Hi-
Thanks in advance for your time and advice, much appreciated!
Here is my situation in a nutshell- I am a 35 year old who left school 8 years ago as an undergraduate to start my own music production business, which did very well. In the ensuing 8 years I ran my own tutoring company, taught AP level at a private high school, and continued my own music business. I also travelled the world playing music, composed scores for film and tv, and released a nice collection of albums with international labels. Before leaving school, I was a premed biology major with a 3.35 GPA.
I have now returned to finish my BS in biology, which I will complete in June '09. After this, I want to apply to top business schools to combine my real-world business knowledge, my science background, and my creativity so I can come out and have the opportunity to do something meaningful and lucrative.
I took a practice GMAT and got a 720 on my first try(I have tutored standardized tests for 10 years so I'm good at them).
Here are my downsides, I had one very bad quarter right before I left school 8 years ago in which I failed to withdraw by the deadline and received one F and two 'W''s for withdraw. Not counting that quarter my GPA is 3.58. I'm confident that at the end of June I can have a cumulative GPA of 3.5. I still have some high unit labs to take and I'm doing very well in my summer session now. My other downside might be my age and the fact that I am only now just finishing my bachelor's degree although I've had lots of work and entrepeneurial experience in between.
So my questions are: Given the above personal info and my numbers (3.5 GPA in science and 700+ GMAT), do you think I'd be competitive at a top 10 MBA program? What should be my timeline for taking the real GMAT and applying? (Should I apply before I finish my BS degree or wait until the next round? Obviously, being 35, I'd like to get things going) What could I be doing in the meantime while I finish school that would help my application? Are there any MBA programs specifically that you think I'd be a good fit for?
Sorry for the long-winded post but I wanted to cover it all.
Best,
JP
Thanks in advance for your time and advice, much appreciated!
Here is my situation in a nutshell- I am a 35 year old who left school 8 years ago as an undergraduate to start my own music production business, which did very well. In the ensuing 8 years I ran my own tutoring company, taught AP level at a private high school, and continued my own music business. I also travelled the world playing music, composed scores for film and tv, and released a nice collection of albums with international labels. Before leaving school, I was a premed biology major with a 3.35 GPA.
I have now returned to finish my BS in biology, which I will complete in June '09. After this, I want to apply to top business schools to combine my real-world business knowledge, my science background, and my creativity so I can come out and have the opportunity to do something meaningful and lucrative.
I took a practice GMAT and got a 720 on my first try(I have tutored standardized tests for 10 years so I'm good at them).
Here are my downsides, I had one very bad quarter right before I left school 8 years ago in which I failed to withdraw by the deadline and received one F and two 'W''s for withdraw. Not counting that quarter my GPA is 3.58. I'm confident that at the end of June I can have a cumulative GPA of 3.5. I still have some high unit labs to take and I'm doing very well in my summer session now. My other downside might be my age and the fact that I am only now just finishing my bachelor's degree although I've had lots of work and entrepeneurial experience in between.
So my questions are: Given the above personal info and my numbers (3.5 GPA in science and 700+ GMAT), do you think I'd be competitive at a top 10 MBA program? What should be my timeline for taking the real GMAT and applying? (Should I apply before I finish my BS degree or wait until the next round? Obviously, being 35, I'd like to get things going) What could I be doing in the meantime while I finish school that would help my application? Are there any MBA programs specifically that you think I'd be a good fit for?
Sorry for the long-winded post but I wanted to cover it all.
Best,
JP