Latino male, 25 yrs old

Undergrad: Cornell engineering, 2.7 GPA

Work Experience: Three years of engineering design/consulting with large, global engineering firm

GMAT: 700

Leadership and Community Involvement: involved in a few groups, nothing major

Targeting Sloan, Stern, Wharton, Harvard, Columbia

I know my GPA is on the low side, but some of those 80% ranges start at 2.9. Worth a shot?

Sure, it's worth a shot... but:

HBS - slim to none; if you don't have a lot of leadership experience in college or outside of work (and likely limited leadership at work given that you're an engineer by trade), you simply don't fit what they are looking for. Plus, they like high GPAs. Too many things going against you.

Wharton - similar to HBS, although not as hardcore about leadership experience. However, chances are also pretty slim.

Columbia and Sloan - you have an outside shot. I would consider these your "dream" schools or "stretch" schools. Folks like you get in with stellar execution on the apps, but you also need luck on your side.

Stern - you should be competitive so long as you put in a stellar application.

Alex
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com

Hey Alex, I'm the original poster. Thanks for the input. For what it's worth, I visited my five schools and sat in on classes. Very good way of getting a feel for the kind of people there.

I'm thinking of adding two more schools to my list to apply: CMU-Tepper and Michigan-Ross.

What do you think my chances are at these two?

You should be competitive for both, assuming that your application (essays, interview, etc.) is well executed.

Alex
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com