<p>All of the average GPAs are top schools are around 3.5.
I'm graduating with a 3.08 GPA which isn't very good.
A lot of it was due to freshman and sophomore year grades, mainly in life sciences (biology, chemistry, and physics). My transcript has a 2 or 3 Ds... and a C in almost every semester (recently just one per semester while the rest are As and Bs). I'm in my final semester and this time I will not get one C. I have an upward trend from the beginning to now. </p>
<p>If I plan to work for over 5 years before applying, do I have a competitive chance?</p>
<p>If you prove to the admissions comittee how you've developed leadership and management skills throughout your work experience, the GPA issue will be less of an issue. While they are good indicators of academic performance, what you do after college is the most important. As for now, you can't do anything about the GPA. Make sure you have solid GMAT scores, first off. That is key, for beginners.</p>
<p>i can't edit my post? I typed it so fast without reading it over and see grammatical errors in it.
I'm an Information Systems major</p>
<p>any good career path which will improve my candidacy? I'm considering the tech. consulting route as my first job out of college and possibly moving into something else after 1 or 2 yrs that will develop leadership and mgt skills.</p>
<p>rlstar, don't worry too much about your GPA. Try to do very well in GMAT. I recommend that you prepare and take the test as soon as you graduate. If the quantitative courses in your transcript are only passing grades, consider taking and doing well a couple of college-level or grad-level courses a year before your application.</p>
<p>I'm in a similar situation. My undergrad GPA is quite horrible. I've got 6 years of military experience as an officer. My GMAT score is 680 and I also recently completed a Masters in Applied Finance with a GPA of 3.7. Also done Levels I and II of the CFA examination. Will be doing Level III in June next year. Do I have a shot at the top B schools like Harvard and Wharton?</p>
<p>shield, anything is possible but I wouldn't think you would have that great of a shot. Your GMAT score is below average for those schools and my guess is that your undergrad GPA is well below average. You could certainly get into a good business school, but I would bet against you getting into Harvard/Wharton.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm in a similar situation. My undergrad GPA is quite horrible. I've got 6 years of military experience as an officer. My GMAT score is 680 and I also recently completed a Masters in Applied Finance with a GPA of 3.7. Also done Levels I and II of the CFA examination. Will be doing Level III in June next year. Do I have a shot at the top B schools like Harvard and Wharton?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Depends on your experience in the military. And how "horrible" was your undergrad GPA and where was it from? If it's in engineering from a service academy or from a top undergrad, it helps. As it stands, it's highly unlikely you're getting into HBS or Wharton. And for what it's worth, Stanford is basically as good as (and perhaps more selective than) HBS. Other schools like Columbia, Insead, MIT Sloan, Chicago, Kellogg, and Tuck may be long shots as well. I'd try for schools in the 10-20 range. Boost your GMAT to something over 700 and you may have a shot at schools 5-10.
Good luck.</p>
<p>Shield, as a matter of comparison, I had a 3.0 and a 760 with 8 years as a Military Officer. I didn't get into Wharton and am trying for Kellogg for 2nd round. I have friends who have gotten into top10 schools with GPAs sub 3.3, but you'll have to get the GMAT score up</p>