optional essay- GMAT score - extra classes

Jumping in on this thread. Got virtually the same score as you with the same breakup From all the e-mails I have been exchanging with adcom assistants (and some directors) the picture is pretty clear- if you are an expat working overseas and weak in Quant, then take an on-line stats and calc course. I might recommend the UC-online system https://explore.berkeley.edu/UCExt/cours ... n=Internet

The courses aren't cheap, but then again nothing in this MBA game is.

By the way, which country are you were working in?

Thanks for the link Matt. It was to a microeconomics course...is that what adcom recommended?


Do you recommend enrolling and sending some verification that you did so, or is it enough to just mention it in the optional essay that you plan to do it? I took the GMAT twice actually and brought my quant. up. I think you did too if I remember right. I was thinking about bringing up my improvement in the optional essay, but I'm not sure.


I'm in Ukraine right now (from Rocky Mountain High, too)

Googlore,

Yes, it was a link to a microeconomics course, one of which happens to be offered through their online system. If you navigate the site a little, especially under Mathematics, I think you will find what you are looking for. There is a caveat though, the Stats/Calc classes do tend to fill up quickly, so I suggest you jump on the waiting list as soon as possible.

Of course, there are several other options besides UC-online. If you want to save a few bucks (or in your case, hryvnia), just order the textbook, do the exercises included, and take a CLEP test at the same PVue center where you took the GMAT in Kiev. This also gives you greater flexibility to study at your own pace. CLEP tests are available for a vast number of courses.

Now back to your question at hand; once again, depending on the school you are applying to (I assume we are applying to equally ranked programs) for the most part you CAN mention academic work in progress while your application is being processed. A certain ~#15 adcom staff just confirmed so in an e-mail she sent out YESTERDAY. She did however, mention that an applicant may be provisionally admitted until the results of those courses (ie. transcripts) become available. Like many others here, including yourself, I will be applying in R2 (and even R3) while taking similiar online courses. Add to that possible interviews, campus visits, and work committments, and you get the brewing of one very busy spring season...

OK, so you got my attention dropping the phrase "Rocky Mountain High." Which state do you hail from? Utah? Montana? Whyoming? Or do you just enjoy listening to John Denver?

Good luck with your math studies...

Poka Poka,

Matt

im in a similar situation except my GMAT score is great (Q50 V36) but my GPA is weak. I am addressing this in my optional essay showing that last year in college tracked toa higher GPA....volunteering and exc. activities led to bad time mangement... and I've been taking some communitycollege courses (macro econ) and am enrolled in management principles and corp taxation to show that I am capbable of receiving great grades...

Colorado!!!! Born and raised!

Well, I have a little predicament. I can't afford the on-line course right now, but I haven't done much research outside of the link you sent. I also looked up the CLEP test centers and unfortunately there is nothing in Kiev. Thanks for the suggestion anyways, it's all new to me.

Question Matt, have you taken stats before as an undergrad? I have so I'm really confused about how adcom will look at me taking the same courses again that I took in undergrad. I got good grades in these classes, but my GMAT doesn't reflect it. Hmmm...Thanks for you help.

this is a little old, but still relavent to our discussion about taking extra classes. I found it on the Business Week site.

A Chat with Columbia's Admissions Director

A talk with Linda Meehan, assistant dean and executive director for admissions and financial aid at Columbia Business School
Dec. 13, 2001

Q: What can liberal arts students do to prove that they can handle the work?
A: What's important is that the person has gone through whatever program, at whatever school, and tried to take full advantage of where they were and what they were taking. And we hope they've done really well. If they haven't, we're going to consider when this happened and whether they had other obligations, such as helping to support their family. They may have been working full-time to go to school.

We're also going to look at the GMAT score a little more closely. I would expect that GMAT score to be a little bit stronger to help compensate and to persuade the committee that this person is going to excel.

Q: Can strong grades in post-graduate quantitative courses help an applicant?
A: Oftentimes, students think that if they take a statistics or an accounting course it will help their application if they didn't do particularly well in their undergraduate work. What I always say is, if you want to take a stats course or an accounting course, do it because you want to and because it's going to make you feel more comfortable in the competitive quantitative environment. We're going to generally use your undergraduate performance and your GMAT score. If you are borderline with both of those, having taken a statistics course and doing really well will make people pay attention. But attacking one course in a continuing education class or at a community college is different than carrying a full load of coursework.

Western or eastern slope? Same here, born in Silverton (near Durango) and grew up in Grand Junction. What a small planet- amazing!

Sorry, I actually gave you some misinformation in the previous post. CLEP tests are available for mico/macro economics, not statistics. If you have already completed stats during undergrad, and passed with a (B-) or higher, which it seems like you did, then chances are you won't need to enroll in an online course prior to matriculation. On the contrary, I never took a math class beyond college algebra/geometry, which not only pulled down my GMAT quant, but has also forced me to explore options to help level the playing field by next fall. Word is that if you can't handle stats, plan on getting your ass kicked in B1.

There are still other options. You can always just order the exact same text used via that $$$$ UC online course and work through the book independently. Most schools offer tests on campus during the summer before you enroll, allowing you to place out of certain core courses such as the ones we are discussing.

Incidentally, is Columbia on your short list?

See you around Googlore,

Matt

BTW: You heading home for the holidays? Seeing how you are based in Kiev, it's probably even further over the Atlantic to DIA as it is across the Pacific from KIX.

I wish! Staying here for X-Mas. I want to go back to the 2 ft. of snow where I live snow in SE Denver!
Columbia is my reach school. Wouldn't be so much of a one without the GMAT Achilles heel. Good luck on your courses and thanks again for the info.!

I spoke with someone from Admissions at Cornell, and here's what she said:

If you've taken the class before and did fine, don't do it again.

If you want to prove you're quant-savvy, don't do econ or acctg - those classes don't require enough high-end number manipulation.

Stats should be the first one you take. Then calc, acctg, econ, finance.

Be careful where you take them - many community colleges and other online courses are going to offer classes at a level that is simply not rigorous. She was also a big fan of the UC-Berkeley online extension courses.

From other sources - definitely mention that you're taking classes. The guys at Haas said they'd want you to be doing it for credit and may ask you to submit a mid-term report or something like that. I was going to informally audit a course at Cornell, but the Haas boys convinced me otherwise. (But they're kind of quant-snobby if you ask me)

As for cost - don't forget about the Lifetime Learning Credit from our friends at the IRS. It essentially provided me a nice discount on the class. Form 8863 is your friend. And if you live in NYS, you can get a $200 refundable credit. Now, that's good stuff.

Belated thanks for that post. Big help.

glad to hear it!

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