Ask Stacy Blackman

Hi there:)
I have a bit of an untraditional situation so forgive me for going through all the details. I am an Asian female, graduated from UC Berkeley in Political Economy in '02 and due to some ongoing health issues (which have since been resolved), I ended up with a rather low GPA of 3.04. I don't mind mentioning the health issues in my app but I'd prefer to not talk about them too much since they were of a personal nature.
I did get some decent work experience after that- I spent two years working for a small software company in marketing, and then 4 years working at one of the worlds largest communications company as an account manager, handling multimillion dollar contracts with some of our biggest clients. Before the economy crashed, I decided to reward myself by taking time off to travel and am currently doing volunteer work and small consulting projects for some small businesses in south and southeast asia. Ive been traveling since September 1st. In retrospect I wonder if this was a good idea because now my old job is no longer guaranteed back but I am learning and enjoying this journey tremendously.
In terms of my GMAT- my practice scores have been around 700. I would like to apply to the part time program at Berkeley and full time at UCLA, NYU, USC, Columbia, Chicago, Northwestern. My concerns are twofold. One- will my GMAT score offset my GPA enough or should I try and aim even higher? Two....being that technically, im unemployed, will this hurt my application or should I take advantage of the fact that im doing something a bit untraditional now?
Thanks so much,
MK

Thanks for your feedback. Im thinking of adding USC and Georgetown to the list, as well as a couple others. I will be working on a marketing campaign at one of India's biggest wineries for the next couple months, so I could tie that into the reasons why I left my IT career.

Stacy,

Hello! I can tell by the helpful answers you have given others that you can certainly help me devise a way to get myself out of this pickle I got myself into. I graduated from the University of Texas with an economics degree and an overall GPA of 2.8. My major GPA was an utterly pathetic 1.7 . My GPA for the last 60 hours was a 2.3. My GPA for the last 30 hours was 2.4.

When I was in school I went through some personal problems and got caught up in the wrong crowd, but am now motivated to rectify my mistakes and get back on track in regards to higher education. I'd like to get into good business school and get a masters in accounting, but I fear even with a solid GMAT score my undergrad GPA history will hinder me. I am considering even going to get another undergraduate degree in Accounting to prove my worth in order to get my masters degree in a top notch school. Will this just be a waste of time and money? Should I just take a few classes to build an alternative transcript instead of going ahead and getting another undergraduate degree? Or is there another option?

Sorry for the long post, but I thought I'd lay it all out there. I greatly appreciate your assistance with this and I await your wise answer, thanks!

Best Wishes,
Thomas

Barnabas2009 wrote:Stacy,

Hello! I can tell by the helpful answers you have given others that you can certainly help me devise a way to get myself out of this pickle I got myself into. I graduated from the University of Texas with an economics degree and an overall GPA of 2.8. My major GPA was an utterly pathetic 1.7 . My GPA for the last 60 hours was a 2.3. My GPA for the last 30 hours was 2.4.

When I was in school I went through some personal problems and got caught up in the wrong crowd, but am now motivated to rectify my mistakes and get back on track in regards to higher education. I'd like to get into good business school and get a masters in accounting, but I fear even with a solid GMAT score my undergrad GPA history will hinder me. I am considering even going to get another undergraduate degree in Accounting to prove my worth in order to get my masters degree in a top notch school. Will this just be a waste of time and money? Should I just take a few classes to build an alternative transcript instead of going ahead and getting another undergraduate degree? Or is there another option?

Sorry for the long post, but I thought I'd lay it all out there. I greatly appreciate your assistance with this and I await your wise answer, thanks!

Best Wishes,
Thomas

Stacy,

I forgot to mention that I have 2 years work experience. 1 year working as a Tax Examiner for the Internal Revenue Service and also 1 year working as a financial assistant for the University of Texas at Austin. I'm not sure if my two years work experience and my dismal GPA mentioned above is enough, let me know what you think, thanks!

Best Wishes,
Daniel

Lisa Anderson wrote:Dear Thomas/Daniel,

If you wish to pursue a MS in Accounting, then you will most definitely need to take at least a few accounting courses. You need to check the prerequisites for the MS program as there could be a required number of hours in accounting to enroll in the MS program. I agree that you need to have a strong GMAT and should probably address your low GPA in an optional essay or statement. Lastly, it might be helpful to speak with the graduate advisor for the MS programs you are considering to make sure you are doing all you can to convince them you can handle the program.

Good luck,
Lisa

Lisa,

Thank you for your sound advice. I have been in contact with a graduate advisor of the university that I am looking it. It seems that I have to take at least 42 hours worth of classes to remove my curriculum deficiency in accounting. Being an economics major I didn't have to take ANY accounting classes. What's worth is that those 42 hours will not count towards my masters of accountancy. I am thinking I will just have to embark on the 5 year (150 hour) professional accounting program. My basic core classes I took at my previous university will transfer, but my major of economics was in the college of Liberal Arts so a lot of my hours won't transfer to the College of Business at the school I am looking at. So I'll have to take the core business classes (45 hours), the courses to remove my accounting curriculum deficiency (42 hours), Ace the GMAT and then take the courses necessary to obtain my masters degree (30 hours). Seems like I'll be in school for quite some time more! Oh well I dug myself in a hole and now I have to dig myself out of it. I figure being a Tax Accountant will afford me considerable job security though in the rough economy ahead and it will be well worth it. Please let me know if you have any more advice for me, thanks again for all of your help. Hope you enjoyed your holidays!

Best Wishes,
Daniel

Hi Lisa,

My business school qualifications are mixed:

Good: PhD in mathematics + JD from top-tier schools, good business experience at a fortune 500 and (potentially) solid letters of recommendation, GMATPrep of 780 so I am targeting 750+. I am comfortable with the interview process if I am granted one.

Bad: low GPA's as an undergrad from a second-tier school, and law school (2.5's).

If my GMAT score holds up, I'd like to apply to a top program but I don't know how my credentials would be viewed. Any suggestions as to what types of schools I should consider and how I can maximize my chances?

Thanks in advance.

Lisa,
I have a 2.445 GPA from Fordham University and a 700 GMAT score. I have been out of school working full time for the past 7 years, the last 4 1/2 of which with a large investment bank in a sales/trading position. In addition, I have my Series 7 and 63 licenses. My low GPA is a due to a combination of immaturity and dealing with some family problems. I have applied to the first round for both USC and UNC. Do I have a realistic shot of getting in to these schools? Thanks for your help.

-Chris

Hi Lisa,
First of all, thank you for this very informative thread. Its heartening to know that there are many others in a similar situation as I am.

First, a rundown of my record:

Undergrad:
B.S Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois- Champaign Urbana (2.67/4.00).
I had a terrible time with this degree, as it was something I had no interest in whatsoever. In hindsight, I feel I should have dropped out instead of limping through to finish it.

B.S. Management- Purdue University (2.96/4.00)
After struggling with engineering, I decided to opt for a second undergrad degree in management. Ofcourse, I screwed up a bit here as well, finishing just shy of a 3.0.

GMAT: 700
I dont remember the %tile, but it was something around 86% quant and 95% Verbal.

Work Experience: Currently working as a business strategy consultant with KPMG. Will have 2.5 years of work experience at the time I want to start a grad degree.

I am also currently working on my Level 1 CFA, and hope to have that cleared before I app.

Now, given my not so stellar GPA, I am trying to shoot for top 30 schools. So far, I've narrowed it down to

1) Purdue (Krannert)
2) University of Maryland (Smith)
3) UNC (a long shot by far)
4) Indiana (another long shot)
5) Washington University (Olin)
6) University of Texas-Austin

Do I have a realistic shot at these schools? If not, is it even worth shooting for something lower. I know the value of the MBA degrades the lower you go.

Also, am I required to disclose my Engineering degree on my application. I would very much preffer to sweep it under the carpet, as I earned it several years before my management degree, and feel its not relevant to my career goals.

Also, what steps do you recomend I take to compensate for my low GPA. Will taking 3-4 non degree courses at a local college to build an alternate transcript really make a difference ? What about successfully clearing Level I and II of the CFA exam? I also have the time to retake the GMAT, and try to score closer to 730-740. Right now I'm looking to compensate for my GPA in any way I can, since I still have a year and a half before I apply.

-Thank you.

**Edit**
I read some older posts you made earlier and you answered the questions I had relating to the CFA/Alternate transcripts. The only question I have if whether these would be a good idea in my specific case, given that my essays/recomendations are well rounded. The main reason for my low Management GPA (2.96/4.00) was because of a huge number of Bs (with a B being 3.0).

Hello Lisa,

I have a relatively low GPA for the Top 10 MBA programs. I graduated from Berkeley engineering, and my undergraduate GPA is 3.01/3.2, which is ok in my major but rather low compared to those of other applicants from other schools. I didn't really have any focus during my first two years in college, but I managed to pull my GPA up with straight A's in my senior year.

I score 750 on my GMAT. Since graduation I've worked as sales/product specialist for three years. I was promoted and became the sales manager supervising ~10 ppl for a small pharmaceutical company in the Bay Area.

My question is: What is my chance of getting into schools such as Wharton, Stanford, Chicago, or even Haas? Should I take extra business classes in a community college to enhance my chance? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

Lisa,

Hello! I can tell by the helpful answers you have given others that you can certainly help me devise a way to get myself out of this pickle I got myself into. I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Systems Engineering degree and an overall GPA of 2.3. My major GPA was a 2.8 . My GPA for the last 60 hours was a 3.3. However, I had an academic suspension prior to my last 60 hours before graduation.

When I was in school I went through some personal problems but am now motivated to rectify my mistakes and get back on track in regards to higher education. I'd like to get into good business school and get a masters in accounting, but I fear even with a solid GMAT score my undergrad GPA history will hinder me. I have taken 30 credits in accounting from 2 different universities and 1 community college. My mixed GPA (it was a 4-3-3 course split) is a 3.41 in accounting.

I have taken the GMAT and received a 650 (50Q, 28 V, 5.5 AWA)

I am currently enrolled in a small grad school in accounting (would take me until 2010,) but I am interested in transferring to a better school.

I am thinking of these schools for accounting:

Long Shots
Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Univ Socal, Notre Dame

Fair Shot
Georgia, William and Mary, Ole Miss, Arizona and Ariz State.

Please advise if I am competitive enough to apply to those schools and also whether I should take the GMAT again and try to bump to 7XX.

Best Wishes,
Ray