Ryan,
Thanks for your reply. I've offered some additional thoughts below:
Below are the grades I made in college in math-related classes.
Geometry A
Microeconomics C
Macroeconomics C
Calculus I C
Calculus II B
Physical Science I A
Physical Science II B
Accounting B
Symbolic Logic B
As you can see I didn't do terribly bad, but not that great either. One reason I'm hesitant to take another mathematics class is that it would have to be online (as there seems to be a lack of summer math classes taught in SF). I've heard that sometimes online classes are looked at with skepticism. What's your view? On the other hand, business valuation is something that I'm actually interested in, will probably be writing about in my essays, involves a lot of math, and I know that there is good teacher leading the class.
>>Thanks for sharing the details of your quant. coursework. The clear weak spots are micro and macro economics, both of which serve as essential foundations in business school. Your 'C' in Calculus I is a liability as well, although it is somewhat mitigated by the 'B' you received in Calculus II. In short, you may want to look into taking micro and/or macro and earning As.
>>Keep in mind that the adcom has a strong belief in the fact that calculus, statistics, accounting and micro/macro are fundamental foundations for business school (this is why each of these courses is covered in pre-term or the first semester, to ensure that students are 100% up to speed and solid in these areas).
>>While it's clearly more interesting to take a business valuation course, the point of an alternative transcript is NOT to replicate specialty/elective coursework that one might see in business school. It is to prove to the adcom that you are sound in the building-blocks of management education. Given your ugrad results in economics, this is clearly an area you should seek to address.
>>As to online vs. in-classroom offerings, this isn't as a big of a deal as you might think. The key is that if you choose to to take an online course, it should be with a reputable academic institution. For example, both UC Berkeley and the UCLA Extension School offer excellent online courses that many MBA applicants have taken over the years.
I think what really hurt me was the grades and the spotty work history (I worked in a legal firm for a year after school, then taught English in Spain and the Czech Republic, now work in insurance but want to move into asset management). Hopefully with another year of work experience (including a promotion) and a few more classes I have helped to mitigate this. I also worked full-time during most of college, mentioned this in my optional essay last year, and plan on doing the same this fall. I am also a competitive cyclist but does that look like to much of a loner sport (which it's not) to include in my app?
>>It's hard to say exactly what may have gone wrong this past year, but I agree that your academic background and somewhat circuitous career path to date would have been legitimate concerns. At the same time, if positioned properly, your unique career path could be more of an asset than a liability.
>>Beyond the outside coursework and solid GMAT result, I think that mentioning your full-time work during college is a good strategy to mitigate the grades issue.
>>Being a competitive cyclist should be a major advantage in your profile. While some may view this as a solo sport, the onus will simply fall on you to accurately describe the nature of training (in group rides) as well as the way that races often function (teams, the peloton, etc). I presume you've made contact with the cycling/outdoors club heads at each of your target programs?
And one last question that I'm sure you've been asked numerous time but that many people are interested in: what is your prediction of the competitiveness of this coming years application pool (relative to last)? Obviously more people have been laid off and might be looking to going back to school but also there has been a lot of bad press about MBAs lately (can't get internships or jobs, did they (MBAs) help cause this mess, financial problems for international and domestic applicants, etc,).
>>I expect this coming year to be remain highly competitive, but it will be hard to top this past admissions cycle (which was one of the biggest on record). Of course, the truth is that there are still a lot of folks in the applicant pool who are facing unemployment/potential unemployment and looking at the MBA as a way to increase their skill set and exit the job market for a couple of years (ideally graduating when times are a bit better). In addition, the sheer demographics favor continued high volume - be it from the children of the baby-boomers who are increasingly present in the domestic (US) pipeline to the countless Chinese and Indian young professionals who find an international MBA appealing.
>>At the same time, given the credit crisis and economic climate, I am not ruling out a potential decline in some international markets - where candiates may fear their ability to finance the degree or remain in the US to work following graduation. [Of course, as most of the top schools have recently rolled out new no-co-signer loan programs for internationals, it could be that interest will pick back up on that front.]
>>As to the bad press about the MBA degree itself, I think that most intelligent readers know that blaming the financial crisis on the MBA degree is an overly simplistic explanation, and that the roots of the problems we see today go far beyond the basic teaching in the MBA classroom. In short, I suspect that the true value of a degree from a top-tier MBA program remains strong - particularly among the group of people that would be likely to consider the degree in the first place.
>>Finally, with regards to the job market for MBAs, this is by no means the first boom/bust cycle the market has seen - although I recognize that it is far more serious. The point is that the media has always enjoyed publishing articles about MBA placement stats (especially when they look grim), but even in the days following September 11th and the complete collapse of the internet bubble, programs like HBS and Wharton were finding jobs for 80%+ of their graduates within three months of graduation. If anything, having an MBA from a top program during difficult times can give you the needed edge when competing against other candidates who haven't pursued further education.
Thanks again for the insight and when I start to put together my application, I will contact you.
>>I look forward to hearing from you. Best of luck with your coursework in the interim!
Regards,
Graham
