Handicapping Your Odds of Getting In

Mr. Construction

720 GMAT
2.75 GPA (I finally sobered up and got a 3.4 in my senior year)
Undergraduate degree in civil and environmental engineering from top private but non Ivy University
Work experience includes two years as a project engineer for a large, heavy civil construction firm; youngest promotion from field engineer to project engineer and worked on high profile, $100 million-plus projects
Extracurricular activities include three years of orientation leadership in college, three years as a venue coordinator for the Special Olympics and week long trips for Habitat for Humanity during spring and fall breaks in college
Goal: A job in general management, strategy or marketing for a large Fortune 500 energy company
White American Male

Odds of Success:

Wharton: 10% to 20%

Northwestern: 30%

Duke: 35+%

New York: 30% to 40+%

Cornell: 30% to 50+%

Yale: 40+%

Michigan: 40+%

Sandy’s Analysis: Your GPA will impact you everywhere, and is probably a deal breaker at Wharton (I mean they are sending emails to kids they INTERVIEW, with higher grades and GMAT’s, and CFA’s, suggesting they go back to school). A 720 GMAT will give you some school that wants to take a chance on you. You might have developed an alternative transcript via online BS courses or brick-and-mortar BS courses, not because you would learn anything, but just as a willingness to undergo punishment and a show of good faith. Schools like that model. Shows them you really want to come, and more importantly, that in addition to being sober, which is kind of a baseline, you can also shut up, have junk funneled down your mouth without gagging, and spit it back, which, ahem, after the smoke clears, is what you will be doing for two years chez them.

OK, given you did not do that, you are going to have to roll the dice, and find an adcom who is willing to sacrifice some U.S. News basis points for what is obviously a solid career with real accomplishments (viz. speedy promotion). Saying “I’m sorry” about the GPA may or may not help, but is certainly necessary and expected. The best way of saying ‘I’m sorry” is to demonstrate what a great career you have had.

Apply to lots of places, and certainly Ross. Your dreams can come true there. You are basically trolling for a break, and oddly, it is a numbers game once you get your story and mea culpas rock solid.