The Application Process

I am considering applying for MBA programs starting in Fall 2010. I recently graduated with a BA in Marketing and Entrepreneurship this past December and am currently working in sports marketing for a collegiate athletics program. I rushed and took the GMAT without being able to study at all or even look up much of the format of the exam. I ended up scoring a 680 with 78% in math and 80% verbal for a total percentile of 86%. My AWA section only scored a 37%. I graduated from my university with a 3.47 GPA although that does not include my previous school that I transferred from which was around a 2.1 GPA. My work experience is pretty strong (due to working while I was still an undergrad) with much responsibility even though I have not been working too long.

I would like to apply to either a sports business focused program such as the University of Oregon or a strong overall program with emphasis in entrepreneurship. I would really like to go somewhere with other talented and motivated individuals. Also, a strong sports program is being considered. Some of the schools that fit this profile for me are

Stanford
Duke
UCLA
USC
Oregon
Cal-Berkley

Is it too late in the cycle to attempt this now? I realize I would only have time for round 3 deadlines. I believe I can definitely score higher on the GMAT although I do not really want to wait another year to start. The application fee's are pretty expensive, should I attempt to apply?

Thank you and I apologize if there is any bad grammar, I am late for a meeting and am running out the door now.

Aaron

M3FSQ wrote:I am considering applying for MBA programs starting in Fall 2010. I recently graduated with a BA in Marketing and Entrepreneurship this past December and am currently working in sports marketing for a collegiate athletics program. I rushed and took the GMAT without being able to study at all or even look up much of the format of the exam. I ended up scoring a 680 with 78% in math and 80% verbal for a total percentile of 86%. My AWA section only scored a 37%. I graduated from my university with a 3.47 GPA although that does not include my previous school that I transferred from which was around a 2.1 GPA. My work experience is pretty strong (due to working while I was still an undergrad) with much responsibility even though I have not been working too long.

I would like to apply to either a sports business focused program such as the University of Oregon or a strong overall program with emphasis in entrepreneurship. I would really like to go somewhere with other talented and motivated individuals. Also, a strong sports program is being considered. Some of the schools that fit this profile for me are

Stanford
Duke
UCLA
USC
Oregon
Cal-Berkley

Is it too late in the cycle to attempt this now? I realize I would only have time for round 3 deadlines. I believe I can definitely score higher on the GMAT although I do not really want to wait another year to start. The application fee's are pretty expensive, should I attempt to apply?

Thank you and I apologize if there is any bad grammar, I am late for a meeting and am running out the door now.

Aaron

How much full time experience do you have since graduating? Most schools look for a few years of full time experience. Also, round 3 is definitely more difficult than round 1 or 2. Is it imperative that you get an MBA right away? What do you plan to do post MBA?

I am not to familiar with schools that have a sports management MBA, but I came up with the following schools after a quick search:

Stanford
Texas A&M
Arizona State
Florida
George Washington

dmateer25 wrote:
How much full time experience do you have since graduating? Most schools look for a few years of full time experience. Also, round 3 is definitely more difficult than round 1 or 2. Is it imperative that you get an MBA right away? What do you plan to do post MBA?

I am not to familiar with schools that have a sports management MBA, but I came up with the following schools after a quick search:

Stanford
Texas A&M
Arizona State
Florida
George Washington

I will have roughly 8 months of full time experience since graduation at the start of the Fall Semester. I would like to run my own companies and am not restricted by industry, however the sports industry intrigues me the most. I do have business ideas that have nothing to do with sports though. At this point I am thinking that I only really want to go to graduate school if I am going to go to a prestigious program where I can meet and partner with other motivated, creative and intelligent students.

Stanford - Intrigues me a lot because of there overall reputation, location and sports business classes.
Texas A&M - I haven't heard anything about them besides their athletics program.
Arizona State - Just dropped their sports business program.
Florida - I do not know anything about although they do have a good athletics program.
George Washington - Location does not entice me, either does their athletics program.

I also have a slight interest in becoming a sports agent and that is why I am also factoring in the athletics programs at the schools besides possibly working within the department while I attend.

M3FSQ wrote:

dmateer25 wrote:
How much full time experience do you have since graduating? Most schools look for a few years of full time experience. Also, round 3 is definitely more difficult than round 1 or 2. Is it imperative that you get an MBA right away? What do you plan to do post MBA?

I am not to familiar with schools that have a sports management MBA, but I came up with the following schools after a quick search:

Stanford
Texas A&M
Arizona State
Florida
George Washington

I will have roughly 8 months of full time experience since graduation at the start of the Fall Semester. I would like to run my own companies and am not restricted by industry, however the sports industry intrigues me the most. I do have business ideas that have nothing to do with sports though. At this point I am thinking that I only really want to go to graduate school if I am going to go to a prestigious program where I can meet and partner with other motivated, creative and intelligent students.

Stanford - Intrigues me a lot because of there overall reputation, location and sports business classes.
Texas A&M - I haven't heard anything about them besides their athletics program.
Arizona State - Just dropped their sports business program.
Florida - I do not know anything about although they do have a good athletics program.
George Washington - Location does not entice me, either does their athletics program.

I also have a slight interest in becoming a sports agent and that is why I am also factoring in the athletics programs at the schools besides possibly working within the department while I attend.

Stanford will be pretty tough to get into with only 8 months of full time experience. I believe the median full time experience for Stanford is 4 years. Most schools like to see a few years of full time experience.

You may want to consider getting another year of experience before applying to programs. That would give you time to take the GMAT again if you feel you could improve.

It probably depends on which program you are fine with (if you want to go to a prestigious b-school as you say). From your initial list, Stanford is a huge stretch, and Duke, UCLA and Haas are far stretches as well. Applying now would be extremely tough:
- It's R3, so even more competitive
- Your GMAT is below average AND your GPA for most of these schools is below average as well (plus your 2.1 GPA from your first college) - this is very hard to offset
- You have only 8 months of full-time experience

While you write that you want to be in a class with creative and intelligent people, your peers at b-school will also want to be with fellow students with lots of work experience so they can learn from them as well. Having solid work ex is also vital for recruiting. You will have a very hard time competing for jobs if your classmates are more experienced. That's why AdComs often don't admit applicants with little or no work ex, because then the placement figures will look bad, which in return is bad for b-school rankings.

Even though you may not like my advice, if I were you I'd work another 2-3 years, and if you want to go to a top b-school I'd also re-take the GMAT as well.

Two things jumped out at me after skimming through this post:

I would like to run my own companies and am not restricted by industry, however the sports industry intrigues me the most. I do have business ideas that have nothing to do with sports though.

and

I also have a slight interest in becoming a sports agent and that is why I am also factoring in the athletics programs at the schools besides possibly working within the department while I attend.

In order to get into ANY top school, you will need to hone in what it is that you really want to pursue post-MBA. From the two quotes above, it doesn't seem like you have quite figured it out yet. So keep that in mind.

Aaron,


*Edited*
Be specific in your plans, your choice of institutions, and why now is a good time for you to get an MBA. Good luck!

J