rd4740 wrote:
Hello:
I am a 31 yr old classical musician (violist) with both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in music from the University of Southern California, and I am looking to get into a top 20 MBA program to work ultimately in Real Estate Development. It is an industry I have always been interested in, and I feel that now is the right time in my life to explore that opportunity more fully. As much as I love music, it is quite difficult to make a decent living, so I'd like to make a career switch.
I have a 3.05 undergraduate GPA and a 3.66 graduate GPA from USC. My GRE scores are a 158 Verbal / 157 Quant / 4.5 Writing. I also obtained a California Real Estate license last year just so I had one under my belt, in case I ever went into RE brokerage.
In addition to working regularly as a musician, I have also held a day job (for greater financial stability) for the last 4.5 yrs at a major television network here in Los Angeles in the Operations Dept. I have received a raise and/or new job basically every year there, although none of my responsibilities thus far have included managing or supervising anyone.
I went ahead and applied in the final round this spring to 6 different full time programs, just to see what would happen... However, in the 2 interviews I have had so far (Georgetown and UNC Chapel Hill), I am being asked whether I took any Math in college and whether my day job includes any management duties. The answer to these questions is no, unfortunately, and I am concerned this is perhaps hurting my overall candidacy.
If none of the schools to which I applied accepts me, is it worth it to apply again in Round 1/Early Decision in the fall, and in the meantime, take an accounting/macro/microeconomics class at a community college over the summer to have something more business-related on my otherwise creatively-oriented resume?
I also wonder if I should have a GMAT score to report in addition to my GRE, or is the GRE sufficient? All of the schools to which I applied stated they did not prefer one score over the other.
Thank you very much for your input.
Hey there!
You ask some good questions, and have an interesting background.
So the FIRST think I would wonder as a member of the AdCom is : why RE? why does this make sense with what you have done? why do you want to get into it? what makes you think you would be good at it? what would you like to do in RE EXACTLY? And where? and how ill your MBA help you out there?
Then, regarding the questions you were asked in interviews, let's put it this way.. I think they want to see that you have thought things through well before you venture down this path. I mean PLENTY of candidates have ZERO management experience when going into an MBA, so its not a problem in of itself, but they do want to see that you have thought this out since you are going for a management degree. Regarding the math, yes, it would be helpful for you to be able to PROVE that you have the quant basis necessary to succeed in an MBA, either by taking classes or in other ways (great GRE/GMAT scores, work with math at your job, etc.)
do you HAVE TO take the GMAT? No. Because schools accept the GRE. and its becoming more and more accepted at schools although they are still more used to GMATs. More important is to have an excellent score for whatever test you take.
But I think in your case in addition to any other concerns, the most important thing is your STORY - How does your MBA plan make sense (not just because you WANT it, but because it makes sense) and how can you SHOW that to the schools. If you can work this out, then you will have overcome your major obstacle I feel.
Hope this helps dude, and if you have anything else just drop a line!
Best,
JF
close
01 May 2015, 21:08
