Art museum/nonprofit background low GPA/high GMAT-- HELP!

[MBB300]

Hello, I would very much appreciate some input on my case - I have a bit of an odd situation with an atypical background and I'm not sure what sort of schools I have a shot at. I'm interested in H/S, Haas, Yale, Columbia, Stern, maybe Kellogg -- is that totally unrealistic? What can I do to make myself a more competitive applicant?

-28 year old, white, female
-Top 20 liberal arts college (think: Wesleyan, Vassar, Oberlin)
-Major: Art History
-Undergraduate GPA: 3.1 (polarized grades -- one year of extenuating life circumstances that can be written about in an application, but not on an internet forum).
-Nonprofit Management Graduate Certificate (6 courses) from a well known national university w/ 4.0 GPA
-After the graduate certificate, I took: Intro Finance, Intro Accounting, Intro Microeconomics, Stats I, and Calculus I w/ 4.0 GPA
-GMAT: 760 (I've only taken it once - might be able to raise it to something like a 770-780)

-I volunteer weekly at a domestic violence shelter and maintain an active feminist/socio-political blog, but most of my free time, over the past few years, has been taken up by studying math in order to make myself a more competitive MBA applicant.

-Work experience: interned at art galleries and an art museum, managed a women's clothing boutique, worked as an art gallery assistant at three galleries (press releases, sales, managing client files, marketing strategizing, etc.), marketing and development assistant, and also promoted from gallery assistant to development and executive assistant at an international, well-publicized start-up art gallery (which is my current position).

Why I'm interested in an MBA:

Directors of galleries and museums have, in the past, typically come from curatorial backgrounds, but it seems ludicrous to me that the directors - the people at the helm of these multi-million and often, in the case of major museums, multi-billion dollar ships - do not have the requisite management and financial backgrounds to run these nonprofit organizations in a more efficient manner. I would like to move from my position of assisting the directors to becoming a director myself. I would like to gain the business acumen I believe is necessary to positively influence the way these institutions are managed.

What are your thoughts?

My last comment: if my low undergraduate GPA and atypical background is too much for top 10 schools to blink at, would investing in an MA in Art Business or trying to get a management/directorial related position (or even something in nonprofit management consulting) and then applying in a couple more years improve my lot?

Thank you so much!

[mbamissionjenK]

Hi there,

Thanks for posting and sharing. Your story and profile are quite interesting. While your background is definitely less typical, that CAN sometimes help, in terms of allowing you to stand out and be remembered... IF you make a strong case for the WHY... why you need the degree; why now; why this school, etc. And I think you do have a good start here on that explanation. Schools may appreciate your unique perspective, as well as your excellent GMAT!

I'd say you have the following strengths at this point:

-unique non-traditional background (could be a pro or a con, but if you can illustrate what you'll bring to the class; how you HAVE developed leadership & management skills; and WHY you know you need the degree.... is more of a pro)

-Great GMAT! No need to re-take!

-volunteering

-unique perpesective to bring to the class based on your work experience

And the following weaknesses or potential challenges:

-GPA as you know; though yes you can address in the apps AND all of the coursework you've done since then is admirable and will help as well

-your work experience right now (without seeing your resume etc) sounds as though it could be a bit fragmented?? Not sure the timeframe of all of those different roles? Showing a bit more continuity and commitment could be preferred but again tough to assess from this.

-just again confirming that you know what you're getting into and that the MBA is right for you, and that you know what you'll do with it upon graduating etc.

Of course admission to a top school is never easy, but I think you can still give some top tier schools a shot and see what happens. Let us know what other q's you have or sign up for a free consultation at any point at www.mbamission.com/consult. Good luck!