I feel like I am in a tough spot with my MBA pursuit. I applied to 3 schools this year: Kellogg, Fuqua, and Ross. I was on the waitlist at Ross, but ultimately I wasn't accepted. I am getting ready for next year's application cycle. Here's a rundown of my profile:
Undergrad
· Flagship State School, Economics Major with Political Science and Business Minors, 2.98 GPA - 3.3 major GPA
· I switched from Chemical Engineering to Econ after 3 semesters. Engineering was not right for me and not my passion. Also, I was a bit immature and not focusing on school enough. I did very poorly during these semesters. I got a C in Calc 1 and failed Calc 2. Retook Calc 2 and got a C-. Other Grades weren't great during this time either.
· Switch majors to economics. Took a wide variety of challenging classes. My grades improved every semester, but none over 3.5. A's in multiple finance classes, most economics classes, accounting, stats, and econometrics. Even when my grades improved, I still think this period of time is not representative of my potential.
WE
· Currently have 4.5 years of work experience. Didn't have a great start after college. Started with an internship. Then a job in international supply chain management at a small textile company, but was let go because they needed someone with more experience (I am saying that the job " wasn't a good fit and inconsistent with my goal", which is true).
· Current job is working for a state Medicaid agency, which I have tons of great experience and solid recommendations. I don't think that this part of my application is an issue. I have leadership, very high impact projects, and heavily quantitative work.
GMAT
· GMAT #1 710 (50Q, 37V, 6AW, 8IR) GMAT #2 730 (48Q, 41V, 5.5AW, 8IR)
· Yes, I wish I could combine my highest quant and verbal
Career Goals
· I want an MBA to change careers to consulting. I would like to work for a top tier firm doing strategy consulting. Energy, water, and sustainability are areas I really am interested in too.
List of schools:
· Big reach: Kellogg, Wharton, Haas, Tuck
· Targets (still a challenge because of my GPA): Ross, Fuqua, Johnson, Darden,
· Second Tier for more safety: UNC, Tepper, McCombs (especially because of the way they calculate GPA),
· Open to other suggestion.
My questions:
· Is it worth my time to retake Calc 1 and 2 (Berkley extension) to try to get A's to make up for my struggles in Calc during my bad first year in undergrad? Or, considering my strong scores in other quant classes and the highly quantitative nature of my work is retaking classes unnecessary? Do I need to do anything else to make up for my poor GPA?
· I am really looking for feedback on building an alternate transcript soon so I can enroll in a Calc 1 this summer if necessary.
· Are the schools in my list reasonable for me to pursue?
· Any other suggestions of actions to take or strategies to work on before the application cycle?
Undergrad
· Flagship State School, Economics Major with Political Science and Business Minors, 2.98 GPA - 3.3 major GPA
· I switched from Chemical Engineering to Econ after 3 semesters. Engineering was not right for me and not my passion. Also, I was a bit immature and not focusing on school enough. I did very poorly during these semesters. I got a C in Calc 1 and failed Calc 2. Retook Calc 2 and got a C-. Other Grades weren't great during this time either.
· Switch majors to economics. Took a wide variety of challenging classes. My grades improved every semester, but none over 3.5. A's in multiple finance classes, most economics classes, accounting, stats, and econometrics. Even when my grades improved, I still think this period of time is not representative of my potential.
WE
· Currently have 4.5 years of work experience. Didn't have a great start after college. Started with an internship. Then a job in international supply chain management at a small textile company, but was let go because they needed someone with more experience (I am saying that the job " wasn't a good fit and inconsistent with my goal", which is true).
· Current job is working for a state Medicaid agency, which I have tons of great experience and solid recommendations. I don't think that this part of my application is an issue. I have leadership, very high impact projects, and heavily quantitative work.
GMAT
· GMAT #1 710 (50Q, 37V, 6AW, 8IR) GMAT #2 730 (48Q, 41V, 5.5AW, 8IR)
· Yes, I wish I could combine my highest quant and verbal
Career Goals
· I want an MBA to change careers to consulting. I would like to work for a top tier firm doing strategy consulting. Energy, water, and sustainability are areas I really am interested in too.
List of schools:
· Big reach: Kellogg, Wharton, Haas, Tuck
· Targets (still a challenge because of my GPA): Ross, Fuqua, Johnson, Darden,
· Second Tier for more safety: UNC, Tepper, McCombs (especially because of the way they calculate GPA),
· Open to other suggestion.
My questions:
· Is it worth my time to retake Calc 1 and 2 (Berkley extension) to try to get A's to make up for my struggles in Calc during my bad first year in undergrad? Or, considering my strong scores in other quant classes and the highly quantitative nature of my work is retaking classes unnecessary? Do I need to do anything else to make up for my poor GPA?
· I am really looking for feedback on building an alternate transcript soon so I can enroll in a Calc 1 this summer if necessary.
· Are the schools in my list reasonable for me to pursue?
· Any other suggestions of actions to take or strategies to work on before the application cycle?
