My question.. how can I get into one of the top 10 business schools? Is there a way to get accepted into these schools w/ a really BAD GPA? When I say bad, I mean barely graduated from college. I think it was the fact that I was so lazy that I never really applied myself.. I also haven't taken the GMAT yet. I've heard that there are other ways, networking, knowing the right people, etc. Anyone know?
How to get into a top tier business school??
- Thread starter Ender510
- Start date
There are reasons that they are in the top 10 business schools 
Having a bad GPA, almost eliminate your chance to get into those schools.
Knowing the right people might help, but I doubt it in your case.
Why would you want to get into those schools anyway ? If you barely
survive your college, I think you will never survive there.
Some ways that I can think of to help your chance are, take 1 or 2 years off,
do a lot of researches, attend a lot of conferences, publish some results.
Or join a good company, and do an EXCELLENT job in a high position, get some
recognitions or rewards.
My uncle was rejected to attend Yale University, he studied hard in 1 year,
do a lot of researches by himself, and published 2 papers in big conferences.
Yale accepted him the next year with full funding.
Having a bad GPA, almost eliminate your chance to get into those schools.
Knowing the right people might help, but I doubt it in your case.
Why would you want to get into those schools anyway ? If you barely
survive your college, I think you will never survive there.
Some ways that I can think of to help your chance are, take 1 or 2 years off,
do a lot of researches, attend a lot of conferences, publish some results.
Or join a good company, and do an EXCELLENT job in a high position, get some
recognitions or rewards.
My uncle was rejected to attend Yale University, he studied hard in 1 year,
do a lot of researches by himself, and published 2 papers in big conferences.
Yale accepted him the next year with full funding.
Ok, what these business school wants is how much salary you can get right after you graduate. The average salary of top 10 b-school upon graduation is about 100K, if you think you got what it takes to earn that, you can get into a top 10 b-school.
So what do you need to get that kind of money upon graduation??
1) Good current salary- no matter what kind of education you got, you are not going to jump from 30k to 100k in two years. Average salary going into a good b-school is about 60k.
2) Good work experience - Hot job after top b-school now is Consulting and Investment banking. If you got prior experience in these two fields, it would really help. But if you got really good experience in a hot industry, like hi-tech (networking, engineering, medical...etc) for at least 3 years, you will be ok.
3) Decent GPA - I've seen people with bad GPA getting into top-B school, but the person have to have very good experience or other stuff to make up for it. If you got 3.5 and above in undergrad, you are ok. If you got 3.0 above, you have to be extra ordinary in other area. If you are below 3.0, you gotta have a very rich daddy..who may a an alumi and give lots of money to school!!
4) Good GMAT- At least above 650, average for top 10 is about 690-720, same as GPA, if you are not good, you gotta have other stuff to make up for it.
5) Write good essay, all good school ask for essay and you need to convince that you belong there in the essay...extremely important.
6) Interview, you have to be out spoken, enthusiastic, know your stuff...etc, ususally that's the tough part for techies...takes a lot of practice.
Other then those thing, unless you got a dady who gives lots of money to the school, I don't see how you can get into a top-b school. It is extremely competitive, and those school want to make sure people going through them gets top dollar after they graduate, so they are very selective. Networking may help, but that will only help if you have close enoguh credential. If you don't have what it takes now, get a good job, like a consulting job in big 5 firm (anderson, E&Y...etc) and apply in two years. Oh yeah, if you don't have good GPA, do whatever you can to get your GMAT above 700, that is a must.
So what do you need to get that kind of money upon graduation??
1) Good current salary- no matter what kind of education you got, you are not going to jump from 30k to 100k in two years. Average salary going into a good b-school is about 60k.
2) Good work experience - Hot job after top b-school now is Consulting and Investment banking. If you got prior experience in these two fields, it would really help. But if you got really good experience in a hot industry, like hi-tech (networking, engineering, medical...etc) for at least 3 years, you will be ok.
3) Decent GPA - I've seen people with bad GPA getting into top-B school, but the person have to have very good experience or other stuff to make up for it. If you got 3.5 and above in undergrad, you are ok. If you got 3.0 above, you have to be extra ordinary in other area. If you are below 3.0, you gotta have a very rich daddy..who may a an alumi and give lots of money to school!!
4) Good GMAT- At least above 650, average for top 10 is about 690-720, same as GPA, if you are not good, you gotta have other stuff to make up for it.
5) Write good essay, all good school ask for essay and you need to convince that you belong there in the essay...extremely important.
6) Interview, you have to be out spoken, enthusiastic, know your stuff...etc, ususally that's the tough part for techies...takes a lot of practice.
Other then those thing, unless you got a dady who gives lots of money to the school, I don't see how you can get into a top-b school. It is extremely competitive, and those school want to make sure people going through them gets top dollar after they graduate, so they are very selective. Networking may help, but that will only help if you have close enoguh credential. If you don't have what it takes now, get a good job, like a consulting job in big 5 firm (anderson, E&Y...etc) and apply in two years. Oh yeah, if you don't have good GPA, do whatever you can to get your GMAT above 700, that is a must.
Ok, I guess I will elaborate a bit. I currently work at PeopleSoft and am a consultant there. If I study my ass off, I'm sure I could get at least 700 on the GMAT. My father is not rich and my GPA was below 3.0. Not just a little, quite a bit.. I also didn't go to that reputable of a school, so what are my chances now?
I also didn't go to that reputable of a school, so what are my chances now?A good GPA is expected @ top 10 business school.
Since everybody has good GPA.
So what will be important is your experience and extracuricular activities.
Michael
Elite member
- Nov 19, 1999
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Why the facination with a top 10 school? For almost any job you would want, any decent business school will do. Santa Clara's B-school has a pretty decent reputation, for example. What job are you hoping for out of school?
Michael
ps - we both live in Pleasanton
Michael
ps - we both live in Pleasanton
Depends on what your job experience is like in PSoft. If you have led an implementation with a big @ss client, you will definately have a chance. There are many factors that decide if you get in. Like I said, essay and interview are extremely important. Usually GPA and GMAT decide if you even gonna get further evaluated. If you can get good GMAT, like 720+, you should be able to make up for your GPA. After that, it will depend on how you can impress them with your job experience, essay and interviews.
What those school looks for is leadership experience, you have to show them that you are outstanding in your professosion, not just a consultant who just do whatever you are told. If you have like 3+ years of experience in Psoft, and shown that you have extra ordinary growth in career path, like getting promoted faster than many, and is a team leader in some projects, that will be a good start. IT consultant is a good credential to have, and Psoft is a pretty good name, so you got a chance if you done well there.
Other than that, you got to have good communication skills and be knowledgable about your industry and able to show people that you are knowledgable. So evaluate yourself to see if you are ready, if not, put together a two year plan to help yourself to be ready.
One advice, there is no one formula for getting accepted or rejected, luck has a lot to do with it. I helped my wife applied for B-School, she got rejected by lower ranked ones like UCLA, but got into U of Chicago which is really good in Finance. So put together a really good package and try the school you wanna get into, you will never know until you tried.
What those school looks for is leadership experience, you have to show them that you are outstanding in your professosion, not just a consultant who just do whatever you are told. If you have like 3+ years of experience in Psoft, and shown that you have extra ordinary growth in career path, like getting promoted faster than many, and is a team leader in some projects, that will be a good start. IT consultant is a good credential to have, and Psoft is a pretty good name, so you got a chance if you done well there.
Other than that, you got to have good communication skills and be knowledgable about your industry and able to show people that you are knowledgable. So evaluate yourself to see if you are ready, if not, put together a two year plan to help yourself to be ready.
One advice, there is no one formula for getting accepted or rejected, luck has a lot to do with it. I helped my wife applied for B-School, she got rejected by lower ranked ones like UCLA, but got into U of Chicago which is really good in Finance. So put together a really good package and try the school you wanna get into, you will never know until you tried.
BTW, just so you know. Are people smarter in top 10 B-school?? Not necessary, I graduated from Penn State which ranks around 30-40 (but graduated with Beta Gamma Sigma, honor society for Business School), but I helped my wife, who is getting her degree from U. Chicago, with lots of paper, group work...etc (she is not lazy, we just had a baby) and the paper I write always gets good mark, and to tell the truth, people in her group are not exactly damn smart too.
But are there advantages of going there?? Yeah man!!! there are many company that won't even interview you unless you are in top 10 B school, Goldman Sacks and McKinsey (the top company in investment bank and consulting) for example. There are also outstanding individuals who may help you a great deal in your career. For example, my wife was in this project group, after exchanging business card, she just learned that one of the group member (who is only in early 30's and looks normal and everything) is a vice president in GE capital, one of the largest financial institution, and she was like...wow. So the network you can build there will be great for your career.
So if you really want to get into one of those school, they have good people in their office, talk to them and really know what they are looking for. Like I said, there is no one criteria that is gonna say you will or will not get in. You gota work hard to make up for your GPA, starting with GMAT.
But are there advantages of going there?? Yeah man!!! there are many company that won't even interview you unless you are in top 10 B school, Goldman Sacks and McKinsey (the top company in investment bank and consulting) for example. There are also outstanding individuals who may help you a great deal in your career. For example, my wife was in this project group, after exchanging business card, she just learned that one of the group member (who is only in early 30's and looks normal and everything) is a vice president in GE capital, one of the largest financial institution, and she was like...wow. So the network you can build there will be great for your career.
So if you really want to get into one of those school, they have good people in their office, talk to them and really know what they are looking for. Like I said, there is no one criteria that is gonna say you will or will not get in. You gota work hard to make up for your GPA, starting with GMAT.
seewhy - your advice gives me some hope! I will either end up going the product consultant (sales) or project management route. I think I can only handle doing the consulting thing for so much time. Once I know the technology better and feel that I can handle anything, I think I'll be much better at whatever I do in the future. Leadership wise, I thrive off challenges. In college, I ended up joining both a social fraternity as a well as a professional fraternity (delta sigma pi). I ended up taking high positions (chapter president, national officer positions, etc.) and gaining a lot of good communication and people skills in the process. I feel that my communication skills are strong and hope they will only get better. My ambition and quest for knowledge is unyielding and I thrive in high pressured environments.
I still have a few years before I even really can consider going to business school, weighing whether or not it's worth it as well. I feel that I may get bored with the professional life and may want the stability of school and the learning process in my life again in the future. If I am interested in something, I will do extremely well. Getting a BS was not very interested to me because I felt as if a lot of the material I learned was so irrelevant to real life. This I feel will be extremely different with business school.
One of the things you mentioned was salary. How will they figure what your salary is? What does this determine? Salary wise, I already meet and exceed what you had stated, but honestly I don't think that can really directly correlated w/ the acceptance into a b-school. Perhaps if it is more evident through promotions into executive positions? Is that what you are referring to?
I hope to do well within Psft and excel within the company. I have been building a fairly good name for myself and have already moved up quickly. I've been with the company for nearly a year now and hope to stay for a long time as well. I am very happy with how they treat their employees, the learning opportunities there are, culture, and everything else.. plus the company as a whole is doing well, stock is up 300% since I've joined the company and the future looks very bright for the company as well. What more can I ask for?
I feel that I only have one person that I can get a letter of recommendation from my college as a professor, and one person from a job I had in college as well. I hope to be able to obtain letters of rec. from psft in a few years if I do decide to go for the MBA.
Michael - i wish to go to a top 10 b school such as Wharton, Kellog, Haas, stanford, etc. because of everything that goes along with an MBA from those schools - the prestige, colleages, networking benefits, instant recognition, job placement, etc.
seewhy - I feel confident I would do okay during an interview with the b-school. My writing skills are not very strong however, so I know I will need to work on my essays diligently. I also know when I choose to go this route, I need to aim for 720+ on the GMAT like you mentioned to insure I get looked at? The best letter of recommendation will probably be from employers after college because I know the letters I would get from my college days wouldn't be strong at all. Perhaps admiting my lack of maturity and focus in undergrad in my essays will help.
I still have a few years before I even really can consider going to business school, weighing whether or not it's worth it as well. I feel that I may get bored with the professional life and may want the stability of school and the learning process in my life again in the future. If I am interested in something, I will do extremely well. Getting a BS was not very interested to me because I felt as if a lot of the material I learned was so irrelevant to real life. This I feel will be extremely different with business school.
One of the things you mentioned was salary. How will they figure what your salary is? What does this determine? Salary wise, I already meet and exceed what you had stated, but honestly I don't think that can really directly correlated w/ the acceptance into a b-school. Perhaps if it is more evident through promotions into executive positions? Is that what you are referring to?
I hope to do well within Psft and excel within the company. I have been building a fairly good name for myself and have already moved up quickly. I've been with the company for nearly a year now and hope to stay for a long time as well. I am very happy with how they treat their employees, the learning opportunities there are, culture, and everything else.. plus the company as a whole is doing well, stock is up 300% since I've joined the company and the future looks very bright for the company as well. What more can I ask for?
I feel that I only have one person that I can get a letter of recommendation from my college as a professor, and one person from a job I had in college as well. I hope to be able to obtain letters of rec. from psft in a few years if I do decide to go for the MBA.
Michael - i wish to go to a top 10 b school such as Wharton, Kellog, Haas, stanford, etc. because of everything that goes along with an MBA from those schools - the prestige, colleages, networking benefits, instant recognition, job placement, etc.
seewhy - I feel confident I would do okay during an interview with the b-school. My writing skills are not very strong however, so I know I will need to work on my essays diligently. I also know when I choose to go this route, I need to aim for 720+ on the GMAT like you mentioned to insure I get looked at? The best letter of recommendation will probably be from employers after college because I know the letters I would get from my college days wouldn't be strong at all. Perhaps admiting my lack of maturity and focus in undergrad in my essays will help.
About the salary, they can pretty much tell by the position you are in and the company you work for. The people at top MBA school are always in contact with the industry, so they will have a very good idea of what your salary is/what you do in your profession.
Your experience/activities sounds good, you probably need 2+ years of professional experience to have a better chance. During that time, get to know some high level executive and impress them, if you can get recommendation letter from them, it will be really helpful. Make sure you write your essay well when you apply, have people evaluate it, I can't stress enough how important those essay are. My wife spend over a year to prepare and complete the application package, so definately give yourself some time.
Good luck
Your experience/activities sounds good, you probably need 2+ years of professional experience to have a better chance. During that time, get to know some high level executive and impress them, if you can get recommendation letter from them, it will be really helpful. Make sure you write your essay well when you apply, have people evaluate it, I can't stress enough how important those essay are. My wife spend over a year to prepare and complete the application package, so definately give yourself some time.
Good luck
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