Admissions Success Stories

Hello and thanks in advance for the input,

I have been accepted to McCombs and am waitlisted at USC currently. I am pursuing a part-time degree but this question does not pertain to FT or PT. I have lived in Southern California all of my life, and plan to eventually settle here. Thus, USC as has been said over and over again will have an incredible alumni network. But I am still torn (assuming I get accepted). Followed are some stats, all rankings are US News:

Full Time Ranking:
Austin: 16
USC: 20

Part-Time Ranking:
Austin: 7
USC: 7

Ranking of Finance department:
Austin: 15
USC: 20

Ranking of Entrepreneurship department:
Austin: 9
USC: 7

Ranking of Management department:
Austin: 19
USC: 22

Average Starting Salary on West Coast:
Austin:$105,000
USC: $94,000

Average Starting Salary in North East:
Austin:$100,000
USC: $95,000

Average GMAT:
Austin: 645
USC: 623

Cost of living in Austin:
Housing costs: 63% less than LA
Groceries cost: 15% less than LA
Transportation costs: 16% less than LA

What is going to be the best option? I will be moving to the North East most likely for 2-3 years post graduation (my wife will be attending an MFA program) and then back to So-Cal for the remainder of my life. By the way I am most interested in finance and entrepreneurship. At McCombs you can only major in general management but in the interview the resources for pursuing knowledge and experience in these areas seemed very extensive. Both McCombs and Marshall have strong placement and recognition in California and the North East, but Austin grads seem to get higher salaries. But people are OBSESSED with USC and have always been all my life...

Just interviewed with Chicago Booth last week, and am waiting to hear back from Stern and Ross. If I get into any of these this discussion will probably be a moot point. But I appreciate the input.

Could you please give us some background info on your gmat score and GPA and work experience?

If you want to live in Southern Cal after your significant other finishes her program, you definitely need to go to USC. Its not even a question.

seattlecali wrote:Could you please give us some background info on your gmat score and GPA and work experience?

Sure:

GMAT 620 (37Q/38V) - I only took it once, I was studying to retake and had to stop to have time to make a quality application. I think i could of scored about a 660 with some more time.

Undergrad: University of Phoenix, still attending done at the end of this month. GPA 3.64 at program but I transferred in a horrible 1.96 (4 F's and a D) from community college when I was young and didn't really care about school. Cumulative GPA is a 3.2

Work experience: 7 years , small real estate development firm, 2 promotions currently manage up to 5 consultants depending on what is going on. Networking resulted in >$6 million dollars revenue for firm. Have generated other profits outside duties for firm as well.

Recs: very very positive and from owners of firm

Essays: I spent literally hundreds of hours on them because everyone said I would get in nowhere because of where I got my undergrad.. proved them wrong!

Thanks endr3am!

That is very inspiring to hear!

Just curious as to why you did not apply to UCLA or any other So Cal programs? I've heard that LA has a great program for Entreprenurialship..

Anyways, I'm scoring around the mid - 500 on my GMAT and taking my test next month..i'm hoping to get somewhere in the range of 650+ as my goal and apply to the So Cal programs. But at the same time its great to hear that USC does look beyond the GMAT score if other parts of the application package is good!

seattlecali wrote:Thanks endr3am!

That is very inspiring to hear!

Just curious as to why you did not apply to UCLA or any other So Cal programs? I've heard that LA has a great program for Entreprenurialship..

Anyways, I'm scoring around the mid - 500 on my GMAT and taking my test next month..i'm hoping to get somewhere in the range of 650+ as my goal and apply to the So Cal programs. But at the same time its great to hear that USC does look beyond the GMAT score if other parts of the application package is good!

I was also accepted to Loyola Marymount. I actually applied to a huge number of schools, I was initially paranoid because people on businessweek insisted that I would not succeed with my profile. I have only received 1 ding from Carnegie Mellon so far, we will see what the big boys say (Booth, Ross, Stern).

Good luck on the GMAT what helped me the most on it was Manhattan GMAT Prep-books.

What did you end up doing? I have the same issue, Marshall or McComb and I live in LA. I do prefer McComb all around however.

Congrats on getting accepted by thous programs! I scored a 660 and want to get into similar programs, have any advice?

Hey there,

I just got an email saying someone responded to this post. I haven't been on this forums in a while. I ultimately went with McCombs. I am actually 4 weeks into my 2nd semester and I have no regrets. Everyone in the program is top notch and by that I mean Professors/students/administration etc. The administration takes care of everything for me in the evening program so I don't need to find text books etc. I have very intelligent class mates and Austin is an amazing city. I don't actually think I'll be moving back to SoCal now. My wife loves it here in Austin also.

This semester is very challenging. Last semester wasn't that difficult considering it's a top program. My Financial Accounting class this semester is really brutal and fast paced. My Managerial Economics class is the best class I have ever had in my life. The teacher is mind blowing!

All in all, I am very happy where I am. I knew I was never going to get into Harvard/Stanford and didn't try. But whenever I talk about getting an MBA for UT people are really impressed. I landed my current job because the manager had a degree from UT.

The resources are amazing, the top venture capital competition in the US is here, constant MBA+ free workshops in sales/financial modeling etc. There's something every week and I don't have nearly the time to attend half of them.

Thanks for the update. I am a so Cal man myself and have been focusing on the west coast and east coast schools ,but lately I've been thinking about Texas. Glad to hear that someone thats been in California can survive in Texas.