Please evaluate my chances for an MBA in Los Angeles

[step1_gmat]

Hello!

First a little background and my apologies if I ramble.

Education:
UC Irvine Graduate 2007. (I am currently 26)
Political Science & Economics
GPA: 2.74

To explain why the low GPA, I have an F and a D+ on my records that I never had time to retake due to the courses not being offered until the year after I graduated. As far as why I got the low scores, I was working part time, starting my own business, and at the same time studying for the LSAT (scored a 168/180 if that counts for anything). The worst part is that the two bad grades were in "Marketing & Business" and "Corporate Finance". =( I'm already imagining your disappointment in my application.

Work Experience & Leadership:
I started my own business while in college. At the time it was just a side thing to pay for my education. When I graduated, I got a job with Toyota Motor Corp in Long Beach as an operations analyst. Loved the job, but the commute was too much. I decided I had saved enough money to focus on my business full time for the next 6 months without worrying about the bills.

So far the business has grown from the college days of $60,000 a year to $700k this past year. I have one full time employee and hire several free lancers throughout the year. Business has grown each year even during the recent recession.

In addition though I don't know if this counts, I've recently started a company to purchase distressed homes and flip/rent them. I have completed my first home that sold for a $150k profit this past year. I managed sub contractors and labors to complete the remodel under budget and ahead of schedule by 2 weeks. I look to leverage the profit into another income property this summer.

Volunteering:
This is probably my second weakest part of my application. I've volunteered at a rescue mission last summer, but I'm ashamed to say that's it since I graduated college. While in college, I participated in Best Buddies, an organization that helps individuals with intellectual disabilities. I also went on a couple trips to Mexico, where we assisted local schools rebuild their playgrounds.

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I would prefer to stay in Los Angeles though I could and would relocate for a great program within California.

I'm contemplating taking some courses at UCLA or Cal State Northridge this summer if it will help show that I'm serious about my application.

As far as the GMAT, my latest practice test I scored a 600. 37 quant and 36 verbal. I feel confidant that I can raise this 80 points by the time I take the test, though I'm aiming for 700+.

What improvements can/should I make to have a chance at the following schools?

UCLA
USC
UC Irvine
Loyola Marymount University
Pepperdine

If I'm leaving schools out of this list, please do not hesitate to touch on them.

Thanks for any advice!

[essaysnark]

Hi step1_gmat. Some quick responses to your questions -- this is not going to be exhaustive but it should help you with the basics.

First: DEFINITEly take the class(es) you're considering this summer. The GPA is going to be a problem for you at any good school (i.e., the most competitive ones like UCLA & USC, perhaps others too). You could either retake one of those F/D classes from college, or just focus on the quant stuff (calculus would be great). It will help a lot to have a transcript with a recent academic success to include in your app. Here's more on this topic from our blog: https://essaysnark.blocked/2010/05/ ... -days.html Unfortunately, we're still a little nervous about your chances given this GPA. The rest of your profile is impressive, so there's hope, but you need to do some work first.

Second: You really will need a GMAT at the 700+ mark to help offset the GPA and also just to prove that you can handle this stuff. You should put all your attention on this.

Third: The lack of volunteer work to date probably isn't as big a weakness as you think (starting/growing not one but TWO businesses most certainly will eat up your time! leaving not much left for other stuff -- and the adcom knows this) but still, since you're preparing early, it would be great to see you do more volunteering to enhance the profile. This is low on the priority list, though.

Fourth: UCLA is certainly a good fit for you, given their strength in entrepreneurship. You might consider the FEMBA P/T program ("fully employed MBA") -- it is slightly less competitive to get an offer there, and with your track record of success, they might be able to more easily overlook those grades. *BUT* the GMAT needs to be higher, particularly the quant (a 37 is really low, you'll have a tough time with that level of quant score).

Lastly: You didn't mention anything in your post about what you want to do with your MBA. We're assuming you want to continue as an entrepreneur. In that case, the "brand name" of the school may matter somewhat less, since you're in control of your own destiny and you're going for the EDUCATION (unlike some people who go to bschool purely for the network, and the credential, to pave the way to the consulting/IB type job). So, you could probably do really well and learn a lot at a school like Pepperdine. BUT: Pepperdine is quite expensive, and they don't have the same connections or brand recognition that others (obviously) have. So in terms of ROI, it might not be the best fit. But it's also way easier to get an offer, much less competitive.

EssaySnark thinks you should try for UCLA (provided you shore up the weaknesses as above), and also recognize that you might end up at someplace like UC-Irvine, which wouldn't be bad, but it's just not the same type of MBA experience. (USC is a good school too, but not as good as Anderson, and almost as tough to get into -- plus Anderson is where it's at for entrepreneurs. We like UCLA for you better.)

Keep us posted, and good luck with it!
EssaySnark

[kneemahp]

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[step1_gmat]

Wow, thanks for the response!

I just checked UCLA's schedule for the summer, and surprise surprise, they have "Money & Banking" as an available course. They also have a Finance course, so I'm considering taking those two. I'd like to prove my quantitative abilities. Should I avoid a course like Corporate Entrepreneurship as one of my courses?

I have a follow up question, many of my Cs were from a community college when I was in high school. Will the adcoms notice that my transcripts go from 2001 to 2007 and that I graduated high school in 2003? If they ignore those grades, I'd have a 2.92 gpa. It's not a huge difference, but thought I should mention it.

I'm studying non-stop right now for the gmat. I have a practice test scheduled Saturday, so I'll see my progress then. My test date is scheduled at the end of the month, and I plan to retake it regardless the following month.

I would like to continue as an entrepreneur and I was looking at the FEMBA program at UCLA. I was also curious if an EMBA was something i may qualify for?

Thanks again!

[essaysnark]

@step1_gmat, it won't help your admissions profile all that much to take an entrepreneurship course -- and it could even (possibly) hurt a little, since that's what you'd be focusing on at bschool. It's important that the adcom sees a clear need for the bschool education in the candidate's profile. Stick with the quant-based classes this summer.

On the GPA - that community college thing sounds confusing. It probably warrants a (very short!) optional essay within your application to explain the situation to the adcom. And, a 2.92 DEFINITELY IS a big difference from 2.74. We're shooting blind a bit here so you'll need to really look into this transcript/academic history (don't just go on what we're saying since we haven't seen it firsthand, obv.) however if we understand what you've said correctly, then you're in not quite as bad a shape as we originally thought. Anything <3.0 can still be really problematic, but 2.92 makes us a lot more comfortable than 2.74.

We don't think an EMBA is the right track for you. Most EMBA students have significantly more work experience (in the realm of 10 yrs or so) and many are corporate-sponsored. It's possible to do an EMBA self-funded but you probably do not have the right profile at the moment, given where you are in your career path.

Keep us posted!
EssaySnark