Course options to overcome a 2.7 GPA

[left field]

Hi Lisa,

I've made the decision to take an online course in accounting to strengthen my application, but I need a little guidance as to which course to take.

I would like to go to Columbia or MIT, but realize that I have an uphill road to get there. I scored a 760 (Q49, V45) on the GMAT about a week ago. I will have 4.5 years of work experience at matriculation. I worked and competed on an NCAA team during undergrad at a top 40 school in the US. My major was genetics.

I figure that accounting will show that I am serious, and boost the quantitative side of my app. Which level course should I take? Intro, mid, graduate level? Also, should the course be from a four year university (I'm leaning toward UCLA) or can it be from a community college? The only real requirement is that it has to be 100% online, as I live in China.

Let me know what you think, or if you know of any good universities that would satisfy this.

Thank you.

LF

[mike22629]

I am no expert, but I know that upper-level accounting classes require prerequisites. So if you have not taken any accounting classes yet, you will probably have to take something like principles of financial accounting (basically learning how to prepare financial statements for external users). Furthermore, the upper-level classes will be very difficult to understand without these lower-level classes.

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear LF,

Mike22629 is right that you will only be eligible to the first level of accounting courses. Most schools require you to take the basic financial accounting course before you can take any other accounting class, so you won't have much choice. It is a great class to take though as an introduction to the terminology and basics of accounting. As for university versus community college, it is not a critical difference in this case, so you should go with the one that looks best for you. I would just pick one that allows you to do anything you need online, including the ordering of transcripts, as you will need to send a transcript of this course to all of the business schools you plan to apply to in the future.

Good luck,
Lisa