Ask Stacy Blackman

Greetings,

My transcript is a bit of a mess, I have a couple of D's and 1 F (I will be redoing this next term) , to have an acceptable average (3.0 and above) I will most likely have to redo a few more courses, the problem is it will be about 1 academic year worth of repeats (when you include my previous repeats). On top of that I have been a part-time student and I will most likely be finishing my degree in a span of 7 years, (I was in and out of school and had to deal with depression and family deaths).

My question is simply, will this 1 year worth of repeats as well as the length of time I am taking to finish my undergrad, rule out any chance of getting into a decent grad school.

P.S.
I'm currently in Canada aiming to pursue my CMA

Hello~

I am a top tier MBA hopeful, and I am relentless. Perhaps delusional, this time.

I am a West Point grad, Comparative Politics Major (B.S.) and engineering sequence in Systems Engineering / Decision Analysis. I did poorly my first two years because of competing interests with clubs, leadership responsibilities, and sports. I learned from my mistakes and got a 3.4 my final two years, including an A+ and award on my thesis on Web 2.0 in Iran and China, as well as an A+ on my Systems Capstone. I was one of the top 12 cadets in terms of leadership positions, and represented my school by speaking at events in DC etc. Undergrad GPA ended up being about 2.7.

I have a plan of attack that involves demonstrating quant proficiency and hopefully off-setting my low undergrad GPA with online classes from UC Berkeley Extension (Calc, Stats, Econ) and earning As (I earned a D/C/C in those at the Academy). I will shoot for a 700 GMAT, and based on practice tests, I can pull it off.

I am currently serving as an Executive Officer (Signal/Communications Company) in a rapid-deployment emergency response Airborne unit. I have leadership, logistics, and management experience. I want to go to a full time MBA program in about 5-6 years, so there is time. My choice schools are (dreaming here): Tuck, Cal/Haas, Duke/Fuqua, Columbia, UNC, Rutgers/Fletcher's MIB program, and Georgetown. I don't do the word CAN'T. Any advice on how I can improve my application and further off-set my low undergrad GPA? Thanks!

ok

I am looking for some advice to improve my chances for MBA admission. My problem is a low GPA. I graduated in 2004 with a Bachelors of Science in Business with a double major in Management and Marketing from California State University Northridge. My cumulative GPA is 2.74, my major GPA is 2.7 and my transfer GPA from a junior college is 3.2. What options do I have to raise my GPA?

My GPA is low because of two classes that I got an F in. One was a Math class at CSUN which I was told I could drop late. The graduation requirements changed during the semester and because I was working full time I asked if I could drop the class without it affecting my grade. When I got my grades I got an F. I fought it for awhile, but gave up after deciding it wouldn't affect graduating. I also had an F in a real estate class in junior college that I signed up for, but never attended. Normally, if you didn't show up for the first class, you were automatically dropped...Not this time. I am fighting both of these to help improve my GPA. It will still be just below 3.0.

I am looking at taking a few classes this semester at a local junior college. I was going to take: Business Calculus, Microeconomics, Accounting and a Hotel Management class or two. Will taking these classes help my chances of getting into an MBA program? How will an MBA program evaluate these courses even though they will not be added to my cumulative GPA? I would like to take them at CSUN, but you cannot retake any courses there after graduation because of overcrowding.

I took the GMAT in November and got a 520 the first time. I plan on taking the 9-week Manhattan Review Course and take the GMAT again in April. I did apply for Spring 2011 to the Dual MBA/MS in Hospitality Management degree at UNLV and didn't get in. I will be reapplying to the program and a few others for Fall 2011. I am also looking into MBA/JD programs.

Helllo!

I am a little concerned about getting into the business school i want to study masters at. Right now I am preparing for GMAT and I hope to get around 620+ (the minimum university requirement is 600). However, I have a low GPA. Right now it is 3.24 and the program minimum requirement is B+, which is 3.33. Even if i manage to get some As in my last semester in college I will be able to increase the GPA only to 3.27. Another problem arises because my Major GPA is 2.88 and my minor gpa is 3.27. What do you think matters ...the cumulative GPA or the major GPA. Will a GMAT in the range over 620 show the school that i could perform well in the program.

If, for example, i get rejected, and spend a year working in the field and then reapply again, do you think that the work experience will compensate for the low GPA.

Thank you in advance and have a successful 2011 year!

Regards
Miro

Hi,

I am from India. I have a low score in my undergraduate course. My university did not award a GPA, rather a percentage of the maximum marks that can be scored is awarded to students at the end of each semester. My average scores across 4 years of undergraduate study has been 56%. I don't know what the GPA equivalent of this would be , since only absolute scores were awarded. I have close to 2.5 years of work experience now in an IT major. I am planning to apply to B schools in the US for the Fall program of 2012. I am hopeful of getting a good score on the GMAT. Would that be able to compensate my performance at the undergraduate level ?

Another query I have is, how difficult is for an International applicant to obtain loans without a co-signer at B schools ? I believe it's relatively easy at the top 15 schools. But, what about the ones that are in the range of 15-35 ?

Any pointers will be appreciated !

Hello,

I am currently considering Executive MBA programs at Duke and UNC.

I have 7 years of very successful work experience that includes a history of team work and individual projects that benefit my employer. Additionally, I am involved in two charities and participate in community organizations at my office. My GMAT is a 700, but, as with many here, my undergraduate engineering GPA is a 2.2.

My GMAT remarkably higher than the 80% of both schools, but my GPA is remarkably lower. Does undergraduate GPA as serious of a concern for EMBA programs? Should I investigate other options?

Thank you.

-Luke

I posted to this about a year ago. Since, I took two prep courses (Kaplan) and started with a Diagnostic score of 470. About twelve or so practice exams later, I got that to a 640 and seem to be progressing 10 or 20 points as two or three tests went by.

Anyway, I took the REAL exams last January (with the flu) and March. I seem to be stonewalling around 550 to 580. My math seems to be representative of all the practice exams (upper 60s to mid 70s percentile.) But my verbal is worse on both exams than my practice exams (upper 20s percentile.) Anyway, I will look into a third try after another course, maybe MGMAT.

I need an upper 600s to compensate my low GPA (of 2.33 for Engineering) as I was advised a year ago. I have five years work experience with increasing responsibilities on my resume. And I'm pretty sure I can get some letters of recommendation from my boss (the president.) I have a few questions.

I'm NOT trying to get into a Top 20 school. I think more that the Univ. of Denver is out of reach for me (admissions-wise and finanically!) So I am aiming for the Univ. of Colorado - Denver or Boulder.

- The more work experience I get, does the GMAT score matter much to admissions? If I wait 5 more years?

- How many times do I have to take the GMAT before it starts to hurt me with Admissions? 3? 5? 10? 20? I know you can only take the GMAT only 5 times a year, two months apart. I assume the Univ. of Colo. take the highest score in the past 5 years? I hear some take the average! (Gasp!)

- If I take a course thru a college to build a secondary transcript (taking Business classes) and show that I can score A's, how much does that help me with Admissions? (I've been told by one person at Univ. of Colo. at an info session, not much but I hear other opinions.)

I guess maybe I am asking these questions to avoid improving my GMAT score and taking my chances with the Admissions process, but I also hear if you score a certain score over and over, its not worth working on it any further...

I guess I am trying to see, if I should be spending any more money and effort for something that might be not possible to get into... Its been so far about a year, countless hours of studying and about $3k in books, prep courses, exam fees and coffee from Starbucks....

Thanks in advance for the advice!

-- streetpunkstar