jane

07-04-2003, 06:01 PM

Jane,

Despite your below average GPA and poor performance in the math classes during your senior year, I would not rule out a top-10 program. I do have some additional questions/suggestions though:

1) How does your GMAT quantitative score look? Is it above the 80th percentile? The schools will need some strong evidence that your performance in those math classes was a fluke, and the GMAT is a great place to demonstrate that.

2) Why did you get D's in math during your senior year? Is there a compelling reason that you could point to as a way of explaining the grades in a supplemental essay?

3) Have you retaken the courses that you received D's in? You may want to spend the remaining months of the summer pursuing a couple of math courses and getting A's to show the committee that you are ready for the challenges of returning to the classromm, etc. This kind of alternative transcript can be VERY valuable in the MBA admissions process.

As a female MBA applicant with solid work experience from Deloitte, you should absolutely be targeting the top MBA programs. You will just need to address your college performance and put together a really solid set of applications. Please email us directly if you would like to set up a free initial consultation regarding your candidacy. We are also currently offering a discount for clients who sign up to work with us prior to July 15th (www.clearadmit.com/earlydiscount.html).

Best of luck,

Graham
info@clearadmit.com

Questions: When you say take classes this summer. Do you mean @ a JC? or major university. I travel so is okay to do online courses? What types of math classes should I enroll in? Would it look bad if I do it so late in the game? Would it look better if I had done it right after undergrad?

Jane,

Thanks for your reply. My responses are below:

1) You can take courses at a community college, junior college or major university - whatever is most convenient to your schedule. Prestige should not be the determining factor here (although it never hurts to take evening classes at a program that might be well known).

2) Ideally you should take courses that prepare you for business school - not business school classes themselves, but classes that build the foundations for success in business school. Start with a calculus course (unless you were a math major and find you should start at a higher level). You might also consider a statistics/regression analysis course. Beyond that, you could clearly pursue micro or macro economics classes or simply take higher level math and stats courses. Finally, you could try and retake the courses that you performed poorly in at college, but only if you deem them relevant to your MBA studies.

3) There is no negative association with you taking the courses the summer/fall prior to submitting your application - in fact it is quite common. Had you taken these outside classes upon graduation from college it would actually be worth less to you now - since the committee is looking for a recent indication of your skills in these areas.

4) As far as online courses are concerned, I would generally avoid them - but if you do pursue a course online, you should try to do so from a brand-name institution. I believe UCLA, Berkeley and perhaps Columbia offer some sort of online courses in these subjects.

Best of luck with your applications,

Graham
info@clearadmit.com