Getting into a decent business school

Dear Moot:

With your overall GPA being a 2.8, you are correct that your GMAT needs to be as high as possible. You should probably aim for a score starting with a 6 or 7, the higher the better. You will also want to use the optional essay to address your low GPA directly when you do apply.

It would be advantageous to get professional work experience between now and when you apply to business school. With a pre-med background and work at Harvard Med, you might look into operations positions at medical schools, hospitals and/or doctors' offices. Likewise, with your sociology degree you could look at sales opportunities (maybe around healthcare/pharma).

It is not the industry or job title that is important, but the quality of the work you have done. Your work experience needs to be on a professional level (i.e., requires a college degree), and you need to maximize the experience so you will have examples of teamwork, leadership potential, etc. when you write your business school essays. Ideally, you should probably get 2-4 years of professional work experience after graduating with your bachelor's degree before applying to business school.

As for the comment from your advisor on income potential, there is some truth to the statement but only in the short-term. Business schools are brands to some degree, so programs top 20 programs (Harvard, Wharton, Stanford) are premium brands and their graduates command higher salaries upon graduation than folks at small, regional or online programs which would be generic brands in this analogy. Long term, however, income potential really depends on the individual and the career path s/he pursues. Taking this one step further, where you go to school will also influence the career paths available to you to some degree. For example, if you want to be an investment banker, you absolutely need to go to a top 20 program to have the highest probability of getting a job with an investment bank.

Hope this helps you with your plan. Good luck!
Lisa

Dear Moot:

Yes, the admissions committee will review your transcript for trends, and it will be beneficial that your grades have improved greatly in your last two years. As for staying in school longer, I would only recommend it if you want to do it for other reasons like a double major. By the time you get to your 4th and 5th years, taking an additional 8-10 courses is generally not going to have a significant impact on your overall GPA.

Regards,
Lisa