Build me

mbaInMySights,

It would be hard for me to suggest in general terms what very good work experience and extracurriculars would be since they can vary so widely. It's a "know it when I see it" proposition. It might be better if you told me what yours are, and I'll give you some feedback.

"Alternative transcript" is just another term for acing courses in MBA-related subjects or the subjects that gave you trouble as an undergrad. If you take the classes at a rinky-dink community college you haven't really proved your point.

It is possible to transfer from one program to another, but it's uncommon and not easy. You would have to really shine in your first year at a lower-ranked school to convince a higher-ranked school to let you in. It does happen, but I don't recommend this path. Better would be to aim for the part-time programs at top schools. These are often easier to get into than the full-time programs.

It's not that low undergrad grades are an automatic ding excuse for Top 10 adcoms. They can be overcome. It's just that when you have so many flawless applicants to choose from, why take a chance with one who has a major negative? The top schools have that kind of breadth of quality to choose from.

Good luck!

Thanks for taking your time to respond. I will take what you mentioned and try to work towards making myself as ideal as I can.

Well, I need to get past my low GPA. For me, the way to do that would be to get accepted to some college (any) towards a Masters. Whether the field will be for Computer Science (which is a harder GRE), or something else like Business (easier GRE), will take some thinking on my part. Then I will try to piggy-back from that accepting school towards a better masters program in another school.

I will continue to build as great a GPA as I can, and then take my GMAT towards an MBA. Sound good?

As for the extra-curriculars, that will be worked on along the way. This is understandably going to take time, but that is my game plan so far...

mbaInMySights,

Earning a master's in order to get the grades to get into an MBA program doesn't make sense to me, nor do I think it is necessary. An alternative transcript, high GMAT, and otherwise wonderful application will get you in somewhere good. Remember, that schools place less emphasis on grad school grades than undergrad grades anyway. They *assume* the former will be better than the latter and in my experience they almost always are.

Good luck,

Thank you, Accepted, I will focus on an alternative transcript. My intention in taking a Masters would have been, I thought, to improve my GPA and not end up wasting classes for no reason: if nothing became of the MBA, then at least a master's would be down the pipe-line. However, I will look into your alternative transcript, as that is the only alternative (aside from a high GMAT) to rid myself of these shackles.

I read the other thread (What alt. transcript classes to compensate for low gpa?) where you advised Sangitahk about certain classes he was inquiring about (like statistics, calculus). Should I just try to model my class choices as to those in the MBA program?

mbaInMySights,

B-schools want to see that you can handle certain basic business-relevant thinking skills--like handling calculus and statistics, maybe accounting. Beyond those core qualifications, they probably don't care that you've taken a course in Corporate Finance or Organizational Behavior. In fact, they may wonder why you are bothering to take courses that will get at business school.

Another way to overcome low GPA is to pass certification exams in disciplines that business schools know have difficult exams, such as CFA, CPA, etc. Of course, you only want to do that if the certification is relevant to your career goals.

Good luck,

Thanks for your help, and I'll keep you up to date with the latest developments...

You're welcome and good luck.

Alright, well, it has been about two months since the last post, so I'd thought I'd update my status. I am STILL going to get the MBA, and so in preparation I signed up for these classes that will occur during August and September at the behest of a friend who scored into the 97%th for his LSAT. Its testtakers.net, I believe.

I bought books before, but they explicitly state not to do anything except the class, of which I am happy to oblige . Aw well.

mbaInMySights,

Thanks for the update. You're on the right track. Don't give up.

Well hello again, everyone. It looks like the last time that I posted was quite a bit of time ago, so I will go ahead and update you regarding my progress so far.

I eventually didn't go to the testmasters GMAT sessions. The first time that I signed up for the session they couldn't find a teacher in time and cancelled it. I opted to use my funds to wait for the next session (and another subsequent couple of months), and wait for that. Time came, and yet again they ended up cancelling the session due to an inability to guarantee a teacher. This was up to the last week before the scheduled tests....for the second time. Goodbye testmasters.

I signed up with Kaplan, using pretty much the same amount that I got from my rebate and going with the sessions being given within the time frame that I needed.

They gave me a diagnostic, of which I purposefully went in blind. I got a 380. Yes! Just kidding, I wasn't discouraged as I really did want an assessment of where I was before the class.

As of this point, I finished the sessions, which lasted for about two months. Due to the bulk of the material, as well as my insistence of improving my knowledge of the fundamentals of math which I felt were lacking, I have fallen behind. I had originally planned to take the GMAT towards the end of this year, but will push it into early January, giving me about two/three much needed weeks to prepare. I have some confidence into this going in, and at times just want to get it over with.

My feelings are that I am strong in the verbal, with the exception of sentence correction. I need to step up my game in math, which I have reviewed the fundamentals by purchasing the Kaplan math review and completing every problem in each chapter (up to chapter five right now), and redoing my quizzes and tests until I scored at least a 90%. It helps to reinforce your concepts.

As of right now, I am trying to pull in more study time day by day, as well as push myself to finally get my first computer-aptitude test completed by tonight. I have eight more I can complete, followed by the official GMAT practice tests, and a princeton review book. I doubt I can complete all these in the time frame I gave for myself, but I feel that it should be enough. I will know once I start to take these CAT's.

The classes did give me good tactics regarding the material, and I would recommend it only if you push yourself to succeed. They can't give you the secret key, but then again you work with what you've got and it shouldn't matter.

I aim to complete this GMAT and score above a 700 by the beginning of next year. After that I will attend a couple of graduate classes, hopefully get in, and get my letters of recommendation. I already have an extra-curricular letter of recommendation assured, one from my work that I feel strongly that I can get (2 yrs exp.), and if I work hard then the academic ones will follow from the grad courses.

I just want to say that it's helpful to read the posts of others on this thread, and I really really want to write a successful post in the future. Thanks, and will keep you updated...

Best of luck to you.

Wow, I can't believe it has been that long since my last update in December of 2006. I believe this absence has given others a false impression about my committment, and for that I'm a little embarrassed. In any case, it has been a busy time since I last updated, and so I thought I would clue in on the recent developments.

I have delayed my GMAT until after my UC Berkeley Extension classes have completed, in order to remove a time limit so that I can focus fully on the test. This time, I have pondered taking it in late summer.

I have completed one, out of three, classes for my UC Berkeley Extension classes:

Macroeconomics (In progress)
Microeconomics A-
Int'l Business (In progress)

On the letter of recommendation front, I have achieved two out of three letter of recommendations:

Letter of Recommendation in Extracurriculur (work in political campaign)
Letter of Recommendation in Academic (Macroeconomics class)
Letter of Recommendation in Career (will wait to lessen the blow to
employer , though I am not sure if
definite)

All of this work is due to me digging trying to dig myself out of my poor undergraduate performance (GPA: 2.105) in the hopes of building a strong alternate transcript with the goal of a high GMAT score (> 700) in order to appeal to the admissions board.

I want my MBA specialization to be either in International Business or Finance, though I lean more towards the former. Unfortunately, after I send my applications (towards the end of the summer), only then will I take the initiative and start taking some preliminary classes on a foreign language (either Mandarin or Spanish).

I want to join an international business club, but am not sure of any such organizations. Would anyone know?

I am also lacking in definite schools that I will be applying towards. I will apply to my former college San Jose State University as a last ditch application, but am still clueless right now where my chances are better.

Currently, my agenda is to finish my online classes (last month is June), complete the GMAT test preparatory and the GMAT itself, finalize the letter of recommendations (could I ask the senders to go ahead and send once i know the schools i'll be applying to, i wouldn't want one of them to drop dead due to old age ha ha )., and hope for the best while taking additional classes just in case i need to reapply (foreign languages, other business classes at UCB ext.)

I want to do this as my future, and i'm willing to climb this hole I dug for myself previously. Thank you all for your recommendations earlier, and I'll keep you posted.

I forgot to add my work experience. Recently, my company was bought out by Motorola. I am still going to count this as my old company in the experience department. By the time the universitise would read my application it would have been about three years since I have started to work at my job.

My job involves quality assurance in the tech field. The only international business involvement that I've had is working with foreign operating systems (heh heh), as well as meeting with the representatives of a Thailand-based company as I was delegated to represent a certain project. It was pretty cool, as I greeted them in how I read was a proper greeting in their culture (cup the card with two hands and read it as a sign of respect).

In my work, I was also the QA representative for a certain project whose committment would have entailed greater than six months (currently our projects last about monthly) to a year, and would have involved greater use of technology. I prepared the test plans and documentation that included the project calendar timeframe, which was used by other members of the departments and garnered good remarks. Unforunately, due to managment htis project was put in the background until further notice, so I have yet to continue with it.

Thanks for the update. Not sure about the international business clubs, but check out a directory of organizations or associations at your library. Gale Publishing publishes a directory of associations that would list all these.