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malcolmjray
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Joined: 02 May 2014
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Location: United States
Concentration: General Management, Strategy
GPA: 3.9
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Profile Evaluation with GPA Uncertainties 05 May 2014, 11:07
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Hello everyone,

I have been a silent viewer of this forum for the past few months and I am very excited to finally become an active member. I have found the resources available on this website to be very thorough and constructive. I am planning on applying for a few MBA programs for the Class of 2017 and am looking to gauge my qualifications pertaining to a few programs I am interested in.

At the time of my submission of my MBA applications, I will be a 25 year old South Asian American male. I am a first-generation college graduate and have lived in the United States for most of my life. I attended Campbell University, which is a small liberal arts baptist University in North Carolina. Here is where it gets a little tricky for me. Prior to transferring to Campbell, I attended UNCG and decided to take time off due to family problems. I was forced into a major that I had no interest in and then did pretty bad. I left school with a 2.1 GPA. All of these courses were based on Chemistry. After leaving school, I began working full-time as a Researcher and Manager for a Criminal Defense Law Firm. At that point I decided to enroll at Campbell as a Business student.. I finished about 40% of my general credits at UNCG and will be finishing all of my business major classes at Campbell. I will be graduating with a 3.9 GPA. My first question lies with how much will my previous transcript affect my overall application?

I wanted to add that Campbell does not include grades that are transferred in with their GPA. So my "reported" GPA will be 3.9 at graduation but I know MBA programs require transcripts of all universities attended.

My overall work experience as a manager will be 2.5 years at the time of my application.
GMAT: 700

I volunteer on the executive board of a non-profit organization for disabled and elderly people in NC for the past 2 years as well.

I have some really thoughtful recommendations that I will be submitting as well. One will be a direct supervisor at my current position and the other I have is from the former Attorney General from the State of North Carolina. I also have the option of getting a recommendation from the Director of International Programs from Fuqua (Duke), who is my former professor.

Here are a list of schools I plan on applying to in order of choice and ranking:
1. Kenan-Flagler (UNC)
2. Goizueta (Emory)
3. McDonough (Georgetown)
4. Scheller (Georgia Institute of Technology)
5. Smeal (Penn State)
6. Smith (Maryland - College Park)
7. Carrol (Boston College)

Am I shooting too high, too low? Thank you in advance for your time in reading my story. If there are anymore details you need please let me know.

Thank you all,

Malcolm
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AlexMBAApply
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Profile Evaluation with GPA Uncertainties 05 May 2014, 15:06
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malcolmjray
Hello everyone,

I have been a silent viewer of this forum for the past few months and I am very excited to finally become an active member. I have found the resources available on this website to be very thorough and constructive. I am planning on applying for a few MBA programs for the Class of 2017 and am looking to gauge my qualifications pertaining to a few programs I am interested in.

At the time of my submission of my MBA applications, I will be a 25 year old South Asian American male. I am a first-generation college graduate and have lived in the United States for most of my life. I attended Campbell University, which is a small liberal arts baptist University in North Carolina. Here is where it gets a little tricky for me. Prior to transferring to Campbell, I attended UNCG and decided to take time off due to family problems. I was forced into a major that I had no interest in and then did pretty bad. I left school with a 2.1 GPA. All of these courses were based on Chemistry. After leaving school, I began working full-time as a Researcher and Manager for a Criminal Defense Law Firm. At that point I decided to enroll at Campbell as a Business student.. I finished about 40% of my general credits at UNCG and will be finishing all of my business major classes at Campbell. I will be graduating with a 3.9 GPA. My first question lies with how much will my previous transcript affect my overall application?

I wanted to add that Campbell does not include grades that are transferred in with their GPA. So my "reported" GPA will be 3.9 at graduation but I know MBA programs require transcripts of all universities attended.

My overall work experience as a manager will be 2.5 years at the time of my application.
GMAT: 700

I volunteer on the executive board of a non-profit organization for disabled and elderly people in NC for the past 2 years as well.

I have some really thoughtful recommendations that I will be submitting as well. One will be a direct supervisor at my current position and the other I have is from the former Attorney General from the State of North Carolina. I also have the option of getting a recommendation from the Director of International Programs from Fuqua (Duke), who is my former professor.

Here are a list of schools I plan on applying to in order of choice and ranking:
1. Kenan-Flagler (UNC)
2. Goizueta (Emory)
3. McDonough (Georgetown)
4. Scheller (Georgia Institute of Technology)
5. Smeal (Penn State)
6. Smith (Maryland - College Park)
7. Carrol (Boston College)

Am I shooting too high, too low? Thank you in advance for your time in reading my story. If there are anymore details you need please let me know.

Thank you all,

Malcolm
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You're in range for the schools you mentioned, but the more important question is why are you looking to go straight back to b-school right away? Yes you have some work experience, but it's not really post-college work experience. You're still relatively young, and it may help you to work a few years before applying (as long as you're under 30 by the time you apply, age won't be an issue). Furthermore, keep in mind that post-MBA employers care about the *totality* of your profile, and not just the fact that you have an MBA -- in other words, your pre-MBA experience matters, and if it's not that solid, you will have a tougher time with recruiting compared to your more experienced classmates (frankly even 2.5 years of experience is on the thin side even if you were to count your experience as equivalent to full-time post-college experience, when a lot of the MBAs in the classroom will have 4-6 years of experience. In short, your GPA isn't really the issue here, but the fact that you may be jumping the gun a little.
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malcolmjray
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Joined: 02 May 2014
Last visit: 16 Sep 2014
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Given Kudos: 1
Location: United States
Concentration: General Management, Strategy
GPA: 3.9
WE:Management Consulting (Law)
Posts: 3
Kudos: 5
Profile Evaluation with GPA Uncertainties 06 May 2014, 06:43
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AlexMBAApply
malcolmjray
Hello everyone,

I have been a silent viewer of this forum for the past few months and I am very excited to finally become an active member. I have found the resources available on this website to be very thorough and constructive. I am planning on applying for a few MBA programs for the Class of 2017 and am looking to gauge my qualifications pertaining to a few programs I am interested in.

At the time of my submission of my MBA applications, I will be a 25 year old South Asian American male. I am a first-generation college graduate and have lived in the United States for most of my life. I attended Campbell University, which is a small liberal arts baptist University in North Carolina. Here is where it gets a little tricky for me. Prior to transferring to Campbell, I attended UNCG and decided to take time off due to family problems. I was forced into a major that I had no interest in and then did pretty bad. I left school with a 2.1 GPA. All of these courses were based on Chemistry. After leaving school, I began working full-time as a Researcher and Manager for a Criminal Defense Law Firm. At that point I decided to enroll at Campbell as a Business student.. I finished about 40% of my general credits at UNCG and will be finishing all of my business major classes at Campbell. I will be graduating with a 3.9 GPA. My first question lies with how much will my previous transcript affect my overall application?

I wanted to add that Campbell does not include grades that are transferred in with their GPA. So my "reported" GPA will be 3.9 at graduation but I know MBA programs require transcripts of all universities attended.

My overall work experience as a manager will be 2.5 years at the time of my application.
GMAT: 700

I volunteer on the executive board of a non-profit organization for disabled and elderly people in NC for the past 2 years as well.

I have some really thoughtful recommendations that I will be submitting as well. One will be a direct supervisor at my current position and the other I have is from the former Attorney General from the State of North Carolina. I also have the option of getting a recommendation from the Director of International Programs from Fuqua (Duke), who is my former professor.

Here are a list of schools I plan on applying to in order of choice and ranking:
1. Kenan-Flagler (UNC)
2. Goizueta (Emory)
3. McDonough (Georgetown)
4. Scheller (Georgia Institute of Technology)
5. Smeal (Penn State)
6. Smith (Maryland - College Park)
7. Carrol (Boston College)

Am I shooting too high, too low? Thank you in advance for your time in reading my story. If there are anymore details you need please let me know.

Thank you all,

Malcolm

You're in range for the schools you mentioned, but the more important question is why are you looking to go straight back to b-school right away? Yes you have some work experience, but it's not really post-college work experience. You're still relatively young, and it may help you to work a few years before applying (as long as you're under 30 by the time you apply, age won't be an issue). Furthermore, keep in mind that post-MBA employers care about the *totality* of your profile, and not just the fact that you have an MBA -- in other words, your pre-MBA experience matters, and if it's not that solid, you will have a tougher time with recruiting compared to your more experienced classmates (frankly even 2.5 years of experience is on the thin side even if you were to count your experience as equivalent to full-time post-college experience, when a lot of the MBAs in the classroom will have 4-6 years of experience. In short, your GPA isn't really the issue here, but the fact that you may be jumping the gun a little.
Show more

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your input. I understand that my work experience has not been stellar in comparison to other students. But by the time I actually enroll I would have 3.5 years of WE. Do you think this would make it difficult to land any internships over the summer. My hope was to gain connections and bolster my resume by vigorously applying for internships during the summer and using that as a strong tool for my post-MBA career.

Even with my current experience, do you think I would still be competitive towards my top choice with the rest of my profile?

Any other thoughts or advice?
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AlexMBAApply
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Profile Evaluation with GPA Uncertainties 06 May 2014, 09:54
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I'm confused. You worked full-time for 2.5 years in between college right? So you're a full-time student and not working?
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malcolmjray
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Joined: 02 May 2014
Last visit: 16 Sep 2014
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Location: United States
Concentration: General Management, Strategy
GPA: 3.9
WE:Management Consulting (Law)
Posts: 3
Kudos: 5
Profile Evaluation with GPA Uncertainties 06 May 2014, 10:27
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AlexMBAApply
I'm confused. You worked full-time for 2.5 years in between college right? So you're a full-time student and not working?
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I'm sorry for the confusion. I am a full-time student and full-time employee. I graduate at the end of this summer and then I will be applying for the Class of 2017. At the time of my application submission I would be a full-time employee for 2.5 years. At the time of enrollment I would be a full-time employee for just under 3.5 years.
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Profile Evaluation with GPA Uncertainties 06 May 2014, 14:35
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malcolmjray
AlexMBAApply
I'm confused. You worked full-time for 2.5 years in between college right? So you're a full-time student and not working?

I'm sorry for the confusion. I am a full-time student and full-time employee. I graduate at the end of this summer and then I will be applying for the Class of 2017. At the time of my application submission I would be a full-time employee for 2.5 years. At the time of enrollment I would be a full-time employee for just under 3.5 years.
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Adcoms typically want post-college full-time experience, and as such they will discount your work experience during college even if you technically work full-time (more than 40 hours a week).

What I suggest is to work for at least 1-2 years after you graduate before you apply. Getting an MBA now won't put you on equal footing with your fellow MBA classmates who will have more experience than you. Again, if your current job is more like an extended internship and not a bona fide job that you feel is on par with other folks who are applying to b-school, then you should wait - and once you're in a better position, you'll get more out of the b-school experience. You're still young and have plenty of time, and it's not in your interest to rush into something.