2019 MACC Admissions Thread

Accepted my Notre Dame offer!

Posted from my mobile device

GMAT: N/A, GRE of 163/160/5.
GPA: Converted gpa of ~3.6
Undergrad (major/type of school): Finance
Work experience: Broker internship, various biology research internships and hospital internships

Schools applied (applying to): UNC, Stern, UTA, USC
Schools accepted: Waiting on the rest
Schools denied: UNC
Most likely to attend: Was going to be UNC.

I'm thinking maybe I bombed the interview? I thought it went well.

Hmm that's strange. Your GPA and test scores are above average for UNC. Hope this was just a fluke and that good results are ahead!

Thanks! I appreciate the well-wishes. I kind of wish I knew why I was rejected (not even wait-listed). I assumed that because I went in for an interview it wasn't anything to do with my transcripts/tests and something to do with the interview. Although I have a varied background in science research as well as a banking and finance degree with a broker internship so maybe they thought I would be a better fit elsewhere? Really sucked because I've been around UNC growing up and have done research here and been a Summer School student and employee at UNC as well. Pretty disappointed.

EDIT; Will now be applying additionally to Wake Forest and College of William and Mary.

What is everyone's thoughts on UIUC? I don't seem to find many who've applied there despite the program's high ranking.

Hello,
I am international accepted to UVA program with a 60% scholarship and Virginia Tech with a GA position that pays all tuition.
With the current situation with immigration, Which one will be more suitable for me?

Thanks

GMAT: 690
GPA:3.5
Undergrad (major/type of school): Sociology/Top 20 (according to US News)
Work experience: 1 year at a non-profit, several internships (not accounting related)

Schools applied (applying to): USC, UNC, Wake Forest, UT Austin, OSU
Schools accepted: UNC (w/ $8K), Wake Forest (w/ $12K)
Schools denied: N/A
Most likely to attend: No idea!

Has anyone heard back yet? I've been applying to everything close to the deadline

Can anyone chime in on the interview questions from Wake Forest? I've been able to research pretty much every other program interview but the only thing I've found for WFU is the following quip:

"More about yourself and goals and plan. The only research that might be required is giving an answer to why Wake."

Is this accurate? It's from 2 years ago.

Just to answer this I was rejected (confirmed from director) because of an old biology degree from 2014 that had low grades (2.7) . I assumed that restarting with a finance undergrad and achieving 3.7 would show my growth or overwrite it, but they seemed to think that an older degree I no longer use was somehow relevant for an incoming finance graduate with high grades.

To anyone else that has an older degree that may not be very good - really consider how you want to present your information. I think I was rejected for a completely irrelevant reason, especially when all my other qualifications were higher than their averages. If you have a new degree really check to see if you need to submit an older one as well (double check the wording they use for undergraduate experience).

I interviewed and was accepted to Wake Forest in January. The interview was mostly behavioral, "tell me about a time...," and they wanted to know why Wake. They left some time at the end for me to ask questions about their program. It was pretty straightforward, I heard back within a week too.

Much appreciated. My interview with them is in about 12 hours and I'm hopeful. I was accepted into William and Mary as well with 15k scholarship but after running numbers it would still cost me 73k+ to attend (Due to the cost of the Summer bootcamp). I'm guaranteed a sizeable scholarship with Wake as long as I get accepted so hopefully, it'll be the school I attend.

Updating this because Wake got back to me with a decision 2 days after my interview lol:

Schools applied (applying to): UNC, Stern, UTA, USC, Baruch, William and Mary, Bentley, Wake Forest
Schools accepted: Bentley (20% scholarship per semester), W&M (15k total scholarship), Wake (7500 per semester scholarship)
Schools denied: UNC, Stern, UTA
Most likely to attend: Was going to be UNC. Now thinking Wake.

W&M seems to have a really nice program that's incredibly well rounded but the costs for an out of state student are incredible - here's a run down:

I can provide links as references for each item if necessary.

62,010 Full program cost estimate (includes tuition, housing, meals, one off charges, medical, software, books, etc)
22,050 Summer bootcamp tuition
2,546 + 2,056 Summer housing and food.
15,000 scholarship awarded
I'm coming out with a total cost of 62,010 + 22,050 + 2,546 + 2,056 - 15,000 = 73,662 to attend William and Mary.

One of the biggest hits is the Summer bootcamp as I am a non-accounting undergrad. I'm currently in the middle of asking Wake about whether they're willing to extend the scholarship to their own Summer program, but if they aren't I need to start looking at aid for that as well. That said, Wake's is way cheaper anyway at around half the price of W&M's.

EDIT; Got asked to interivew at USC, but their first available interview date is May 1st. I will not even bother.

I have been following your story here with a bit of interest and honestly it got me to register.

I am not sure exactly what was said when you spoke with the director - I am assuming based on the timelines - you got a biology degree, then started a finance degree soon after, and then after that want to get an accounting degree. This is combined with internships but no work in those fields - this is my honest impression (and I only taught English as an adjunct) but they would honestly view you as a professional student, and some schools would honestly think that after you graduated you would be looking for the next field to study.

Provided you do not have a ton of debt, I would recommend going where you want to work - Wake Forest if you want NC, William and Mary (who you can always ask for more money) if you want VA/MD/DC.

Let me clarify some things:

I have a COMPLETE undergraduate Biology degree. Extensive research experience during this degree. Graduation 2014
I have a COMPLETE undergraduate Finance degree. Brokerage internship during this degree. Graduation 2018

There is about 1 year difference between the completion of my Biology degree and the START of my Finance Degree. During this year I completed hundreds of hours volunteering and working in medical settings and hospitals in positions of responsibility taking care of patients, conferring on diagnoses, learning from active patient case studies, and attending and even assisting in surgeries. I did OK on the MCAT and was actually accepted into medical school thanks to my research and volunteer experience. I did not pursue medicine, obviously.

One of the biggest reasons for choosing to get a finance degree in the undergraduate is because I wanted a clean slate when it came to this field of study and career choice. I did not feel that my Biology performance accurately depicted what I was capable of.

The fact that I managed to get my Finance degree with the equivalent of a 3.7 GPA (whereas my Biology had a 2.7) shows my growth and commitment. Frankly, I would have loved to explain this to them, had they given me any notion that they cared. Even during my interview with UNC, I was not asked about my previous degree and more importantly, my grades. According to them, the inconsistencies in my undergraduate performance were the biggest factor for my rejection, and yet they didn't even feel the need to bring it up during my interview. I had a few other interviews and no one seemed to care about this. The difference is that they actually accepted me after.

I've been accepted to Baruch, William & Mary, Wake Forest, Bentley, and had an interview offer from USC which I turned down. I'm sure it's subjective to some degree, but I wouldn't necessarily consider UNC more prestigious or difficult than most of the other places that accepted me - much the opposite, in fact. The funny part is that I'm a Chapel Hill resident, both my parents worked at AND retired from UNC. I've been a Summer school student there, I've worked there, I've volunteered there, and I've done research there in several labs. But in the end, they chose to focus on some irrelevant aspect of my application that I wouldn't have even submitted had they not asked specifically.