Thanks EssaySnark good stuff.essaysnark wrote:EssaySnark says, bold text above is your issue (or issues). Our advice? TAKE A CLASS. Or two. You need to offset that GPA. UCLA may have a tough time overlooking it, and USC might as well. You need to give them reason to feel confident that you will take school seriously. Yes, college was a long time ago. Take a heavyduty quantitative class and prove them that you can hack it. (See here for more tips on offsetting a low GPA: https://essaysnark.blocked/2010/05/ ... -days.html )gmat_dawg wrote:I was 33 when I applied with the 680, and also unemployed and applying to fully employed (part time) programs at UCLA, USC, and UC Berkeley.
I also have a 2.15 gpa from an Ivy with pretty inconsistent work experience (bad overall career track progression).
You will also need to take control of your message around the career history. And you'll need to explain why now is the right time to go to bschool. 35 isn't "too old" but you're on the outer edge of the spectrum, even at the P/T programs.
The CPA probably won't hurt but if you're doing that as part of your reapp strategy, we don't think it's going to add much. More important will be redoing the GMAT and bumping up the quant, as you're already working on. If you can't get verbal above 40, don't sweat it. They'll appreciate the higher verbal side no matter what. You just need to convince them that you'll succeed in their program. Slamming it home on the GMAT will serve you on many levels: it can partially offset the GPA (in other words, a high GMAT will help you balance the low GPA more than the same combo of stats would do for a younger candidate), and it can give you stuff to present as "how I've improved my profile" as a reapplicant (assuming you are one; it sounded like maybe your first apps were two years ago, in which case you'll be presenting "fresh" to them again now).
The volunteer work stories totally don't matter for you yet; they're adding nothing until you get the baselie package in order.
EssaySnark is feeling a little more bullish on the UC Irvine idea. We hate to squash dreams and definitely are not saying not to try again at these other schools, but it will be more of a long shot for you, unless you really have some compelling data to present in how you've fixed these gaps in your profile.
Good luck with it!
I bookmarked your site. I actually took 6 accounting courses and a database management class at a JC and got 4 A's and 2 B's in the two years before I applied. Still didn't work. Those were intermediate and higher level accounting classes too.
I guess I can take Stats or something, again, which I don't really feel like it. I"m thinking of taking a Visual Basic and C++ or SQL class at a JC, which are relevant to what I do as a financial analyst for some Excel programming. I am not really wanting to wrack my brain by taking Calculus 3 or anything. So maybe get another A or two and get that 49 on the Quant section. If I manage to pull all that off and get a CPA too, and they still reject me I will be mad. This Bschool application/preparation process is a lot of work.
