Advice for Fall Applicant: Focus on GMAT/GRE or Take Classes?

[MattMcD03]

Hi All,

I'm looking for some advice as to where to prioritize resources ahead of applying this fall to business/public policy school.

My background...

Basics: 25, African-American Male

College: Non HYP Ivy League 2.92 GPA* in History

GMAT/GRE: Yet to take; 660 GMAT diagnostic

Work Experience:

College: Worked full time during school; Internships: Major Investment Bank Sales & Trading, Top Think Tank Strategy Group, Business School Research Assistant (2x), Business School Non-Profit Consulting Group, Local Business-Education Partnership that works with corporations and at-risk kids

Post College: Founded a tech startup after college (raised money, had advisers from McKinsey, UBS and several VCs) that didn't work out, 2 years of consulting at top consultancy (not MBB, but right below that...ahead of Big4), 3 months each at two Top tech startups doing business development & marketing contracts (both have Top teams & VC backing, top name recognition)

Awards: Congressional Citation for Public Service, Excellence award from consulting firm, Nominated for White House Fellowship for leadership & public service at consulting firm

Extracurricular:

College: co-founder of Club Lacrosse Team, VP of Club Tennis, Campus Paper, 501©3 Non-Profit I founded in high school working with at-risk kids, founded Black Legal Association, Public Speaking Group, Active Minds

Post-College: Several LGBT non-profits (strategy, fundraising, suicide hotline, etc.), Diversity initiatives at consulting firm

Interests: Social & Domestic Policy, Strategy, Entrepreneurship and its applications in the civic, private & public sector

Long-Term Goals: I want to successfully start and exit a tech company, but more important I want to have a seat at the table - and sometimes be at the head of the table - in addressing our major strategic challenges in the civic, private & public sectors. Specifically, I'm interested in how we can create public-private partnerships to address major social and domestic policy issues leveraging the power of technology and together as a community make things better - particularly for under-served groups such as women, minorities, LGBT people and children. All of my consulting experience is around strategy issues involving the intersection of the public and private sector (i.e. how an investment bank can re-organize due to Dodd-Frank, or how a retail pharmacy can re-strategize its product placement to optimize revenue/sq. ft anticipating bans of tobacco in their stores). I could see myself working at McKinsey's DC office for 2-3 years doing strategy for the public, finance, tech & civic sectors, then starting a company that hopefully does well then pursuing various entrepreneurial projects in social enterprise to tackle different domestic & social issues until running for office.

Target Schools: MBA: Stanford, Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg, Columbia, Tuck (alma mater); MPP/MPA: Harvard, Princeton Woodrow Wilson School, Penn, Stanford, Columbia

Essays: Mainly going to talk about whats motivated me along the way, how i've overcome adversity and why we're only going to get anywhere through working together as a community to not just seek change, but create change - and how i've been trying to understand and build the skills to do that (whether it be strategy, finance, marketing, etc.)

Recommendations: My managers have all really liked me and are big advocates. Only way I've gotten anywhere with my GPA. Coming from Harvard Kennedy, Kellogg, HBS and GSB alumni

So my big thing is my GPA is awful. Including a D in Price Theory, a W in Microeconomics, C+ in Calculus I, C in Game Theory and F in Calculus II. All of these classes were taken Freshman or Sophomore year and I had a general upward trend into Junior and Senior Year, but with a bump at the end when I was more focused on my startup (I got a B+, C+, C senior spring). I have explanations for the two terms were I had my lowest GPAs as I had some serious health issues, but even still quant is not my bread and butter. I did however get a B- in Macroeconomics and then a B in Advanced International Macroeconomics with a professor who used to be in the IMF & World Bank, and who actually got her MPA and Ph.D from WWS.

So my question is the following:

Should I take a semester of classes this fall, or just focus on rocking the GMAT/GRE? When I visited Stanford as part of their many voices program, I talked to each of the admission officers and they all said not to worry about extra classes and that they look at the application holistically - their advice is to just focus on doing well on the Quantitative section of the GMAT. With MPP programs however, those might be hard to get into without additional quant training.

Thoughts?

Edited June 15, 2012 by MattMcD03

[greendiplomat]

Could you do both? I got into WWS with a 3.28 with several (though admittedly not as many) poor grades in relevant classes also due to personal reasons at a non-HYP Ivy, and I think what made me competitive was the fact that I compensated through high GRE scores and A's my junior/senior years in advanced classes (some at the graduate-level) in the areas that I'd previously performed poorly in.

Also, I made sure to include a succinct, fact-based statement addressing this head-on in the "additional information" sections of each application. I think you would benefit from this, too. You otherwise seem to have a strong profile, so, with a strong statement of purpose that tells a compelling narrative, I think you might be competitive.

[MattMcD03]

I could definitely try to take 1-2 classes this fall on top of studying for exams. I figure it would be review and local college can't be terribly hard. At the same time Princeton is the only school that won't take GMAT and also I'm not sure they would like my profile as I'm interested in working with the public sector, not necessarily in the public sector (well not immediately anyway) and they're also not that friendly to joint MBA candidates it seems.

[method]

Your target list is incredibly optimistic for a 2.9/660 25-year old. 6 of the M7 MBA schools + WWS and HKS? If you're not "this cycle or bust," have at it, otherwise you might want to think about rotating in some schools that aren't as selective.

Between the coursework and standardized test score, work on your test score and take the GRE if the majority of your MBA list will let you take it. The GRE math is much easier than the GMAT math, and GRE scores aren't used in compiling MBA rankings which means schools are more likely to let you slide in with a below-average score.

Good luck!

[OregonGal]

I would suggest taking both quant classes and re-taking the tests--for one thing, by taking the quant/math courses you will in fact be reviewing the test topics, in a way that gets you a grade for a double benefit on your applications. You can review test-taking strategies outside of class to help boost your scores that way as well.

That being said... it sounds like your professional experience is fairly exceptional which should help you, but with a 2.9 and several failed/low-grade quant courses you'll need all the extra boost from scores/new grades you can get. Good luck!