Ask Stacy Blackman

I wanted to get an opinion about my work experience. Firstly, I was slated to finish college in the Spring of 2006 but I had a severe medical catastrophe in the fall and had to withdraw from my fall 2005 classes. I wasn't able physically, mentally, or financially to go back for awhile so I ended up getting the best job I could find and slowly finishing the school part time a year later. Unfortunately, without the degree and with the economy slumping, I was only able to land a job with Wells Fargo working in an inbound collections call center. Basically, delinquent borrowers would call in and I would attempt to coerce them to pay. I was one of the only people in the department with and college education. I did this for about 2 years.

Just last month I FINALLY got a promotion. My new job is as a Securities Analyst. Basically, I deal with mortgage backed securities. We get reports from the investors who own the loans and do reports to make sure their data matches ours in terms of the payments and how they get applied to the loans. Then, later in the month we do reports for the bonds the investors own and make sure the mortgage payments get appropriated properly. This job requires a finance/business/accounting degree or similar experience and almost everyone in the department has the degree.

I am hoping to start business school in the all of 2010 or possibly 2011. It's realistic that I could be promoted in that timeframe to a Senior Analyst (basically someone who does the more difficult reconcilliations, checks others' work, and mentors newbies). My current work is very intensive with Microsoft Excel and Access but it seems I will just be "plugging and chugging" numbers for the most part. I don't have nearly the excitement and/or variety that many here have.

I wish I had a more impressive job but I busted my butt to get this one so I don't think I'd be able to get into anything better with the current economy and I don't think it would look good in the resume to jump ship with Wells Fargo anytime soon at this point. So, I'm stuck for the time being. I am not aspiring to get into a top tier program such as Harvard or Stanford, but have set my goal to include such Schools as University of Maryland College Park, Georgetown, or Minnesota. I have financial obligations and can't stop making money, so I am looking for part time programs.

My undergrad performance was solid, though nothing spectacular. I had a 3.3 gpa with a Finance major at a decent state school. Starting this fall I will be taking additional business and accounting classes and hopefully getting all A's to build an alternate transcript. I will be taking the classes at the same state school I graduated from so I don't know if they would use the gpa at the time of graduation or the new one including the new grades I'll get over the next 2 years or so. I have just recently started studying for the GMAT so I don't know what that will be but I would predict a 700 or higher based on previous performances on standardized tests (I can answer any math question with ease and am "solid" on the verbal). I know that is more than enough for any of the schools i'm considering but the rest of my profile won't be quite as strong.

Will the schools I've mentioned look down upon me for having such a crappy job or an I being too hard on myself? Also, I worked full time while in college at an upscale department store for 2 years. Are there any other strategies I can use to help my chances? Thanks in advance. I know this was a long post.