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FEMBA: USC or UCLA.. Importance of GMAT/GPA vs Wk Experience

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FEMBA: USC or UCLA.. Importance of GMAT/GPA vs Wk Experience

by geckoutca » Mon Dec 20, 2010 8:43 am
I am planning to apply to both Fully Employed programs at USC and UCLA and recently took my first GMAT. I scored a 610 and have an undergraduate B.S. in Chemistry GPA of 2.95. However what I do have is a PhD in organic chemistry and a Post-Doc from UPENN. After school I have been in industry now for 6 + years in pharmaceuticals/biotech. When I look at the FEMBA program scores vs full time I noticed that the GMAT score ranges are quite a bit different. I am curious if more emphasis is placed on ones work experience and success after undergrad instead of GPA and GMAT score. Basically do I need to retake the exam and hope to gain 30-40 points having only a few weeks to do so as the application is due in Jan? I have never been a strong test taker and excel more in work than I do on standardized tests and I am not all that confident that I can raise my score much in a few short weeks. All things considered I did score better in verbal than I did in math which is quite rare so I probably made a few dumb errors that cost me quite a few points.

Any advice (as blunt and honest as possible) would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

geckoutca
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by Tani » Mon Dec 20, 2010 4:07 pm
My advice to a client in your position would be to go with your current GMAT score and concentrate on emphasizing the other very strong aspects of your application. The longer an applicant has been out of school, the less weight a GMAT score carries. Fully employed programs also tend to have lower overall GMAT scores because they are pulling from a much more geographically limited applicant pool.

Putting together persuasive essays is much harder and takes much longer than you expect. You have so much to say for yourself that you should focus on your application. An experienced admissions consultant can make an enormous difference in helping you craft essays that put you in the best possible light. If you can afford such services, you should seriously consider it. My clients regularly admit that together we have gotten them acceptances to schools they would not have gotten into on their own.

Your target schools will see very few (if any) PhD's with strong pharmaceutical backgrounds. Your industry is so hot right now that they should be excited to get someone who can bring your level of insight to the classroom.

One last point. You will need strong supporting recommendations. Many recommenders need a month to get their responses to the schools. Also, some schools are much slower than others in forwarding transcripts. If you have not done so, you should take care of both of these items as soon as possible.

Good luck,
Tani Wolff
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