How To Get Into Harvard Business School With A 3.2 GPA

Okay, we admit it. The headline is a bit of clickbait. It’s not because today’s candidate on Fridays With Sandy didn’t get a 3.2 grade point average during his undergraduate years. It’s because Andrew Dominguez is hands down the most impressive MBA applicant who has ever undergone the Sandy Kreisberg treatment on Poets&Quants.
We’re not surprised that this 29-hear-old young professional was already interviewed by HBS and is awaiting his round two answer which will come in 11 days on March 31. During our video session, Andrew shares his interview experience via Skype with two Harvard admission officials and dishes on a series of tricky questions that came off a single, nearly throwaway line at the very bottom of his CV.
So even though he got a 3.2 from Loyola Marymount University, a non-feeder college to HBS, he is an extraordinary candidate who also gives other applicants an idea of what you’re up against when you push the submit button on your application to Harvard Business School.
He’s highly accomplished, smoothly articulate, super smart and his interests in Kierkegaard & Aquinas, along with English and Irish poetry studied in Dublin, belie his expertise in mechanical engineering. With a 730 GMAT and even splits on the verbal and quant, Andrew also has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering with a 3.74 GPA. He has worked for a medical startup for more than five years, helping to guide their sleep apnea product from start to finish, starting at the lab bench to manufacturing.
Right now, he is in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, playing a role in helping his current employer significantly boost the production of badly needed ventilators for patients sick with the disease. Oh, and did we mention, he has three patents to his name. Andrew has applied to only three schools: HBS, Oxford, and Cambridge.
Read more: poetsandquants.com/2020/03/20...

[@Bennnyak]

You can always tell, even if you don't have much interviewing experience, which candidates are all fluff and which candidates are substance. I get the feeling this guy is definitely confident in his background and it shows.

[@AriunOyun]

Thanks a lot for the content - it provided a great perspective into how non-traditional routes can be leveraged! Best of luck to Andrew.

[@karimkonsowa9693]

Really great video as always! With all the focus for MBA applications going towards superhuman candidates that have achieved 4.0 GPA's and 780 GMAT scores, I think it is always extremely helpful to do an analysis on candidates that possibly did not perform up to the stated averages but were still able to achieve a solid outcome with Ad Comms. Really looking forward to the next video with John and Sandy!

[@michaelmatsheza2261]

This fellow is one of the best presenters I have seen on Poets and Quants.

[@harshamohan9555]

This is highly motivating!

[@RMaliek]

Loyola Marymount University produces some of the most abstract, eclectic, and career ambitious students. The current student body president of Harvard Medical School is the first black female president of the school and served previously as LMU's president. I'm a proud Lion. Congratulations Andrew!

[@MM14JR]

Andrew is currently doing an EMBA at the University of Oxford

[@ykitten5857]

really? how did u know

[@MM14JR]

@@ykitten5857 LinkedIn

[@cr-it5lh]

wow ..

[@MM-br1hm]

He's so likeable.

[@sandykreisberg4630]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHm7iK1qjbycb9k for another candidate with even lower GPA who has good shot at HBS

[@sunnydays405]

Kinda click bait, this guy has a Masters in Mech E and had a 3.87 GPA in that along with 3 patents. A low undergrad GPA doesn't really mean anything at that point.

[@ladderhero6266]

sunny I can assure you no one who got 3.2 undergrad GPA and then went on to do nothing extraordinary got into Harvard Business School

[@sunnydays405]

​@@ladderhero6266 So you're agreeing with me that the title is clickbait then? From the title, it feels like he never got a Masters because they're highlighting his undergraduate studies

[@ladderhero6266]

Nah I think you’re just missing the point completely, especially since the only undergrad stuff they talked about is Philosophy-related.

[@sunnydays405]

@@ladderhero6266 What does that have to do with anything. I'm saying the title is misleading if the guy has a masters, what they actually talk about in the video is irrelevant. They could have put "Masters with a 3.87 GPA" but they didn't because the undergrad title would clickbait people

[@ladderhero6266]

And they specifically explain how someone with an average GPA can get into Harvard: get a good masters GPA, find a job in an exciting industry, and have a significant impact at your job, and then learn present yourself well when you interview. The title “How to get into Harvard with a 3.2 GPA” isn’t clickbait because they actually explain how you can get into Harvard with a 3.2 GPA.

[@elizabethwang362]

Could we have an update? Did Andrew get in?

[@andrewdominguez5199]

Yes

[@kaiyuan2893]

Love the content, gota lose the park background tho

[@tahseenomar]

Great interview! Thanks for sharing. But honestly I think Sandy needs to interrupt less. Would have made it much more enjoyable to watch.

[@seandmello3793]

never diss my boy Sandy again

[@khadijad2427]

HE APPLIED TO ALL OF THOSE SCHOOLS WITH A 3.2????

[@andrewdominguez5199]

Yep :)

[@derek400004]

@@andrewdominguez5199 you absolute madman! congrats on Oxford!

[@andrewdominguez5199]

@@derek400004 thanks; this worked out the best for my family.

[@jahongir2318]

@@andrewdominguez5199 good luck at Oxford!) By the way, did you get into HBS?

[@andrewdominguez5199]

@@jahongir2318 Yep

[@investcho]

surprise he didn't go to any bschool

[@andrewdominguez5199]

I’m doing an EMBA at Oxford due to the pandemic.

[@CareersWithMaud]

@@andrewdominguez5199 did you get into Havard?

[@andrewdominguez5199]

@@CareersWithMaud Yep

[@sheppy5152]

@@andrewdominguez5199you’re an incredibly likeable individual, hope your future is filled with even more success!