Hello,

I would like a realistic evaluation of my profile for candidacy.

Basic profile: Asian female, 34 yrs old, seeking a MS in Accounting.

My top two choices (and realistically the only schools I'd like to attend that I can afford): SUNY Binghamton and Baruch

My work experiences are unrelated to the field: I spent 7 years in Legal field (Real Estate paralegal for 2 years, then went to work for a developer for 5 years).

Then I basically spent past 2 years "soul searching" when younger brother passed away. I worked retail part time just to make the ends meet... spent a lot of time traveling/thinking... I just lived on my savings and basically didn't do much for the past two years. That part of my life is over now though.

I received a BS in accounting at SUNY Binghamton, but that was 10 years ago with a really low gpa (2.3). The only notable achievement was that my team placed first in a class-wide competition in which my share of the work was the determining factor (all team members received a monetary award and a recognition from the school of management).

I have no community involvement/club activities/internships outside of my involvement in high school. I worked full time throughout undergrad and up until 2 years ago to support myself - and even looking back now, I couldn't afford to sacrifice work hours for anything else outside of classes.

There are several demons I'm battling - mainly my age, and the uncertainty of whether I would perform well academically given my dismal gpa during my undergrad years - but if anything, I would like your input on whether I have a fair chance at the schools I am aiming for, or whether I should aim lower.

One of my advantages is that I have a clear reason as to why I want the MBA now (and yes, I shall work on collecting my thoughts and convincing the admins better). I would like to work towards a career and not just a job. Real Estate was just a job for me, and real estate brought me good fortunes, but the death of my brother and my aging parents really forced me to plan far ahead into the future. I have always been interested in the Tax field - in fact, I always kept up with the changes in tax regulations, and I even took the EA exam twice just to test my knowledge and passed both times. Another advantage is that I self-studied and passed all parts of the CPA exam, so I don't have to worry about that part. The problem is that I am unable to land any kind of even "slightly" reputable positions that would get my foot in the door without any accounting experience under my belt already, even after passing the CPA exam. Between landing a position at a small accounting firm and spending a year or two there for the experience, versus and MBA degree which is required for the new CPA candidates to even sit for the exam, and having higher likelihood of getting hired by more reputable firms upon graduation, the choice was simple.

I have not given a super serious thought on what I would like to do in the far future with the MBA, but I would most definitely be work in Tax field (IRS, advising, teaching.. etc). Basically, I want to be a tax professional.

Please advise on the following:

1) Are my target schools realistic with my less than stellar credentials? If not, are there any comparative schools that I should consider in terms of MS Accounting program reputation and cost?;

2) Do schools give any preference to the alums? I would like to attend my alma mater (Binghamton); and,

3) In terms of personal statement, how personal do I get? My brother's death have contributed significantly to my decision to attend grad school but I don't want to come across as if I'm begging for pity points.

Thank you so much in advance for your honest evaluation.

Oops, a piece of the missing puzzle: 700 GMAT score - I'm not 100% sure whether I can score higher if I retook the GMAT.