Newbie help?

Hey Teja,

1. With respect to the GMAT, you should only take it after giving yourself ample time to prep. Although it might not the be most important part of your app, a low score could bar you from the top bschools regardless of the rest of your app. On the other hand a stellar score can make up for less than spectacular grades other small weaknesses on your app. A lot people say that it's easier to study for it during school, but personally when I was in senior year I was too busy wrapping finishing up thesis papers, studying for exams and enjoying my last couple of months of school to study. So if you think you can better focus when you start working then by all means take it then. But if you have some downtime now as you mentioned in your post and can focus, then by all means start studying. You should take a practice test from the official GMAT site to estimate what you can get now and how and where you need to improve. This will allow you to see how long you'll need to study. To keep some discipline in your studying schedule, I suggest you sign up for the exam early on.

2. If you plan to go to bschool after only working 2-3 years then you better show some good leadership experience. Since it's difficult to obtain through work since you'll be stuck in a relatively junior role, I suggest you sign up for some extracurricular activities that lets you demonstrate your leadership potential. Also try to take on some interesting projects at work. I understand the feeling of having a boring job, as I'm in the same boat. However, I decided unless I want to look for another job (difficult in this economy) I better make the best of it. So try to distinguish yourself at work and impress your superiors. This way you'll get good recs and have something interesting to put on your resume.

3. I don't think having a MS degree in CS will help or hurt you. However, you will need to explain why you decide to get the MS degree and are going back to get an MBA so soon after you got your MS in CS.

4. From what I understand your academic performance during undergrad is the sole basis for the GPA criteria. I'm sure that they do look at the grades from your masters but that's not given nearly the same amount of weight as your undergrad GPA. I think the only situation where you have a case for them to put more weight on your masters GPA is if you bombed college for some reason (ie illness, family troubles blah blah blah) and your masters GPA is stellar proving you're not an idiot.