Help to decide where to target for a Masters in Accounting

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I am applying for a Masters program for the spring 2011 semester. I took the gmats last week without doing much studying since I had classes up until a few weeks ago and I scored a 600. I have a 3.4 GPA from the University of Michigan, and my work experience is internships for Bear Stearns (international tax, PSE&G (risk management/trading), and a small expatriate consulting company. I am not trying to get into a top program, which is why I didn't put too much time into the exam, but I'm searching for some schools that are possibly a reach or lower tiered schools where I could get some money for a scholarship. Any advice?
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by Lisa Anderson » Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:42 pm
Dear jags2899,

I will need more information from you to give you the best answer to your question. Are you looking at MBA programs or Master of Science in Accounting programs? The distinction is important for your answer. Generally speaking for any type of graduate program, scholarship awards are few and far between as most scholarship dollars are allocated for undergraduate studies. As such, to receive a scholarship for graduate study, you will need to be an exceptional candidate for that program--in essence, be someone the program absolutely wants in the class. If scholarship dollars are a high priority for you in choosing a program, then I would suggest targeting schools where your profile will be viewed as above average.

Good luck,
Lisa
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by jags2899 » Wed Jul 28, 2010 4:08 pm
Hi Lisa, thanks for responding to my post. I am looking for a masters in accounting program because other than my three internship, I don't have much when it comes to working experience. Also, I am looking for a one year program where I can get the degree and then take the CPA exam. As I said my michigan GPA was 3.3, and I have gone to Baruch for 1.5 semesters to take the pre-requisites for the masters programs and that GPA is 4.0.

I suppose I am looking for both when it comes to answering your question about whether Im looking for scholarship money or good schools. I want to avoid taking a loan for school, so I wanted to see if I could get some realistic ideas of schools to shoot for where I could get some scholarship money. Also, if I wasn't looking for money, and I decided to take the route of taking out a loan for school, I wanted to see which schools would be within my reach.

Thanks again for the reply, I appreciate the guidance!

Kind Regards,
Jason