Mr. Looking To Learn

Mr. Looking To Learn, you’ve got what it takes and then some to get into Haas. Your below-average GPA is more than made up for by the fact that you got it in a highly difficult subject at Carnegie Mellon, no less, that you then went on to earn a 4.0 GPA in your master’s at UT in computer science, and that you then landed a 760 GMAT, which puts you in the top 1% of test takers all over the world. As if that wasn’t enough, you have software engineering experience in both the Fortune 500 level as well as at a startup. If you are turned down because of your GPA, I call BS on that. Add to all this your tricking hobby and I’d say I want to see you show off your tricking stuff in the central courtyard of Berkeley’s Haas School as an MBA student.

Hi, this is Deepak Punwani from MBA Exchange. You are ticking all the right boxes for Haas and its also the best school for you considering your goals. You have great academic credentials (you will need to explain the low GPA in undergrad in an optional essay) and these credentials align very well with career path you have chosen. It seems that most of your career and academic decisions have been well considered and it helps the adcom draw a straight line from your University choices (school and major) to your future career via a business school. This is an under appreciated part of the admissions process – connecting the dots for the adcom. You are doing it well. Also like the non work roles you have undertaken and the diverse interests you have. Now, lets come to what would make your profile even more strong. I would like to see some “Skin in the game” to use NN Taleb’s term, for your short and long term goals. How would you use your aptitude for technology and interest for non tech aspects of building products to really make a difference? And what kind of problems would you want to solve as an entrepreneur? So my suggestion would be for you to dig deep on your goals and how those aligns with who you are as a person and with your credentials you will be in play at Haas (and maybe even GSB if you execute well). Go to the other west coast schools if they give you some serious $$$ as scholarship and consider LBS if you are looking to make a tech career on the other side of the pond. Good luck !

Hello Mr Looking to Learn! Krista Nannery from mbaMission here. Congrats on that 760! It will help you stand out in this process and also help mitigate the 3.0. But here’s the thing, for the top schools, the 80th percentile for GPA is generally 3.2 to 3.8. So whenever I have someone below that 3.2 number, I want to know the context for the GPA and I also want to pull every lever we can to show the AdCom that it won’t happen in their program. Your 4.0 GPA in your Master’s is exactly what I want to see here so thank you for that! You are in Optional Essay territory here so for all the schools you apply to, write a bit about why the 3.0 happened and why it’s not representative of who you are today.

With your current stats and profile, I think you have a decent shot at USC and UCLA. For Haas, my concern is that one of their core values is “Student Always,” so the 3.0 might be a tough sell. I would love to be wrong here though and wish you all the best for your application process!

First, thanks for introducing me to Tricking – I just watched a video and that is some amazing stuff. I love that you’ve got this unique hobby – it can really help you stand out among a highly represented demographic – and I would love to hear how you got involved and introduced to it. On top of that, your strong GMAT and MS GPA will help overcome your 3.0 at CMU. I think you’ve got a strong story to point to why MBA and how you hope to leverage your engineering experience into product management. Your Fortune 100 and start up mix of experience gives you a more broad perspective that you can share in the classroom and on projects. You will want to give some thought to and explain what type of a PM role you want post MBA. You talk about entrepreneurship – where does this fit in, earlier in your career or later? You’ve identified a great program to be exposed to design, tech and entrepreneurship in Berkeley. If you can help show how you embody their four principles, I think you have a good shot there, slightly higher than their average acceptance. I also like that you have chosen a good representation of west coast schools – meaning you are very likely to successful within this list. LBS is a good addition and I think you’d be competitive there too. If you were willing to look at the East Coast – I’d consider Stern or Cornell’s Tech MBA. These programs leverage your background in technology and quickly get you into industry. They were designed because MBA students left for a summer internship and companies didn’t want them to leave. Good luck!