Ex-meteorologist turning accountant/financial analyst...

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Hello all. I'm in the middle of a career shift and wanted to get peoples' opinions on not only what schools are excellent for training in accountancy/finance, but also which schools would be feasable for someone like me to get into. Here's my stats so far:

- 690 Practice GMAT (Q46, V38). I have yet to take the GMAT, but that score was achieved cold with zero prior prep. With prep, I'd imagine I'd get above a 700 come test time.
- 5 yrs work experience as a meteorologist
- 2.74 GPA, B.S. in meteorology, graduated '05

My main concern is the less than stellar undergrad GPA short-circuiting any chances I have at a halfway decent school. Would a 700+ on my GMAT counterbalance a low GPA such as that? Thanks a lot for your help in advance everybody!
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by Jon@Admissionado » Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:32 am
That's really interesting. I don;t think I have yet seen a meteorologist apply to B-school! Will a 700+ help offset your GPA, yes. Will it eliminate it, no. What does that mean? That you have less chances than someone with a 3.8 and a 700+ but that the 700 can definitely to help show that you have advanced, and are academically capable.
As for your chances per specific schools, it's hard to say anything without further info about your work, school, leadership, etc. etc.

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by matthaispsu » Wed Apr 18, 2012 3:36 pm
Thanks for your 2 cents there, Jon. I'm a grad of Penn State, which is actually one of the best schools out there for meteorology (Penn State is to meteorology as Northwestern-Kellogg is to business, using a Big Ten-related example). However, I don't anticipate I will get that much slack for a low GPA even if the program is quite rigorous. I have also taken a couple of intro accounting courses very recently as a sort of double check of if this is something I want to go into (straight As). As for my work history, during my tenure as a forecaster and climatologist at a major weather consulting firm, I led numerous staff-wide map discussions, I was a client liaison with some high profile clients, and I led training seminars.

Right now, and this is very preliminary, but I'm exploring Penn State, Pace Univ and U of Toronto. However, I will readily admit to not knowing if this is shooting too low or high for my abilities/background. My main focus is that I get an MBA or MS Accounting that will give me a good business grounding (due to my lack of undergrad business pedigree) but yet will also prepare me for the CPA exam or otherwise allow me to hit the ground running in my new career. I don't want to get an MBA for MBA's sake, I want this to help me in a new career in the business/financial world.

Any and all advice would be much appreciated from everybody on here. Thanks again Jon!

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by Jon@Admissionado » Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:35 pm
No problem dude!

Here's another thought: Since you have SUCH a unique background, I know even though you may at this point want simply to get out of meteorology, but is there any way you can tie business and meteorology together to come up with goals? It could be an interesting strategy, because there are sure to be pretty few folks out there with this unique combination, and somewhere this has got to be sought after...


And best of luck to you in everything...
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https://admissionado.lpages.co/50-essay ... ked-vol-4/
https://admissionado.lpages.co/case-studies-lp/
https://admissionado.com/mba/reviews/
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Admis ... 700945.htm

Reach out, and let's gab. Our only requirement is that you don't prefer warm milk over cold milk. Everyone else, 100% welcome.
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Phone: 866-409-4753
Hit us up on WhatsApp.
Ping our satellite: 0884#&@-2#101101
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Mostly, email Claudia.

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by belljason92 » Fri Aug 17, 2012 4:51 am
Switching from meteorology to business is a big move! Most MBA schools will look at potential students as more than just their undergraduate GPA. However, you should look up past statistics to see if you are in ballpark of the schools that you want to apply to - it couldn't hurt to orient yourself!