Hi Lisa,
Would you be able evaluate my profile and comment on my chances at part-time programs in the following schools? My company has offices in all major cities, and I will request an internal transfer once I am admitted.
UCLA, USC, Berkeley, NYU, Chicago, Northwestern
Profile:
27 y/o(by matriculation) male Chinese Canadian
GMAT: 710 Q45(77%) V41(93%).
Had an earlier sitting in late 2003 with 690 Q49(93%) V36(80%), which showed a stronger math score. But unfortunately this score has expired.
Undergrad: GPA 2.85 from top 2 Canadian school. Major in Computer Science and Statistics
W/E: 3.5 years in Canada, 1 year in Asia
- 2 years at a big 4 tech consulting firm. got promotion from analyst to consultant. (Canada)
- 1.5 years as a QA engineer in a major software company (5000+ employees). No formal supervisory duty. Led a couple of projects that involve multiple teams that included onshore and offshore resources. Excellent performance reviews (Canada)
- 1 year as a software engineer in a start-up software company in Taipei. Worked in a 4 different countries in Asia for projects. (Taiwan)
E/C:
- Mentor to a Computer Science student at my Alma Mater
- Tutored math and sciences throughout high school and university
Originally I was planning to apply to a F/T program, but like most P/T applicants, I feel that losing 2 years of income is not an exciting idea to me. At this time, I am not looking for a drastic career change, so I think a P/T program is my best option now. My reason for doing MBA is that I would like to start my own business in tech consulting/software some time down the road. I don't have a solid plan for a business now, but I would like to learn about management to complement my technical degree(Computer Science) and background.
My low GPA situation is further complicated by low grades in high level math/stats courses. I had A's and B's in my math/stats courses in the 100~200 levels(statistics, probability, differential/integral/multi-variable calculus), which I believe is the level required by most business schools. However, I had a few C's in advanced math/stats. Would this be viewed negatively by the adcoms? Should I try to explain my rather weak GPA, or is a 2.85 in a difficult major from a difficult school actually OK to AdComs?
I also heard that UCLA(perhaps Berkeley too?) has a 3.0 GPA cutoff imposed by the school that makes it quite difficult for applicants with a sub-3.0 GPA. It would require the department to make a special request to the school in order to admit a student.with GPA < 3.0. Should I even bother trying if my odds are significantly lower at the public schools with a strict GPA cutoff?
Thanks for your help in advance!
Would you be able evaluate my profile and comment on my chances at part-time programs in the following schools? My company has offices in all major cities, and I will request an internal transfer once I am admitted.
UCLA, USC, Berkeley, NYU, Chicago, Northwestern
Profile:
27 y/o(by matriculation) male Chinese Canadian
GMAT: 710 Q45(77%) V41(93%).
Had an earlier sitting in late 2003 with 690 Q49(93%) V36(80%), which showed a stronger math score. But unfortunately this score has expired.
Undergrad: GPA 2.85 from top 2 Canadian school. Major in Computer Science and Statistics
W/E: 3.5 years in Canada, 1 year in Asia
- 2 years at a big 4 tech consulting firm. got promotion from analyst to consultant. (Canada)
- 1.5 years as a QA engineer in a major software company (5000+ employees). No formal supervisory duty. Led a couple of projects that involve multiple teams that included onshore and offshore resources. Excellent performance reviews (Canada)
- 1 year as a software engineer in a start-up software company in Taipei. Worked in a 4 different countries in Asia for projects. (Taiwan)
E/C:
- Mentor to a Computer Science student at my Alma Mater
- Tutored math and sciences throughout high school and university
Originally I was planning to apply to a F/T program, but like most P/T applicants, I feel that losing 2 years of income is not an exciting idea to me. At this time, I am not looking for a drastic career change, so I think a P/T program is my best option now. My reason for doing MBA is that I would like to start my own business in tech consulting/software some time down the road. I don't have a solid plan for a business now, but I would like to learn about management to complement my technical degree(Computer Science) and background.
My low GPA situation is further complicated by low grades in high level math/stats courses. I had A's and B's in my math/stats courses in the 100~200 levels(statistics, probability, differential/integral/multi-variable calculus), which I believe is the level required by most business schools. However, I had a few C's in advanced math/stats. Would this be viewed negatively by the adcoms? Should I try to explain my rather weak GPA, or is a 2.85 in a difficult major from a difficult school actually OK to AdComs?
I also heard that UCLA(perhaps Berkeley too?) has a 3.0 GPA cutoff imposed by the school that makes it quite difficult for applicants with a sub-3.0 GPA. It would require the department to make a special request to the school in order to admit a student.with GPA < 3.0. Should I even bother trying if my odds are significantly lower at the public schools with a strict GPA cutoff?
Thanks for your help in advance!
