An unconventional background for MBA?

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An unconventional background for MBA?

by me4mba » Wed Apr 11, 2007 10:45 am
Please give me some advice on my situation. I am a product designer working in the medical device industry. By the time I apply to b-school, I will have a little over 2 years of work experience. Last year, I also started a business and legal support firm back in my home country in Southeast Asia. Despite the distance, I have been taking an active role in the firm and will continue to do so.

My undergraduate degree is in fine arts (design). Unfortunately, the school does not provide GPA or rank its students, so it will be difficult to evaluate my academic abilities / potential. Furthermore, none of the courses on my transcript are quantitative or relevant to business.

My plan to mitigate this is to take quantitative evening courses in the summer and in the fall. Looking at the courses available to me: Calculus, Statistics, Finance, Accounting, etc., I am not sure how I should prioritize. I took AP Calculus BC in high school and scored a 5 (highest)- I know it’s been a long time, but I still feel very comfortable with the material. If I were to take a regular college-level calculus course, I’m sure I can do well. Now, would you advise against that strategy or support it? If I can only pick one course between Calculus and Statistics which I have no experience with and may not do as well in, which one should I choose?

I can only take 2 courses this summer and 2 more in the fall. Do you think the 4 courses will be sufficient to show my quantitative potential and dedication/determination to go to b-school?

I didn’t have much extracurricular activities in school due to the nature of the community (most people have to support themselves. If you’re not in the classroom, you’re out there trying to make a living). Though I landed the position as the department representative in the school’s government for one year.

Assuming that I perform well in the 4 evening classes and on GMAT (my current diagnostic score range is 700 – 740), what are my chances at the top 10 or even top 5 schools? I know with my background it’s a really really long shot, but is there anything else that I should do that may help? Thank you very much. Any comment by anyone will be much appreciated!
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by Stacy Blackman » Sun Apr 15, 2007 6:09 pm
Sounds like you have some good material for an application. I believe the AP Calc credit would be on your college transcript, in which case it would not be necessary to retake. Otherwise, the 4 courses you mentioned sound great and I think they will help your story a lot, assuming you do well.

You should pick up some sort of activitiy now. Think of something that you are really interested in, and get involved. Perhaps related to healthcare or the arts?

These things will keep you busy and both will have a very positive impact on your application.

Good luck!
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by me4mba » Thu Apr 19, 2007 12:50 pm
Thank you Stacy for your insight. After reading your post, I checked my college transcript, and none of the AP credits I have are listed. Should I submit an AP transcript along with my college transcript? (I don't know how long the AP credits are good for, but it's been 6 years!). I understand that I will have to self-report my grades in the application- can I put in my AP credits there even though they do not appear on my official college transcript?

I also found out that the 4 evening courses I was planning to take would cost me about $1,800 - $2,200 per course. That will be a major problem for me. While I believe that education is almost always a good investment, spending $8,000 will put a lot of burden on my financial situation (my job does not pay much). This really saddens me. I was so excited and looking forward to taking these classes. I will have to cut down to 2 courses - maybe Statistics and Accounting?

Thanks for the advice regarding activities in the arts/healthcare fields. I've actually been planning something on this for a while. This will be a good time to start executing my plans.

Thanks again!

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by Stacy Blackman » Fri Apr 20, 2007 12:53 pm
I would do Calculus and Accounting. Calculus is critical, and since they will not have documentation, it will be good to take it again. Also, since it was high school, it will have been a while.
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