cowtippincricket wrote:
I am currently a student in UT Austin's (McCombs) Masters in Professional Accounting program. The program is extremely competitive and has consistently ranked number one in various rankings for this type of masters. My classes are taken in some cases about half and half with MBA students.
I have accepted a job with a big four firm in New York. I plan on getting my CPA in the next two years, and plan on working for the next three years. I am sitting on a 640 GMAT score(34 verbal, 44 quantitative, and 6.0 Analytical Writing) and a 3.6 undergraduate GPA(Double major in Accounting and Political Science). The GMAT score will not be expired by the time I begin to apply.
I have a good group of extracurricular activities including various honors organizations and I played all four years for my undergrad football team.
I want to go to the best B-school possible and wanted some advice.
How much will this first master's help in my admission to an MBA program?
Is the GMAT going to keep me out of a top 10 program?
What are the best B-schools you think I could be competitive at?
Thank You for your time and help!
cowtippincricket,
The first master's will help you to the extent that it shows your ability to successfully handle a rigorous program at a top school that is not too dissimilar from an MBA program. It is a positive. A master's is not unusual among B-schools applicants, however, and it does compel you to explain to the B-schools why, given that you earned that master's then, you want an MBA now (convince them you are not (a) confused or (b) a degree collector).
Yes, your current GMAT will keep you out of the top ten schools unless you were from an unusual or underrepresented demographic or had some powerful personal story. If you retake the GMAT and get 700+, however, the 640 won't matter very much to them at all. You do have a great GPA which you can always use to try to offset the GMAT.
It's very difficult to talk about what schools you can get into if I don't know your goals. Do you mean which schools you could get into now given your current work experience and GMAT? Maybe Cornell, Rochester, Georgetown, Iowa, Notre Dame, Ohio State -- schools like that.
Good luck,
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Paul Bodine /
Author, Great Applications for Business School and Perfect Phrases for Business School Acceptance
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