<p>I'm an International student from India, studying a 3 year course in Business Administration.
I will graduate in 2012 and am looking at pursuing an MBA 2012 fall (straight after college)
This is my profile:</p>
<p>Poor academic record : 2.9 GPA, should be around 3-3.2 </p>
<p>Reason: I have been involved in 2 startups: The first one being into property development with a company net worth of roughly 2 million USD. And in the process of starting my second start up with 2 friends. The company is basically an asset management and we already have signed up 5-6 clients.</p>
<p>GMAT: expected to be above the 700-720 mark,(got 740,750 in my two practice tests)</p>
<p>Also under my EC's are extensive social service and fund raising.</p>
<p>Due to my heavy work load i have not been able to give justice to my education, as a result my marks have suffered.</p>
<p>I wish to go to a top ranked MBA program in the USA straight out of college, simply because i do not wish to pause my entrepreneurial venture later on in life.</p>
<p>My main concern is :</p>
<p>1) Does my start-up experience count as work experience ?
2) Does it help negate my pathetic grades ?
3) Which MBA program can I look at ?</p>
<p>You dont stand a chance man…
First, you are Indian, meaning you are in an extremely competitive pool.
Second, your GPA is very low. If you want to go to a top b-school straight after college, you need to show them something. if not Work experience, grades and GMAT at least.
Third, your major is Business administration. it is highly unlikely to get into a top b-school straight after college with that major. It is pointless to say the least.
Can you think of at least one good reason why a top b-school should admit you instead of applicants with 2+ years of WE, having graduated from top school with high GPA ?</p>
<p>Sorry to be so harsh, but I am trying to be realistic. Do the same. Get some work experience, score high in GMAT and you may have a shot at a top 20-25 program.</p>
<p>Afraid the other posters are right shah – if you feel you “have to” go get a masters right away think about a masters in management or finance. </p>
<p>I’m afraid you need full time work experience (your start-ups will not get you across the finish line at a top school unfortunately).</p>
<p>You should work for a minimum of two years before heading back (four is ideal)</p>
<p>Also to be more specific about your questions:</p>
<p>1) no
2) not really (but it helps a little)
3) you are not a viable candidate for a top program yet </p>
<p>(clearly you are no dummy, do yourself a favor and wait a few years and you’ll make a top 25 for sure, maybe a top ten with the right experience)</p>
<p>(also, consider the interim masters to mitigate the low GPA – I did it albeit for a slightly different reason and wound up getting a pretty amazing post mba job before I went back for the mba)</p>
<p>Thank you all for your comments !
I really appreciate your responses.</p>
<p>I guess that puts an end to my dilemma, so i’ll continue with my start-ups for a couple more years 2-4 depending on when i feel the right time to take a break is.
And then give MBA a shot :)</p>
<p>@Overachiever: Don’t be sorry !! I wanted the plain truth, didn’t need a sugar coated response. Thank you !</p>
<p>@Storch: To be honest I doubt I will be able to do a masters before an MBA, as i simply can not afford to delay my mba more than i need to. so my aim is to get the work experience i need, and then go for an mba. To mitigate my pathetic GPA, I’m just going to have to work my butt off for the rest of the 3 semesters i have left. Since I’m just halfway through college (3 years=6 semesters) if i study more than 3 days before my finals i should be able to pull off a GPA above 3.3 at the very least.</p>
<p>One more question, will my experience of founding and running my own company put me at a greater advantage compared to those with the formal job experience when applying to MBA programs ? ?
And if yes, how much does it really matter ?</p>
<p>@ Medwell: You’re right, and this is a question I’ve been asked by many.
The thing is that I’m currently involved in construction and real estate,to be honest any street smart person can do that. I wish to enter the finance sector, for which i shall need more formal knowledge. Also, if I am to take over my dad’s firm when he retires, I will probably be better off having formal management training.</p>
<p>It doesnt matter if you are making millions or not. MBA is always a positive thing. You can make many many strong connections with people from all over the world. You can gain invaluable knowledge how to run your company.</p>
<p>oh, and i forgot to add, i’m looking for an interim master’s in Finance. Given that I do not have a solid math background (UG: Business Administration) what are my options ?</p>
<p>Not really, unless you have several years of WE being employed by a company and have made significant achievement.
The fact that you have founded and run a company out of college indicates to the top MBA schools that you are a rich and entitled kid, using family money to set yourself up and with a poor GPA to boot. That certainly will not improve your chance.</p>
<p>There are tons of kids from rich families at top MBA schools, but most of them have made significant achievements on their own, earning good grades, worked for someone else for a few years (entry level job) to gain experience and then earn an MBA degree before they join the family enterprise.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Most top schools require that you’ve taken math at calculus level. Since you have time at school, take that course.</p>
<p>Let me clarify a few things.
Yes i might be a “rich kid” however my start up has in no way been funded by my parents or have i used any of their contacts or resources. Me and my friends got an angel investor and further increased our business with the help of bank loans. So i strongly believe I have made a significant achievement, on my own.</p>
<p>Also that I also missed out my part-time work experience. I have worked at a stock broking firm (no it’s not my dad’s) for 1 year (in high school) and a construction company for 2 years (high school and my freshman year at college)</p>
<p>My low GPA is due to the long hours I have pulled to launch my start-up.</p>
<p>About the math requirements: I took college level math courses while in school and am very well versed with high level calculus. However in India, unlike the American system we can not pick and chose are classes, we must select out of 3 concentrations, that is HR,Marketing,Finance. I have chosen finance, and I do have math, with calculus, however that was just one class, and I don’t have an option of taking more math classes.</p>
<p>Graduated cum laude (3.8) from Loomis Chaffee (CT Prep School)
Graduated Vassar College (3.65) cum GPA; BS History, Italian
Speak fluent Italian and Spanish
President of Mentoring/tutoring group; taught Italian for 2 years
White Jewish male
Dad went to Columbia Business School, uncle went to HBS- both have donated for 20+ years
Have worked for a gourmet food importer for 1 year
Job description: sales, PR, marketing, consulting, research, analytics, among other jobs
Am taking the GMAT in the spring
Looking to apply for MBA for Fall 2013</p>
<p>Would ideally like to go to HBS, Columbia, NYU or Cornell.</p>
<p>Can someone answer the following:
What are my chances of getting into these schools?
Is History a well regarded major for b schools?
If I had a 3.65 in History and Italian from Vassar, worked for 3 years and broke 700 on my GMAT, could I get into these 4 schools?
Thanks,
Robert</p>
<p>^^^You will have zero chance based upon your posting in multiple threads about yourself. Your rudeness and aggressive nature will turn any interviewer off.</p>