Ask Stacy Blackman

Hello -

First off thank you for this service, it is very helpful to have folks who are experts in this area provide this guidance.

I am a 28 (29 this coming summer) Male living in NYC, working for a large telecommunications company. I am currently a Sr. Manager in the Pricing Strategy group. I have about 6.5 years work experience, of which the last 3 have been in a management capacity. I'm looking towards an MBA to gain some more experience and knowledge in Marketing Strategy - an area that I have interest, but unfortunately not the background yet.

I have an undergrad degree in Operations Research & Industrial Engineering from a top 5 Engineering program, but unfortunately I graduated with a 2.1 GPA. Basically my lack of maturity made college more social than academic for me.

I've been rather successful in my career since then, but it is without a doubt a huge red flag. I have taken the GMAT and scored a 740 (49 Q, 42 V).

I've gathered a small set of target schools, which i'm hoping to get some feedback on both if the programs fit what i'm looking for in terms of Mkting Strategy, as well as if I'm a realistic candidate. My second question is just tied to the timing. Because of my age, i'm being increasingly told I should consider applying in R3 simply because my schools look down upon folks who are 30+ at the time of matric unless they have some extraordinary circumstances. So what would be my chances on the listed schools given a R3 application?

School list: Michigan, Duke, USC, Texas, Emory, Rice.


Thanks in advance for your time.