Re: Delete
[#permalink]
27 Dec 2012, 21:05
Before I begin, I'll say that I'm not an admissions rep but somebody else who is applying to MAcc programs, but I've spent a decent amount of time doing research. My advice can be harsh, but I'll be as straight with you as I can be.
Okay, you're what's referred to in admissions parlance as a 'splitter' - somebody who did well in one key quantitative area (your GMAT isn't God-tier ridiculous like a 780, but it is above average for every program I know of and breaking 700 is a psychological thing with admissions in addition to just a percentile thing) and poorly in the other. That 2.85 GPA will be by far your biggest obstacle because it will have you at the bottom or very close to it of the GPA range at all of those schools, and your major wasn't hard enough to wipe that away (don't take that personally, I'm a finance major as well) like it would if you majored in something like Chemical Engineering.
One thing you definitely have going for you is that your ECs are very good. As a rule, ECs don't carry you as far in accounting as they would in finance, and that's true in admissions as well as hiring, but they'll help to counterbalance the GPA. The whole' CFO at a start-up' bit? Highlight the hell out of that, because that in particular will look very good.
I couldn't give you percentage chances, but here's my gut-feeling guess:
UNC - Decent (UNC has a very different admissions program from that at most schools, and your ECs will probably go a lot further there)
USC and UTA - Modest (Your GPA is quite a bit lower than average, but I know Austin actually only counts your final couple years or something like that, so you might actually be fine there)
Michigan - Low (Very high quantitative focus at Michigan, as a rule, and your GMAT probably isn't far enough above their average to outweigh the GPA)
Anyway, congrats on the good GMAT and best of luck to you! Keep us all posted!