Need to improve GPA?

glhfdd
Mon, 04 Apr 2011 23:49:38 +0000

Long (very long) time lurker, first time poster :).

Now that I finally took the GMAT, I can throw together a profile to start evaluating what schools I have a good chance to get into.

Work Exp 3-4 years as a software engineer
GMAT 750
GPA 3.1 Computer Science @ UC Berkeley

My GMATs and years of experience seems to be OK, but my GPA is definitely on the lower side. Unfortunately, I spent a little too much time working during school (practically full time in the IT dept year-round) instead of studying…but hindsight is 20/20.

The last few years I’ve been working as a software engineer, serving as a technical lead on a couple projects and taking the role of a pseudo-project manager for another. I don’t know how relevant that is for business school admissions, but I guess it’s better than nothing.

My main concern at this point is the lowish GPA. I know with these numbers I probably have an outside shot, if even that, at a top tier school (HBS, Booth, Wharton, etc). I’ve heard some people say it’s worth taking a few extension classes to help boost that GPA a bit, but I wasn’t sure if it’s actually worth it (or if doing so reflects poorly).

What kind of schools can I reasonably expect to have a good shot of making it into with just these scores alone?

My fiancee is currently a PhD student at USC (don’t know if the AC cares about that at all), so a part of me would rather go to Marshall or Anderson over some of the better schools out of state, but that’s assuming I can even get in…

P.S.: I’m sure this has been discussed ad naseum, but do business school admissions give any brownie points if a sibling is currently attending the same school (like some do with undergrad admissions).

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