Ask Stacy Blackman

Lisa Anderson wrote:Dear daler,

While I will do my best to address your questions, I'm not sure I have any definitive answers for you. Admissions for a Master of Engineering program is different than for a MBA program. Thus I do not believe I have the right expertise for you regarding this master's program at MIT. Even though it is built upon Sloan's supply chain track, that does not mean the admissions process, criteria or decision process will be similar to the MBA program. So, I would encourage you to speak with someone directly in the Master of Engineering admissions office at MIT for guidance on your concern.

1. How does adcom generally view grad GPA as opposed to Undergrad GPA?
In the MBA world, the grad GPA will be evaluated as with any other piece of the applicant's file. However, grades on a graduate level are not the same indicator of aptitude and performance as they are on the undergraduate level. Your GPA from your MBA program is on the low side, but it is unclear how much of a weakness that will be for you in this admissions process.

2. Does the fact that I am not a native speaker mitigate the effect of low GPA?
Yes, it will mitigate the graduate GPA to some degree, but not entirely.

3. How bad is 3.1 or 3.2 for top ranked b-school adcoms?
You are right to be concerned. However, I'm not sure how much you should be concerned. I do not think it will be an automatic rejection for you since you did well in college and on the GMAT. In my opinion, it will raise a concern on your ability to succeed in the classroom in the US. So, if you feel you want to address it directly in your application, you should be prepared to give solid reasons and evidence that you will succeed in the Master of Engineering program.

Good luck,
Lisa

Thank you Lisa for your response. I greatly appreciate your help. But I need a small clarification on what you said:
you wrote: However, grades on a graduate level are not the same indicator of aptitude and performance as they are on the undergraduate level. do you mean adcoms give lower weight to undergrad GPA than to Grad GPA?

another quick question: it turns out to be that my final GPA is 3.26 (previously i thought it would be 3.1), and my Major GPA is 3.52. Does it make any difference, or does it still need to be adressed in the optional essay?

thank you again and sorry for not asking all the questions at once.
daler

Lisa Anderson wrote:Dear eng2mba,

Everyone competes against the global MBA applicant pool. Each school's applicant pool will vary in terms of make-up, but any applicant to business school is in the global pool. Since you are a US PR, some US schools will consider you in the subset with other domestic applicants. However, there are schools that will still compare you against other applicants from India since that is your home country.

Good luck,
Lisa

thank you so much!!!

another question regarding your services: do you guys provide one-on-one consulting services on writing optional essays? I am thinking about using your services to address low GPA (plus I am a re-applicant) in an optional essay.

Lisa,

My GPA is a 2.48. I have been working for 8 years and have been in a leadership role making sound decisions and making a big impact at my company. I have been studying for my GMATs and have been scoring between 450 and 500 on my CATs. I am taking my GMATs mid June. Is it possible for me to get into the part time USC program? I have recently been diagnosed with ADD, but have not previous records from the doctor. My job requires me to constantly be on my feet and moving around which is why I think the ADD part has not affected me too much. I will take my GMATs timed like everyone else.


Sam

Hi,

I have a very low GPA(2.7) and would like to build alternative transcripts to improve my MBA application.I did my UG in Electrical Engineering and has been working as a Software Engineer from past 4 yrs.

I checked some Berkeley Extension Online Courses, but not sure if the standard of the courses is sufficient to impress MBA selections committee.(I would like to apply to top 15 MBA colleges this September.)

The courses I found are

1)Calculus I - Lower-division course at the level of the first two years of college, that is, freshman and sophomore.
2)Introduction to Statistics - Lower-division course at the level of the first two years of college, that is, freshman and sophomore.
3)Introduction to Financial Accounting - Upper-division course at the level of the second two years of college, that is, junior and senior.

1)Will these above courses build a impressive alternative transcript?Could you please suggest if I need to add any other courses or if I need to take advanced levels in above courses.
2)I live in Glasgow and tried to find good courses around but could not find.Could you please let me know of any good classroom courses in Glasgow or online courses in UK to build my alternative transcript.

Thank you for reading this and helping me in advance.

Hi Lisa,

I am majoring in Engg. Physics from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. I have completed my 6th semester. Now I plan to give GMAT this fall and aim to score at least 720. I want to pursue MS in financial Engg. or MS in Quantitative Finance from US. I would like to shoot for the top 15 univs offering these programs.I currently have a cgpa of 7.0/10, but since last year I have improved considerably and been scoring 8-8.5/10. How would you rate my chances in getting through and what can I possibly do to offset my low cgpa and lack of work experience?

I would appreciate your advice.
Thank you.

Hi Lisa - I graduated from the University of Texas with a GPA of 2.9 in Economics. I scored a 680 on the GMAT and have nearly 6 years of professional experience, 3.5 years at an advertising agency as a project coordinator for the market research dept and the last 2 years working for a consumer research and consulting company as a project manager. I see my professional experience as a strength. I've had a clear career path in market research, worked for two great companies, have progressed to a management position where I lead 10-12 employees on each project, and have excellent client services skills. My extracurricular is weak but I feel my letters of recommendation and essays will be good.

I'm interested in attending Univ of Texas (McCombs) either part-time or full-time. I'm worried about my GPA - do you think I need an alternate transcript? Will my GMAT score make up for my low GPA? What are my chances part-time vs. full-time? Are there extracurricular activities I could do now that wouldn't look like I was doing it just for my application?

Any advice/thoughts on my application would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Lisa,

Great service you have here! I'm wondering if you can take a moment to evaluate my overall profile and provide some guidance on next steps for pursuing an EMBA.

As with the others, I graduated with a less than stellar GPA, with a 2.8 overall from UC Berkeley. I majored in English with a Specialization in International Economics. I had a 3.3 GPA in my major, but had some B/C work in the tougher quantitative courses (two quarters of calculus - B/C+), and unfortunately struggled in a couple of the more important upper division economics courses. This is the source of great regret for me, as I don't believe it is truly reflective of my potential, but these are some of life's tougher lessons.

Like many others, I maintained a part time job throughout school, but I was forced to increase my hours and responsibilities over my last two years, and had some significant financial difficulties due to no longer receiving financial aid (without any offsetting source of income or assistance). I did have a 4 year partial scholarship, but making up the difference (and attending school for a fifth year) proved challenging. And to be fair, I clearly could have been better at time management and juggling these responsibilities. There were other contributing factors that at this stage can only be viewed under the rubric of "hindsight is 20/20", or that might be viewed as excuses in retrospect. The key is learning from those mistakes in the intervening years.

This brings me to the rest of my profile:

GMAT: I haven't yet taken the GMAT, but have been preparing to do so (and will likely take a course to brush up).

Work Experience: I have approximately 10 years of experience, and I think you'll find it somewhat unconventional when compared to the typical MBA candidate. I'm hoping this will play in my favor, but please advise.

I spent a year out of school at a major banking institution performing mortgage retail research and other assorted duties before being "downsized" out in the wake of a merger.

After this, I began work in the public policy arena, with a specific emphasis on the energy and telecommunications industries. I performed research and analysis of energy and telecommunications markets, strengthening my understanding of economics, and some financial concepts (cost of capital, infrastructure project finance, etc.). I've worked in teams to generate technical studies, and prepared testimony on highly intricate cost models, rate cases, and large mergers/acquisitions. I also examined public programs and financing and represented the public interest in innumerable legal proceedings before a major regulatory body.

In recent years, I have taken on project management responsibilities in some of the "sexier" policy issues facing these industries. For instance, I coordinated team efforts on developing and shaping complex climate change and renewable energy policies for the electricity sector, which are comprehensive and highly technical. Finally, I have also been a senior policy advisor to a major decision-maker (good reference!), which was an incredibly challenging and rewarding experience. I helped this individual establish a political identity, shape policy positions, and evaluate major decisions with large financial implications.

So, I've been fortunate to have had a quasi-academic career with great challenges and interesting work. I want an EMBA to begin consulting (or advising at a higher level) in these very areas, particularly in the energy industry, which is undergoing a major transformation. The question is: can I leverage this experience into an EMBA program?

My next steps are: (1) prepare for and take the GMAT; (2) build an alternate transcript of 3 graduate courses in quantitative studies (business courses).

Questions: I'll obviously need to score very well (650-700) and ace those courses to get into schools. Assuming that happens, what are my chances for getting into a top 25 MBA school?

Do you have any advice for framing this otherwise "different" work experience? Any other advice?

Thanks so much in advance!