Getting In If Your Stats Are Below The Median

Asa graduated from UC-Berkeley with an undergraduate degree in political economy in December of 2018. She’s now working in her home country of Ghana for a real estate developer, after having done internships at Prudential Insurance and Hilton.

Her goal: To apply to a top-ranked MBA program, specifically New York University’s Stern School of Business and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, to transition into a business development or corporate strategy role in travel and tourism back in Ghana. One potential hurdle to overcome: Her GPA and GRE scores are below the median at both Darden and Stern.

Asa, however, plans to apply to Darden’s relatively new Future Year Scholars Program which offers college students the opportunity to gain acceptance early and then begin their MBA studies after gaining two, three or four years of work experience.

In this Friday with Sandy episode, HBSGuru.com founder Sandy Kreisberg assesses her chances of admission and suggests a way that she should approach her essay questions.

DON’T MISS PREVIOUS FRIDAY WITH SANDY’S EPISODES

WHAT GMAT DOES THIS LATINA GOVERNMENT ANALYST NEED?

REAL GOOD ODDS FOR THIS INDIAN DO-GOODER. HERE’S WHY

MILITARY-BANKER-HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL?

HOW TO AVOID LANDMINES IN YOUR 2+2 INTERVIEW

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.