2018 MAcc Admissions Thread - Calling All Applicants!

Question

I figured it was about time to start a thread for this (template borrowed from previous years). For those of you applying now for masters degrees in accounting starting the 2018-19 academic year, please post your info below so we can commiserate/help each other out!

GMAT:
GPA:
Undergrad (major/type of school):
Work experience:

Schools applied (applying to):
Schools accepted:
Schools denied:
Most likely to attend:

GMAT:
GPA:
Undergrad (major/type of school):
Work experience:

Schools applied (applying to):
Schools accepted:
Schools denied:
Most likely to attend:

Vmacc · Answer

GMAT: 730 (48 q, 41 V)
GPA: 3.6
Undergrad (major/type of school): humanities
Work experience: about a decade, but not relevant. mostly teaching.

Schools applied (applying to): so far, UNC-CH, UT-Austin; considering a few more....
Schools accepted: none yet
Schools denied: none yet
Most likely to attend: ???

midnightsociety2 · Answer

GMAT: 760 (Q49, V47)
GPA: 3.71
Undergrad (major/type of school): humanities & social sciences at USC
Work experience: way too long in a dead end office job ?

Schools applied (applying to): UT Austin, USC, UNC, Wash U
Schools accepted: --
Schools denied: --
Most likely to attend: Austin is my first choice, followed by USC.

I've already had my interview with Wash U and have an interview with UNC this week. Right now I'm putting the finishing touches on my applications to Austin and USC. I'm worried about Austin; I know my GMAT score works in my favor but I'm not entirely happy with my purpose statement. Hopefully I can have it completely polished by the deadline. On the plus side, Austin doesn't require interviews and I generally come off better on paper than in person (I tend to come off awkward and stiff in interviews:lol:)

mel328 · Answer

GMAT: 640 (V36, Q41)
GPA: 3.41
Undergrad (major/type of school): Mathematics
Work experience: A year as an analyst in banking/mortgage industry

Schools applied (applying to): UT-Austin
Schools accepted:
Schools denied:
Most likely to attend: UT-Austin

Austin native so UT is my only choice right now. I'm a little nervous about my GPA and test score, but I have exceptional letters of recommendations from two Vice Presidents at my company so I'm hoping that'll even the playing field a bit.

midnightsociety2 · Answer

Update: I've been accepted at UNC with $$! The downside is that I have to let them know my decision within 15 days (by accepting and then paying a nonrefundable deposit). Does this seem really short to anyone else? I don't have much experience with app deadlines, but it seems short to me. I only just turned in the last of my apps (to USC and Austin) on Dec 1 and there's no way I'm going to hear back from those schools in time to meet the deadline, especially since it's around the holidays. I haven't even received an interview invite from USC.

Not sure what the best course of action is here... I don't mind eating the $500 nonrefundable deposit for UNC if that's what it comes down to, but is it okay to accept and then withdraw?

Not sure what the best course of action is here... I don't mind eating the $500 nonrefundable deposit for UNC if that's what it comes down to, but is it okay to accept and then withdraw?

Vmacc · Answer

Congrats! Yeah, a lot of schools have a fairly quick turnaround time, though 15 days does seem a bit quick. The best thing to do now is to email the other schools you're considering and let them know that you got into UNC and what your decision deadline is. For Austin, the person to email is Keri Ledezma. You can find her contact info here: [redacted] Not sure about USC.

I got accepted to UNC about a week ago without scholarship (was going to wait to update here until I'd heard from Texas). When I emailed Texas, they said they could get me their admissions decision before my 15 days were up, so hopefully they can do the same for you.

If you do manage to get another offer from USC or Austin before your 15 days for UNC is up, you might be able to use that to leverage UNC to ask for another week or so to consider your options. Good luck with everything!

midnightsociety2 · Answer

Thanks,  Vmacc  (and congrats to you, too). If you don't mind my asking, how did you word your email to Texas? I imagine it can be a fine line to walk when trying to put pressure on schools to make a decision lol. I want to stress to Texas in particular that they are my top choice, I don't know if that helps anything in my favor because I imagine all applicants with any sense say that. No one's gonna tell the admissions committee, "Yeah, you're really my fourth choice, but..." Heh.

Vmacc · Answer

midnightsociety2

One of the reasons why these schools give such tight turnaround times for your decision is because they're trying to steal away the best applicants from each other before they know they're in anywhere else. So they're totally used to dealing with requests like this. For that reason, I tend to try to stay pretty concise and factual with my emails. You're right, they don't need to hear that they're totally your top choice, etc., even if it's true. If you do have a clear, succinct reason why Austin is #1, it would be fine to mention it briefly. But other than that, I opted for something along the lines of...

"Dear XXX,

I am writing to let you know that I have been admitted to XXX program and have been asked to give them an acceptance decision by XXX date. I would appreciate anything you may be able to do to accommodate an earlier admissions decision.

Sincerely yours,

Vmacc"

Basically, I try to use wording that makes it clear that I understand that I'm asking something of them, and that I understand that they might not be able to do it. That I'm not so presumptuous to assume that they can or would work their schedules around my needs. Feel free to borrow whatever you language you like from the above example.

midnightsociety2 · Answer

Thanks! And yeah, that makes sense. I might use your letter as a baseline template, ty.

Vmacc · Answer

An update: Got into UNC (no scholarship) and Austin (scholarship). I'm leaning towards Austin, but I want to take at least a couple days to think about it.

midnightsociety2 · Answer

Congrats!! And a scholarship too, that's great. Are those the only two schools you applied to?

Vmacc · Answer

Yup, those are the only two I applied to, and they were my top two choices. I got my applications to both in by the end of October, and then it took a little longer for my applications at both places to be complete because of letters of recommendations and transcripts. There were a few other programs I was considering applying to, all with December 1st deadlines, but I got my acceptance to UNC before Dec 1, so I didn't end up applying anywhere else.

midnightsociety2 · Answer

Keri got back to me and said that I would have a decision by December 19, so that's good. She also informed me about the Council of Graduate Schools' April 15 resolution, which stipulates that a school that offers a student financial support (e.g. scholarship, fellowship, etc.) is obligated to extend its deadline until April 15. This is good news for me, because even if Austin gets back to me by Dec 19, that leaves USC up in the air. I'm debating how to broach the topic with UNC though, because I want to be gentle about it and not burn any bridges by coming on too strong about the CGS resolution. They're a good school and I would be happy to go there, but I spent all this time on my apps and I just feel like I wouldn't be doing my due diligence if I didn't finagle enough time to hear back from USC too lol.

mel328 · Answer

Update: Accepted to UT and will be attending

Thekid96 · Answer

GMAT:700
GPA:3.42/ 3.6+ outside of major 
Undergrad (major/type of school):Accounting and political science major
Work experience: Busy season internship, mid sized regional firm.

Schools applied (applying to):UVA, William and Mary, University of Michigan
Schools accepted:UVA with $$
Schools denied:
Most likely to attend: UVA! (go hoos)

mel328 · Answer

Were you notified of your scholarship to Austin at the same time as admission?

Vmacc · Answer

I was notified the same day in a separate email that came a few hours later than the original admission email.

midnightsociety2 · Answer

Update: Got into Austin with OOS tuition waiver + scholarship. Austin was my first choice to begin with, so at this point it's a no brainer.

I'm still waiting to hear from Olin (Wash U) and to get an interview invite from USC. I really liked my interviewer at Olin and I put a lot of stock into how friendly/welcoming people seem to be, BUT the school itself just doesn't seem as great. And, well, I have a lot of sentimental attachment to USC and LA. But they'd have to offer me a full ride (lol not gonna happen) to get me to reconsider going to Austin.

mel328 , I wasn't notified until a couple of days later about the scholarship/tuition waiver offer. Got notified that I was admitted on Dec 13, got my scholarship notification on Dec 15.

mel328 · Answer

Congrats! Not that I'm biased or anything, but Austin is definitely the best place to be

I heard about admission on the 14th, so unless I hear otherwise today I'm going to assume I didn't get a scholarship, which is understandable with my below average (for UT standards) GPA and GMAT score.

midnightsociety2 · Answer

Yeah and I think that Austin is just a cool city. I've always wanted to visit. So I'm really looking forward to UT!

Oh, and apparently I got an email last night saying that I had been rejected from Wash U (Olin). I wasn't planning on going to Wash U anyway since I have UT now but it's still a bummer to be rejected! ("You can't fire me, I quit!") What's curious is that the director of admissions said she wanted to consider me for their full-time MBA program and asked me to schedule an interview. I'm REALLY not interested in pursuing an MBA, but I'm curious as to what exactly she means...does she mean she wants to me to start over from the beginning and prepare an MBA application? Erm, yeah, that's not gonna happen. LOL.

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