Ask Stacy Blackman

Hello Consultants,

I have recently been admitted to a part-time MBA program at a top 30-40 school. I will have only one year of work experience upon the start of the program. I have a sub 3.0 GPA (declining pattern) in a business program from a very so-so school, but am now committed to gaining admittance to a top 15 full-time program for Fall 2011. What I do have is a GMAT of 720 (may try to boost this), strong essays, a good job at a good company, strong internships, plenty of international exposure, and all of these experiences are related in theme and subject matter. I will also work on extra curriculars within the next year.

I am now looking to create an alternate transcript. I will either

A. Take courses like Calc, Accounting, Econ etc. at a community college, or
B. Take the first 1 or 2 semesters (2-4 classes) of MBA courses at the program that I was admitted to.

Which do you think is the best way to demonstrate my academic capabilities to a top 15 school? The MBA courses would definitely show that I can handle graduate-level business coursework. However, I am worried that this strategy may be counter-productive, as an admissions committee may not like the overlap in coursework and may find it unethical that I took an admission slot and dropped the program after 3 courses just to build an alternate transcript. What do you think?

I would really appreciate any guidance you guys have on this topic. Thanks for all of the great posts!