Dear Stacy - Alternative Transcripts

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Dear Stacy - Alternative Transcripts

by Wolverine1980 » Thu Aug 02, 2007 4:35 pm
Hi Stacy,

I'm currently in the process of signing up with your firm (just need to figure out how many schools), but I wanted to ask a question on the open forum in case some of the other beatthegmat users have some experience with what I'm about to mention.

About me: military officer , went to a service academy, good leadership experience (combat patrol leader in Iraq, etc.), decent GMAT (Q-47, V-42, 720), low GPA (2.85 - Elec eng.) I had some extenuating circumstances freshman year, which affected my academic performance ( I got a C- in intro to calc and a D in Calc 1. ) The following year, after those circumstances went away, I got a B- in Calc II and my GPA went up overall. But, needless to say, my freshman year experience left my math foundation a bit shaky for the remainder of college.

Because I plan to apply to some of the top 10, I know that I must build an alternative transcript. So here are my options:

1. A university (one that is a bit of a degree factory) offers classroom based classes on my installation. I could attend 1 or 2 of their business oriented classes, such as statistics and accounting, as a non-degree seeker.

2. Retake calc online (my preferred choice). Because of my location (Mojave desert) and occupation (military), I cannot take any calc classes at the community college (no night classes) or on the base (none are offered there). However, I did stumble on some online self-paced calc classes. These classes are graded and apparently are for-credit. One was at UC-Berkeley Extension school, and the other was a "netmath" program at U-Illinois Urbana Champaign. I did not think the websites for either program went into a great amount of detail as to how the classes operate and their structure, so that is why Im posting. Have you heard anything about the quality of such online courses at places like Berkeley-Extension or Illinois? How do you think an adcomm would view them? I can't seem to find any examples of people that have had first hand experience with either, and Ive got to get this ball rolling lol. Thanks for your time,

Tom
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by Amy » Fri Aug 03, 2007 7:01 am
Hi Tom,

Either option will be fine in terms of your application. It's most important to demonstrate that you can do the material and achieve an A. Adcomm will understand that your choices are limited while you are deployed internationally.

Personally I find online classes difficult to motivate for, but I believe they have worked successfully for others. If your personal learning style will work with an online class, I think it's a viable option.

Good luck!

Amy
Amy
Consultant
Stacy Blackman Consulting