MBA Handicapping: Minority Candidate, 550 GMAT, Wait List At MIT — Advice On Several Fronts

Jaime is a fascinating MBA candidate. At the age of 28, he’s worked his way ito a senior associate role in PwC’s consulting arm over the past two and one-half years. He got that gig after a year in the family business and several years as an entrepreneur in Mexico where he helped to build a digital marketing firm.

His extras reflect his concern for others, having worked as a leader of youth groups to raise awareness in society about marginal communities in Mexico. He’s now helping a non-profit organization of Mexican women entrepreneurs with pro bono consulting advice. While Mexican, he has a U.S. passport which qualifies him as an under-represented minority for admissions.

But here’s the rub: He has a 309 GRE (which converts into the equivalent of a 550 GMAT) and a 3.5 GPA in marketing and business management from a university in Mexico. Those numbers put him below the class averages at every MBA program to which he has applied. He’s 20 points below the 329 average at Stanford; 17 points below the 326 average at Harvard, and 13 points under the 322 mean at the Wharton.

Unsurprisingly, all three schools turned him down this year. But he has landed on the waitlist at MIT Sloan and has yet to hear from UT-Austin McCombs.

In this episode of Friday’s With Sandy, HBSGuru.com Founder Sandy Kreisberg and Poets&Quants Founder John A. Byrne discuss whether Jaime should add several more schools in round three applications in the event he is unable to get off the waitlist at MIT or whether he should simply wait and reapply next year.

If you would like to participate in a future Fridays With Sandy webinar, you can contact Sandy and John here.

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