Okay, so I'll admit, as an undergrad, I wasn't such a great student. I was pretty ambitious - double majored in electrical engineering and physics and I took active roles in several academic clubs around campus, but all I have to show for it is a 2.85GPA. I'm now a 24 year old electrical engineer who has finally kicked his life in to gear and is swinging for the fences.
During my senior year, things just kind of clicked for me. I started seeing a therapist who started treating me for depression and that helped immensely. I had a particularly challenging list of courses that year but finished on the deans list - something I hadn't seen since freshman year. I also started thinking about graduate school and started studying for the GRE. I did pretty well, but I was realizing that engineering school really wasn't what I had a passion for. While I pondered getting a masters I started teaching myself a second language, became a lead designer and started leading large projects at work, and realized that if I wanted to continue my career, I would need to get an MBA, and decided to take the GMAT. I studied but not particularly well, and got a 650 on my first attempt. I kind of got wrapped up with stuff at work and now I'm studying to retake the exam, averaging three hours a night on top of a fifty hour work week, and I'm confident I can make it in to the 700s this time based off my practice exams.
I can get some pretty awesome recommendations for business school, and I can write a really strong application essay, so what are my chances of getting in to a really strong business school? My number one choice would be Cornell, where the average GMAT score is a 690. I don't know what the average undergrad GPA is for the program, but I'm not going to fool myself in to thinking I would be even close to the average applicant's, but I plan on applying before the first deadline and hoping for the best. Any advice on how to boost the odds of getting in? Should I consider taking some more business courses before applying? I have lots of math and science, but little in way of business course experience. Like I said before, I know my vegas odds don't look particularly great right now, but any advice would be much appreciated.
During my senior year, things just kind of clicked for me. I started seeing a therapist who started treating me for depression and that helped immensely. I had a particularly challenging list of courses that year but finished on the deans list - something I hadn't seen since freshman year. I also started thinking about graduate school and started studying for the GRE. I did pretty well, but I was realizing that engineering school really wasn't what I had a passion for. While I pondered getting a masters I started teaching myself a second language, became a lead designer and started leading large projects at work, and realized that if I wanted to continue my career, I would need to get an MBA, and decided to take the GMAT. I studied but not particularly well, and got a 650 on my first attempt. I kind of got wrapped up with stuff at work and now I'm studying to retake the exam, averaging three hours a night on top of a fifty hour work week, and I'm confident I can make it in to the 700s this time based off my practice exams.
I can get some pretty awesome recommendations for business school, and I can write a really strong application essay, so what are my chances of getting in to a really strong business school? My number one choice would be Cornell, where the average GMAT score is a 690. I don't know what the average undergrad GPA is for the program, but I'm not going to fool myself in to thinking I would be even close to the average applicant's, but I plan on applying before the first deadline and hoping for the best. Any advice on how to boost the odds of getting in? Should I consider taking some more business courses before applying? I have lots of math and science, but little in way of business course experience. Like I said before, I know my vegas odds don't look particularly great right now, but any advice would be much appreciated.
