Hey abmeyers,
Thanks for reaching out. I could go blow-by-blow through everything you said, but I figure I'll cut right to the punchline and discuss what strike me as the three most important things here:
1. Your low GPA. Good by you for taking those classes because that would have been a major recommendation. You are also helped by the fact you are pursuing a PT program. Not because they care more or less about someone's ability to succeed in the classroom (in fact, they might care a bit more since you are balancing school and work), but just that they are not as slavishly devoted to class profile numbers. The dirty secret of MBA admissions is that schools rarely care about a GPA # for the "right" reasons. Very often, great work experience, evidence of gained maturity, a few classes just to top it off ... that adds up to more than enough to clear the burden of proof on that front. It's just that they have to report the GPA from your UG, and if it is a drag on their class average, it becomes a lot harder. So it sort of sucks. That said, we've had far more success helping people with GPA issues (anywhere from 2.2 on up) get into awesome schools than we have with trainwreck GMAT scores. So we give the b-schools credit for that. And with PT programs, we've seen they are especially rational about the whole thing. So as long as you showcase everything that came AFTER college - especially your maturity/focus/discipline that you bring to the table *today* - you should be okay here.
2. Extra Curriculars. Again, the PT aspect helps you a lot here. Most part-time programs are thinking: can you go to work and class? They aren't looking for you to join 10 clubs along the way. But beyond that, even FT programs don't care about this nearly as much as candidates think. It's both hard to normalize EC involvement across cultures (people in India get super involved, people in France don't get involved at all, for instance) and also hard to validate, so schools tends to just glance at any list of activities. Far more relevant is whether you can tell *specific stories* in your essays that highlight teamwork, leadership, and the other key b-school themes. If you have leadership abilities, if you can play well with others, if you have a value system (especially for FEMBA), you can get in and do great.
3. Program choices. If SFO and NYC are options, I highly recommend adding Haas and Stern to the list. Both are great PT programs that make few sacrifices relative to the full-time experience. I probably still put FEMBA ahead of them and would make that your top choice, but I would probably not advise dropping down to Irvine, as you are too accomplished for that. Such an MBA might actually curb how you present to external audiences going forward. I can see that much of your motivation for an MBA is gaining knowledge, so perhaps brand/pedigree isn't quite as important for you as most, but still ... you only get one crack at putting this icing on the cake and I think you can hold out for better. USC is a perfectly fine option, although clearly fourth on my list for you.
PM me or email us at
mba@amerasiaconsulting.com if you want to get into this or enlist us for help. We've done extremely well at both UCLA FEMBA and Haas E/W the last few years. Either way, I hope this response was helpful.
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti