I am curious what people might think about my situation and prospects for successful application to various schools.
I received a 740 (49 quant, 42 verbal) on my GMAT. It is a good score but I only earned a 2.7 GPA on my B.A. in Political Science at Seattle University. That seems to be a problem a number of people have on this site.
I have been working full time just shy of four years. I started as an Americorps volunteer at an outdoor school. I helped manage high school volunteers as well as handling camp logistics and doing some public speaking. I worked at a non-profit museum a while with no significant experience or skills gained there.
I worked at on online retailer for a while. I managed quality control of new independent online sales associates, researching and trying to stop fraud. I also helped train and supervise our customer service reps. Finally, at my current job I do a lot of data entry for a non-profit hospital and send people acknowledgment letters. It is a very important job for the foundation here, but there is not much leadership, management or detailed responsibility involved in it.
With all this in mind, I am applying to a few schools. I am definitely applying to NYU Stern and Berkeley Haas. I would like to know opinions on the use of applying to Columbia Business school. I know we should apply to schools we would really like to get into even if the prospects are not high, but would it be a waste of $250 with my GPA and work experience to apply to Columbia?
Also I plan on applying to Presidio MBA in sustainable management and possibly California College of the Art's MBA in Design Strategy. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with those programs that might be able to give me a hint of my chances or what my strategy should be?
Thanks and any feedback is appreciated.
EDIT: I should add that I am definitely going to these places to study Social enterprise. I don't know if that will change anything but I feel like in their search for diversity schools will look favorably on that over another finance student.
I received a 740 (49 quant, 42 verbal) on my GMAT. It is a good score but I only earned a 2.7 GPA on my B.A. in Political Science at Seattle University. That seems to be a problem a number of people have on this site.
I have been working full time just shy of four years. I started as an Americorps volunteer at an outdoor school. I helped manage high school volunteers as well as handling camp logistics and doing some public speaking. I worked at a non-profit museum a while with no significant experience or skills gained there.
I worked at on online retailer for a while. I managed quality control of new independent online sales associates, researching and trying to stop fraud. I also helped train and supervise our customer service reps. Finally, at my current job I do a lot of data entry for a non-profit hospital and send people acknowledgment letters. It is a very important job for the foundation here, but there is not much leadership, management or detailed responsibility involved in it.
With all this in mind, I am applying to a few schools. I am definitely applying to NYU Stern and Berkeley Haas. I would like to know opinions on the use of applying to Columbia Business school. I know we should apply to schools we would really like to get into even if the prospects are not high, but would it be a waste of $250 with my GPA and work experience to apply to Columbia?
Also I plan on applying to Presidio MBA in sustainable management and possibly California College of the Art's MBA in Design Strategy. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with those programs that might be able to give me a hint of my chances or what my strategy should be?
Thanks and any feedback is appreciated.
EDIT: I should add that I am definitely going to these places to study Social enterprise. I don't know if that will change anything but I feel like in their search for diversity schools will look favorably on that over another finance student.
