Profile evaluation please

[changingcourse]

Hi,

I've recently (about 5 months ago) decided to make a career change. I have a BA in psychology (3.0 GPA) and an MS in Psychology (3.1 GPA). I've been working as a counselor for about a year. I plan on applying for Fall 10 at the earliest,which would give me close to 2 years of work experience barring any unfortunate situation. I also plan on taking 1 or 2 quant classes before I apply and want to shoot for close for a 700 on the GMAT.

with that information what are my chances of getting into a decent MBA program, and what else can I do to improve my chances?

Thank you in advance

[Graham]

Dear changingcourse,

Thanks for your post!

You pose a great question, and I have the following thoughts:

1) You have a very interesting background and would clearly be nontraditional in the b-school applicant pool (this is an advantage). Having said that, you would obviously need to draw some connection between your psych. background and your future post-MBA plans (perhaps you are interested in taking on senior HR positions or in pursuing a marketing/consumer behavior specialization, for example).

2) You are correct in assuming that your GPAs from ugrad and grad school will present a liability - particularly at top-tier programs. [Having said that, I'd be curious to know where you attended school, since if the programs you attended were well regarded, you might be given a bit more leeway.]

3) There are a number of ways to address a low GPA:

-Ace the GMAT exam, scoring well above your target schools' average and giving the admissions office a very recent measure of your current academic aptitude.

-Take 2-3 outside courses BEFORE you apply and include the transcripts from these courses (ideally with a 4.00 GPA) in your applications to business school. Classes to take inclue calculus, statistics, accounting and economics. You needn't take them at a graduate school level - college level is perfectly acceptable. I cannot stress enough the importance of getting As in these classes.

-Consider developing an optional essay that explains your poor performance in school - perhaps highlighting the fact that you worked your way through college to pay tuition, faced personal issues (family illness, etc), were the first in your family to attend university, etc. You can then point to your high GMAT result and straight As in quantitative coursework as a way to make a "that was then, this is now" argument. Obviously, the contents of this essay would depend entirely on your experiences, but I'm just trying to give you a sense of what people often do.

4) If you are committed to a changing course, I think it could be done - but not without a fair amount of hard work on your part. Feel free to send along your resume ([email protected]) if you'd like to set up a free one-on-one phone session with one of our counselors and discuss this futher.

Best of luck,

Graham

[changingcourse]

Wow. this is a lot more information than I expected. Thanks a lot Graham

Now to reply to your comments:

My primary interest is finance. However I am still very much interested in combining what I would learn in an MBA program with my background in psych.

I did my undergrad at SUNY Potsdam and my grad at University of the Science of Philadelphia.

As far as the GMAT, I think I should be shooting for somewhere around 700 (how realistic that is remains to be seen).

I do plan on taking courses before I apply. I do have one question about that. Does it matter where I take those courses, in terms of the school's reputation? For example, would it be better to take them at a four year institution as opposed to a community college?