Can you get into a top a business school (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton) with a 3.1 GPA from a university like USC, UCB, UT Austin?

No. Unless you solved hunger in an African country or founded a $100+M ARR company or negotiated world peace terms in some region. Of course, these are just illustrative examples. Otherwise, even with an awesome GMAT score, you're just an average person - why do you deserve to enter?

Anything is possible. If your academics don't distinguish you, you would be admitted primarily on your extra-curriculars. Is there a way to take a look at the profiles of the current Harvard, Stanford, or Wharton classes to see what they've done? Have you done something that would make you fit in with next year's class in the eyes of the admissions committee? If not, then you may have to go out accomplish some goals that make your GPA irrelevant.

As others have answered on similar threads, it isn't likely, but it may not be impossible. Harvard and Stanford typically have the highest average GPAs and GMAT scores, and Wharton's averages are similar. That being said, if someone went to a flagship public university such as Cal or UT or a good private school such as USC, majored in a challenging field such as electrical engineering or biochemistry, scored above 730 on the GMAT, and excelled in every other way in his or her career and extracurriculars, then, yes, admission is possible. Top MBA programs look at the entire application, not just the GPA. They actually read through the transcript to see what courses were taken and how well someone did in them. If there was a particular class or a particular term that brought down the GPA, then that can be addressed by the applicant. If there was an upward trend, then that will be noted. A low GPA is not a deal-breaker, but everything else has to be very strong. Realistically, these are extremely difficult schools to be admitted to, so candidates should target other schools as well. And it is possible to be very happy and do extremely well in one's career after attending MBA programs other than Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton! If you have more questions, feel free to contact me for a personal evaluation. http://admissionsunlimited.com/mba-admissions-consulting.html

Impossible? No. Highly difficult? Yes. Even if you had a 3.5+ GPA from a top tier undergrad program your odds are still pretty low. Luckily your GPA and undergrad only make up part of your profile. The more important question is have you demonstrated on your GMAT, work experience, and recommendations that you are one of the best performers in your field and that you have evidence of high potential after you graduate. Sell me on why you are a rock star and a low GPA from a public state school can be easily forgiven. Don't forget to leverage the optional essay to offer additional explanation into your GPA (if there is an actual reason behind it) or to offer something new about your profile to help compensate for this gap. Best of luck from the admissions team at Critical Square!

Amazingly unique experiences trump GPA. If you have founded a successful start up, cured AIDS, pioneered a new technology or any experience that makes it clear your path is anything but normal or cookie cutter I think you add value to an MBA class and have a much better shot at being admitted inspite of a 3.1 GPA, which I don't think is low at all. Go for it and good luck. All these answers are opinions and none of us are the actual admissions officers. "You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take." --someone famous said that

Of course you can.  It's unlikely though.  You might want to set your sights a little lower than HSW or at least have some backups. With that said, my GPA in undergrad at Berkeley was not very good.  But I was in a pretty tough major and had a decent enough story explaining why my GPA was low, etc.  It was enough to get me in.

Your best chance at an M7 (the top seven business schools in the United States) is to: 1. Demonstrate extraordinary leadership 2. Show relentless career advancement, 3. Ace the GMAT (750 or above), 4. Have amazing yet real (read honest) letters of recommendation, 5. Write tremendous essays. You must have a magnificent story and illustrate depth, breadth, character, vulnerability, integrity, but above all honesty in your essays 6. Have fantastic letter of recommendation letters. Real relationships with people who have an impact on people lives or the World. DON"T This is the only formula that will overcome a poor GPA, which you must be prepared to articulately explain. Even if you nail all of the above it will still be tough, but I have seen it done before. Your other option is this: Executive MBA. Unfortunately, two of the schools you mentioned don't have Executive MBAs (Harvard and Stanford), but the balance of the top schools do (Kellogg, MIT, Columbia, Chicago, Yale, Texas, Virginia, NYU, Wharton, UCLA, Cornell, LBS, etc) I personally feel that one year full time or Executive MBAs will be the future. Taking two year off to pay $150-200k with an additional $150-$300k in opportunity costs is an archaic model.