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Hello,

I hope to receive an abundant amount of honest feedback from capable people. Thank you in advance for reading.

In 11/2010 I was charged with Marijuana drug charge in AZ. 3/16/2012 I was convicted of Felony Six Undesignated for Facilitation to Transport Marijuana. Undesignated means AZ courts will downgrade the felony charge to a misdemeanor. I also have the option to set aside the downgraded misdemeanor charge and the charge will be communicated as dismissed on my public record. Sounds like a good deal and it is fine, but now I am applying for MBA online. I am required on all MBA Graduate Admission Applications to divulge my felony conviction. How will this felony effect my chances of being accepted in competitive AACSB Online MBA B-schools?

(My top Online MBA choices include Mississippi State U, South Dakota U, Jacksonville State, Shippensburg U, Frostburg U, University of Houston-Clear Lake, Sam Houston State University, Southeast Missouri State, Kennesaw State University. I like these schools for their affordability and high rankings from several online indicators. Their not the best but still respectable.)

My undergraduate GPA 2.76, I am aiming for a 600 GMAT score, I have good recommendations from highly educated successful people I have worked with, I have worked in sales and business related jobs for 10 plus years, and I plan to write excellent essays. One of my essays I will discuss the charge in a compelling display of motivation. My hope is that the latter application details along with the felony will be acceptable.

Hey bmarin!

The headline on your post was a little scary - but then when we read what your crime was, it didn't seem all that bad. Obviously attitudes in this country towards marijuana are changing. You're right to be concerned about how the admissions people may react to a felony, but if you do a good job with the rest of your application, and you are completely candid and upfront about what you did, then they may be able to overlook this.

If you were targeting more competitive programs, then we would strongly recommend that you wait to apply until AFTER the process has finished and the crime has been officially downgraded to a misdemeanor. With the schools on this list, you might be OK if you apply with the current 'felony' status but it's obviously a bigger deal than "just" a misdemeanor. Why do we say it matters more for certain programs? It's due to the hireability factor:

For many programs, even if the schools feel that you're a good guy and they want to admit you, they may hesitate in doing so because of how difficult it is to find employment as a felon. This could be a nonissue for an online program since students are more on their own for post-MBA employment, but it still could matter (unsure). The adcoms often are looking ahead to the time when the candidate is going through recruiting interviews - with the felony, they could worry that it could prevent you from getting a job offer. They don't want to admit someone who will later be stuck with no job prospects coming out. The whole thing could be much easier if you can legitimately disclose this as a misdemeanor instead - it's still a pretty big glitch in your app but we feel like you could have a better shot with that. (Again, this may be less of an issue with the online MBA, not sure.)

Even if it ends up being communicated as "dismissed" on the public record, you will need to disclose this in the applications (you probably knew that, but we wanted to be crystal clear for others who might be reading this).

The other big issue to consider, though, is that without knowing the details, this sounds like you were dealing drugs. That's pretty different from just getting caught with some pot. The story of what actually happened will be very important in your apps. This is true regardless of the current status of your charges or final disposition of the case - doesn't matter if it ends up being a "dismissed misdemeanor", the thing you were convicted of will raise red flags. Needs to be handled carefully.

The best part is that your brush with the law happened a long time ago. If you can focus your apps on all the good things you've been doing with your life since then, to demonstrate that you're a new-and-improved version who's put all this stuff behind you, you may be in good shape.

The other issue of course is that your undergrad GPA is pretty low... so a solid GMAT will be important. A 600 score is probably sufficient based on the schools on your list - those adcoms are flexible in how they evaluate the overall application so it might work. But there's a lot of moving pieces here and you'll need to be strategic about each one.

Hopefully this was useful - it sounds like you're trying to turn a new leaf and all that jazz - be candid in your apps and with these issues and it could work out. Please keep us posted, we'd be curious to know how it goes for you!

EssaySnark

Thank you for taking a time out to offer me guidance. Your assistance is appreciated.

You are right about the disclosure of my crime. When my crime becomes a dismissed misdemeanor I will always need to disclose I was at one time convicted of felony. All applications so far I have reviewed ask something like, "Have you ever been convicted or plead guilty to a felony conviction?". This means I will need to disclose the felony always or risk being accused of dishonesty. I hope you are right about programs being understanding about my background and GPA, especially since I will have to pay money for app fees and study aggressively for the GMAT.

Also, I have one more application requirement working against me. I currently have unpaid tuition charges from my undergraduate degree and the university is withholding my official transcripts. This means I will need to send unofficial transcripts as part of the application requirements. I was advised by Mississippi State that they would accept the unofficial transcripts, so long as I could turn in the official transcripts, after the first class, or at least before I finish my masters. My plan is to be accepted in a online MBA and use my financial aid refund to pay for the unpaid tuition balance my undergrad, so they will release my official transcripts. How will my inability to obtain official transcripts effect my chances of being admitted into an online MBA?

My Back up plan is to choose to possibly be admitted into Grand Canyon U which is a unranked ACBSP school. They literally have no admission requirements other than a undergrad degree. Should I fight to be admitted into reputably ranked AACSB programs, then settle for a ACBPS program?

Most good schools will need to get an official transcript before they'll admit you. You'll need to contact each program to see what they say and whether they can accommodate your situation. Your plan about using your bschool loan to pay off your undergrad may not work since many loans get disbursed to the school directly.

We always recommend going for an accredited school. You'll need to weigh out the pros and cons versus what the MBA can do for you. If you're looking for the MBA to advance your career, then the school where it's earned matters. Check the hiring reports for schools you're interested in to see if the employers you want to work for are recruiting there. Ask around in your target industry to see what the standards are. Those are some good ways to find out which programs are respected in the field.

Good luck with it!

EssaySnark

With an MBA I am looking to have more job opportunity and eventually advance into high ranks of any industry.

It is my understanding that employers desire AACSB business accredited schools rather than ACBSP business accredited schools when studying for the MBA. Do you have an opinion on this?

Unless you're going into academia, we can't imagine that an employer would ever care about which accreditation the school has. MBA recruiters from reputable companies with sought-after positions care about school ranking and reputation. Sure, the accreditation might be part of all that (the best MBA programs in the U.S. tend to be at AACSB schools) but it's not the piece that matters the most. Correlation vs causation.

Unless you're going into academia, we can't imagine that an employer would ever care about which accreditation the school has.

essaysnark wrote:MBA recruiters from reputable companies with sought-after positions care about school ranking and reputation. Sure, the accreditation might be part of all that (the best MBA programs in the U.S. tend to be at AACSB schools) but it's not the piece that matters the most. Correlation vs causation.

I feel like a dunce when it come to applying for graduate school. Thanks for your help.

What do you mean by "Correlation vs causation"?

Can you offer me some rankings that you think employers value? I see so many rankings out there, but I do not know which indicators of college rankings are most valid.

You can use any of the rankings systems - BusinessWeek, US News & World Report, Financial Times. If a school appears on one of those lists, then it's gotta be good. An unranked school hasn't met the basic standards of a competitive market to be noticed. That doesn't mean an unranked school is awful; the rankings are an inexact science at best (and each ranking uses a different methodology which is why the same school can earn a very different spot on one versus another). You can get an education at any school, right? It's up to the student to learn. But an unranked school is going to have a very low bar to entry, it's not going to have the same caliber of professor, and it's definitely not going to attract the same type of student. These things add up to a very different experience during the MBA and will result in very different opportunities afterwards, based on the alumni network etc.

By "correlation vs causation" we just mean that the accreditation is correlated with quality (as measured by reputation/ranking), not a cause of it.

Hope this helps!