Hi all,

I graduated from a top-50 university but got a very low GPA (2.5 out of 4.0). My GMAT score is 680 and have 5-year work experience. Is there any chance I get into a good MBA program?

Yes I think so. I think a good GMAT score like yours and solid work experience + good letters + good interview and you should still be a very competitive candidate.

Thank you very much, DSanderson.

Do some research on the schools that you are interested in - many of them have GPA averages for admitted students as publicly available information. NYU Stern's average is 3.8; Booth's is 3.5.

If you're looking into top programs like these, your GPA is considerably lower than the average ranges - so you will have some explaining to do! Address this issue in your personal statements, not trying to excuse poor academic performance but framing it more holistically, for example: you started school without an idea about what you wanted to do in life, and performed poorly before you found a sense of direction. All of these great things that happened afterwards - work experience with great references, a high GMAT score, etc., prove this. Something like that.

Schools get this. Harvard, for example, says that

Although our students often have competitive undergraduate GPAs, there are many other equally important components of the application. GPA is just one factor the Admissions Board uses to evaluate a candidate.