targets, I do wonder if your GPA, which is going to be below average at all of your US targets, may drag things down slightly.

As you can see, there are many questions here...but having answers to them will help us to better understand what might constitute a safety for you.

Best of luck and thanks for posting!
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theaditidash Likes Earned: 0 I'm an Indian Female who has graduated with a degree in Economics from one of the top schools in India and have 4 years of work ex in a not-for-profit. The gpa is the major factor for why I require safety schools, as my gre alone cannot compensate for it. I would also prefer schools with a STEM track as I want to work in the US after my MBA. As for ECs, I have 15 years of experience in classical dance in India. I also was wondering whether I should even bother applying to Wharton considering my stats. It's just that their Business economics and public policy concentration is right up my alley. (0)

grichmond Verified User. Likes Earned: 1310 Thanks for sharing these added details. You have several things going for you, in my opinion and should absolutely aim high and keep Wharton on your list.

First off, you went to a strong undergraduate program and majored in a quantitative subject area (econ), so that helps. Second, as a female from India, you will not be as over-represented as your male peers from the same market. Third, your commitment to classical dance for a lengthy amount of time should be a nice EC that you can hopefully share with your MBA classmates.

I would like to know what your GPA is on the Indian scale (since I presume your 3.28 is converted, which isn't something you should do unless a school explicitly asks). I would also like to know your class rank, if one was given, and whether or not you had an upward trend with your marks over the course of your studies. The answers to these questions will determine whether or not you need craft an optional essay about the GPA.

As to adding more schools, if you want to be in the USA post-MBA and focus on SI/non-profit, while also needing a STEM, you might consider the likes of Yale, Berkeley, Tepper, and Ross. While none of them are necessarily easy to get into, targeting more schools in the same band can also increase your odds.

Best of luck!

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theaditidash Likes Earned: 0 My GPA is on the same scale as the US education system. I also have a downward trend in my gpa, with my highest gpa in the second and third semester ( had a 3.6 till then) and my lowest gpa in the sixth semester (had 3.0 in my 4th and 5th semesters and. 2.7 in my final semester). This is largely attributed to my additional responsibility of being a caretaker for my grandmother (inflicted with Dementia), and my own deteriorating mental health. Amongst the schools that you mentioned, I am very discouraged to apply to SOM because their gpa and gre requirements are the highest of any school that I've seen (apart from GSB). The school which I think I have a slightly better chance among the 4 is Tepper. I also heard that Kelley and Babson were some good programmes to apply to as safety, but am not very sure if they're the best for for me (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1695 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2023/09/mba-wire-taps-310/ (0)