USC, UCI, and UCLA FEMBA Chances of Admission

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Hi,

I am planning on submitting an app for the terms starting Fall 2015 as early as possible, and am looking for my chances of admission to USC, UCI, and UCLA's FEMBA programs. Here's what I can bring to the table:

Age: 26
Undergraduate GPA: 3.1 from UC Irvine (BA in Business Economics, with optional Specialization in Intl'l Issues, and minor in Informatics)
GMAT: 550 officially (took the test cold with no prep), but for consideration purposes of admission chances, I'd like to say 600 conservatively. (The 550 was earned taking the test cold with no preparation, so I'd like to think I can do quite a bit better. I plan on taking the test again in 3 months and am currently taking a Manhattan GMAT Prep course. New practice tests peg me at a 600 GMAT.)
Work experience: 4 years at a medium-sized credit union, 2 as a mortgage processor, 2 as a mortgage underwriter

Here are my concerns:

My stats aren't that amazing. While I started the profession with 0 experience and have shown myself to stand out among my peers by moving from a processor to an underwriter position so quickly and with so little experience, it is not work experience at an "elite" firm.

My GPA is low. Only thing I can think as a compensating factor is the fact that as an undergrad, I had a slightly increasing trend of grades, while simultaneously increasing my workload. For the final two years, I regularly took the maximum workload per quarter and earned about a 3.3 GPA, enough to bring my overall to about a 3.1. My last two quarters taking "regular" workloads I earned a 3.47 and 3.67 GPA. After graduating, I also took Intermediate Accounting I and II concurrently through UCI Extension (I ignored the prerequisites and took them both at the same time) and earned two A's. I am also currently enrolled in a Real Estate Certificate program through UCLA Extension, 7/10 courses completed, with a 3.69 GPA so far.

Is there a spot for me at these programs, with somewhat questionable GMAT, GPA, and no elite work experience stats?
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by MBAPrepAdvantage » Mon Jun 30, 2014 6:41 pm
Getting accepted to UCLA FEMBA with a sub-600 GMAT score will be very tough. Look at the class profile (https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/degrees/fu ... do-i-apply). You can see that only 10% of applicants had a 620 or lower.
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by bgmat745 » Tue Jul 01, 2014 9:19 pm
Thanks Michael. With the results of my latest practice tests, what do you make of my chances with a 600 GMAT, and how do you like my chances at USC and UCI?

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by MBAPrepAdvantage » Wed Jul 02, 2014 7:56 am
You should be fine for USC and UCI part-time MBA programs. The methodology is similar. Take a look at the respective class profiles for each target school.

So for USC Marshall the median GMAT is 600 - https://www.marshall.usc.edu/mbapm/admissions/profile. UCI (https://merage.uci.edu/FullyEmployedMBA/ ... Profile/97) does not list their GMAT scores, but it is less competitive than USC Marshall.

Good luck,
Michael Cohan
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