Does anyone know of any success stories of getting into (or getting interviewed) at top 10 schools with a low gpa - mine is a 3.0?  I'm interested in HBS/S/Yale but know all three tend to be "gpa snobs" so I'm unsure if it would make sense to even apply. I was a Finance major at a top 10 undergrad bschool that was not known for giving out A's (some classes were graded on a Bell curve). Thanks!

Just wondering, how can someone be interested in H/S and Yale? I mean there are like 15 other schools in between H/S and SOM, the latter sucking quite a bit and the former being the top MBA programs of the world?

Seriously? I suggest actually doing your research prior to leaving an ignorant response.   Yale has the best nonprofit program in the nation and for similar reasons is why I am interested in S. HBS is well HBS.

 

Meh, I've heard this non-profit talk before, but seems that few actually could have gotten in at a top school turned one down for Yale. Specialty rankings don't matter nearly as much as overall rep.

Meh, you are at Wharton what do you care? Financial people can't understand non-profit to save their lives.

We can't understand finance either :-/

Yale does have the best non-profits program in the country, that said, all 3 of these schools admit the vast majority of their students as general MBA applicants (not non-profits specific which is a small niche), and it is true, you are comparing apples and oranges here (H/S attracting a different applicant pool entirely vs Yale SOM).  Whatever your GPA, your chances of getting into SOM will be VASTLY greater than they would be of getting into H or S.  It's true that all 3 of these schools give a lot of weight to GPA, but at H/S you will be competing with the best of the best - many students who apply to only H/S, or some combination of H/S/W/K/Chi/MIT, and have stellar work experience, GMAT's and GPA's.  At Yale SOM you will be competing with people who are applying to the higher ranked schools above, but don't get in, as well as a lot of people who apply to mainly Cornell, Michigan, Duke, Darden, CMU, etc.  Far less of these people are going to be the "total package" (super high GPA, GMAT and great work experience).  So you've definitely got a much better shot there.

 

 

 

Well put. You just wrote it in a bit more diplomatic manner, but this is indeed essentially my point ;)

Thanks all for the replies. While I agree that H &S are two of the best bschools in the world, Y and S's curriculum and overall rep for social business/nonprofit is pretty similar.

Timothy - Do you know any dual degree students at Wharton who are studying at SAIS in DC as well? I am applying to SAIS and was thinking of combining the two degrees and am curious to hear your thoughts.

Yale's rep for nonprofits is excellent, it's true, but your question was geared towards admissions, and as others have pointed out, from an admissions point of view, Yale SOM is a very very different animal from HBS or Stanford.