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LactoseO.D.'d posted:How accurate are the practice tests on the CD they send out? I just did a 620. Not very, at least for me. I was scared shitless after getting that exact score on a Kaplan practice test and got 700 on the actual. I doubt I could repeat that score again, though, as I had the test of my life on the Verbal section (score 99th percentile). It's a diagnostic tool, nothing more.
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May 20, 2009 00:04
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This is definitely not worth its own thread, this is as close a place as I can think of to ask: Do any of you get the Wall Street Journal, and if so, do you have this months WSJ Magazine (lifestyle mag that comes bundled with the Saturday edition)? I sold them a photo and kind of wanted a copy or two to hang on to, but I can't find the drat thing on a newsstand anywhere. Willing to paypal for postage/time spent.
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May 20, 2009 17:37
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Waitlisted, poo poo.  Does anyone ever get in on the waitlist?
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May 29, 2009 23:43
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Pompous Rhombus posted:This is definitely not worth its own thread, this is as close a place as I can think of to ask: Why don't you ask the WSJ itself?
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May 29, 2009 23:51
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I'm pretty much set on getting an MBA at some point, but want to get work experience first because from what I've been told speaking with others an MBA without work experience is worthless. If I wanted to increase my chances of getting into business school, is the school/GPA you graduated from as important as the work experience you had? My GPA is good, but my school isn't in the US so I'm a bit worried as to how credible they'll find it as I want to do my MBA there. I'm not worried about the GMATs either, I think I can do well on those, and as for recommendations and getting into a good company I can handle that. Basically did I screw myself by not going to the best of schools?
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Jun 6, 2009 17:48
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THE AWESOME GHOST posted:Basically did I screw myself by not going to the best of schools? Not necessarily. People here recognize that there are good schools in Europe and the rest of the world, especially if they work in admissions. If you did well and score highly on the GMAT, you shouldn't really have a lot of trouble to get in to a good school. Just be mindful of where you want to work and what you want to do, then pursue the schools that offer you the most opportunities to get into that position. If you want to work on Wall Street, go to a school that sends lots of its graduates there, regardless of how highly it scores in the WSJ. Be very discerning right now, because everyone is trying to get in to school right now.
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Jun 6, 2009 18:10
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THE AWESOME GHOST posted:I'm pretty much set on getting an MBA at some point, but want to get work experience first because from what I've been told speaking with others an MBA without work experience is worthless. If I wanted to increase my chances of getting into business school, is the school/GPA you graduated from as important as the work experience you had? My GPA is good, but my school isn't in the US so I'm a bit worried as to how credible they'll find it as I want to do my MBA there. I'm not worried about the GMATs either, I think I can do well on those, and as for recommendations and getting into a good company I can handle that. You need good recommendations to get into good MBA schools. It's about experience moreso than previous credentials. But these days, to get a good recommendation from a good company means you likely have to had gone to a good school. It's routine that the top business firms in the world send back their workers back to business school before they can move up.
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Jun 7, 2009 00:41
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This seems as good a place as any to mention it - did anyone else take a CFA exam today? And how meaningful is the designation (no time like after an exam to ask that question)?
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Jun 7, 2009 08:22
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Thanks for those answers, very reassuring. I live in the Middle East so when companies are recruiting from within the country they often don't have MBAs yet, having one would put me in a really good position since they'd rather hire me than find an MBA from the US or England to hire.
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Jun 7, 2009 14:12
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AreWeDrunkYet posted:This seems as good a place as any to mention it - did anyone else take a CFA exam today? And how meaningful is the designation (no time like after an exam to ask that question)? edit: to quote who I'm talking to LactoseO.D.'d fucked around with this message at 15:57 on Jun 7, 2009 |
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Jun 7, 2009 14:14
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AreWeDrunkYet posted:This seems as good a place as any to mention it - did anyone else take a CFA exam today? And how meaningful is the designation (no time like after an exam to ask that question)? In the typical finance arena, it's expected that you hold the CFA charter after a certain point in your career. Not having it doesn't look good.
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Jun 7, 2009 17:14
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Dijkstra posted:Does anyone ever get in on the waitlist?
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Jun 10, 2009 18:30
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Dijkstra posted:Waitlisted, poo poo. Got into Boston College off it. My second-round interviewer told me they only filled a third of their class from the first pass. I guess some schools like to take a lot of second looks. Took them six months to decide, though.
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Jun 12, 2009 17:41
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I have experience in marketing for a small start-up media company and do some pretty serious social media work for a university right now. I figure that it isn't proper experience to go into most MBA programs. I've come across some MBA co-op programs for people with little business experience which provide some real experience in alternating semesters. I'm having trouble locating more programs other than the following: -Laurier -McMaster -Waterloo -Dalhousie I'm an American and haven't found any co-op programs here (not that I'm adverse to moving to Canada, I actually have good connections there). Is this a Canadian thing for some reason? If not a co-op, I'm looking for programs which are friendly to low-experience professionals. I'm looking in the US and Cananda, Eastern Seabord, pretty much from Virginia north.
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Jun 15, 2009 04:01
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IamBadwithPasswords posted:Got into Boston College off it. My second-round interviewer told me they only filled a third of their class from the first pass. I guess some schools like to take a lot of second looks. Took them six months to decide, though. well poo poo, I shouldn't have told Yale to sod off after two months on their waitlist 
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Jun 15, 2009 22:18
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RightHonourableHolt posted:I have experience in marketing for a small start-up media company and do some pretty serious social media work for a university right now. I figure that it isn't proper experience to go into most MBA programs. I've come across some MBA co-op programs for people with little business experience which provide some real experience in alternating semesters. I'm having trouble locating more programs other than the following: In America you have on-campus recruiting. In Canada, often schools partner with corporations and liason with companies directly to provide opportunities for students. Waterloo is the school usually credited with pioneering this approach to education. Coop is also built into the curriculum for many (referred to as practicum requirements sometimes), or accommodated into the academic schedule for students. In America, students are usually left with an empty summer semester to do whatever they want, with little to no support. Nearly all Canadian schools have a form of co-op. I think UofT has a good co-op for business.
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Jun 15, 2009 22:55
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Has anyone else here pulled a complete 180? I have always had an interest in finance; however I really focused on my other interest (international relations) prior to this year. I taught overseas for a couple of years and the prospect of getting married shifted my focus into a field that I like where I can also make money. Im hoping to apply to some programs that offer joint degrees so I can get an MBA/MS in International relations. I got a pretty good GMAT score and am taking some additional classes in finance right now, but everyone else Ive ever met who has gone for their MBA tended to have jobs in business prior to going. Has anyone else done this and thus can offer me a glimmer of hope that its feasible?
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Jun 16, 2009 18:04
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I got accepted to the Carlson school part-time mba program this week (University of MN). I want to move to mid-level/upper-level management sometime (from my engineering position), does anyone have experience moving from a technical role to those types of roles? Do I have a better chance if I move companies after finishing my MBA?
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Jun 19, 2009 03:58
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Has anyone else registered for the Fall yet? My schedule looks brutal--Data Mining (statistics) and an MIS course. Throw that on top of 50 hours at work (including the 2010 budget due the day before Thanksgiving) and you get a tough Fall. Ow ow ow.
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Jun 26, 2009 02:39
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I scheduled, but I'm less worried about classes and more worried about getting extracurricular experiences that will differentiate me from all the other MBAs out there.
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Jun 27, 2009 03:51
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Okay, I made a cameo earlier in the thread, and I actually did end up taking the advice given to me. Rather than getting an online MBA from a degree mill, I'm going to shoot for the brick and mortar place as a backup. But since I'm making a conscious decision to -not- get one until then, I have a few more questions; I had a 2.9 GPA in a social science degree at a BCS school known more for sports than academics. However, the thing I'm picking up, and like about business school is that the more work experience you have, the less your GPA matters. So, assuming I have 12 years of work experience in a job with tons of leadership and responsibility, keep taking the GMAT over and over until I get a 700+, could I actually parlay that into getting into one of the top programs in the country? Also, I'm an "underrepresented minority" if that helps. Second question-- what is the workload like for a full-time MBA? I mean, am I putting in 12 hours a day in the classroom as if it were a full time job? Or is it like undergrad where you show up to class and do whatever, then study the rest at home (except for group projects/presentations obviously).
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Jun 27, 2009 17:19
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Rekinom posted:So, assuming I have 12 years of work experience in a job with tons of leadership and responsibility, keep taking the GMAT over and over until I get a 700+, could I actually parlay that into getting into one of the top programs in the country? Also, I'm an "underrepresented minority" if that helps. You have a shot, but the top business schools are extremely competitive--at the extreme, Stanford admits fewer than 8% of its applicants--so you'll need to have everything going for you in terms of essays and recommendations. You should shoot for a high GMAT score the first time around rather than after many tries, and plan on applying to some lower ranked schools as well.
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Jun 27, 2009 17:35
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Rekinom posted:So, assuming I have 12 years of work experience in a job with tons of leadership and responsibility, keep taking the GMAT over and over until I get a 700+, could I actually parlay that into getting into one of the top programs in the country? Also, I'm an "underrepresented minority" if that helps. If you have 12 years of work experience then your GPA isn't going to matter much since it'll have been so long since undergrad. You need to get a good GMAT, good recommendations, and have an interesting story. (As well as quant to back everything up.) But is that 12 years post-graduation? If so, you'd be 34, which is a bit higher than the typical age spectrum; at least at Columbia we skew young. Most people are 27~28. I can't stress enough how much the interesting story helps. At this point, just to be considered you have to have rocking GMAT, good GPA, good work experience, and recommendations. A single one of those won't help you stand out. One of the thing that always amazes me about my classmates is the fascinating things they've done. You are not putting 12 hours in a classroom but you are putting your entire life into the program. There's class, homework, projects, groupwork, and a lot of social events. People who are from Manhattan and have lots of friends there have noted how they are hardly seen them; we live in our own Upper West Side bubble. Carfax Report fucked around with this message at 19:06 on Jun 27, 2009 |
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Jun 27, 2009 18:10
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Another person heavily considering pursuing an MBA here, also in need of input. I have 5+ years working part time in a small accounting office, with 7 months of full time since graduating with a BA last December. Originally I was considering going the cpa route, but I honestly like how much more open my career path would be from obtaining an MBA instead. I'm looking at applying to the University of Texas in Dallas MBA program for a number of reasons, the first of which being that is where I got my BA from with a 3.1 gpa. Outside of that, I took many of classes through their undergrad business program which I was impressed by and made a few references along the way. Another plus to attending their program would be the low cost of their program (23,000 in 16 months), while also having a top 100 (sometimes top 50) MBA program rating. Now my plan is to study for the GMAT for the next couple of months, and hopefully aim for around a 700 score. With a relatively high GMAT score, a moderate gpa, some work experience for a private accountant, and some references I hope it will all combine to be enough for admittance. From there, the plan would be to gain entrance for the spring 2010 semester, where I would either jump into graduate level courses or prep by taking more undergraduate courses if the school has set times for their MBA program to start. Now that I have briefly summarized my experience and goals to get into their MBA program, here are a few questions: 1) Will I have enough work experience at least have an average chance of doing well through out the program? 2) Can I also get some advice as to how to prepare for an MBA program or ways I can increase my chances in being accepted? 3) Fulltime people: Do you rely on student loans/savings or is it possible to have a part time job? 4) Really any other advice or opinion on my situation would also be greatly apperiated!
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Jun 28, 2009 02:21
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Havoc904 posted:4) Really any other advice or opinion on my situation would also be greatly apperiated! The people at the top of my company's 'org chart' have both the CPA destination and an MBA. If possible, go for both.
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Jun 28, 2009 03:05
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Modern Life Is War posted:The people at the top of my company's 'org chart' have both the CPA destination and an MBA. If possible, go for both. Sorry if you've stated this earlier in the thread, but what kind of industry do you work in?
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Jun 28, 2009 05:23
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I work for a very small consulting company - a good employee for us is someone who requires no direction to accomplish research tasks, writes well, can organize presentations and reports (we don't have an established style guideline (probably need to), people are supposed to just know how to make acceptable, consistent looking graphs/tables). There is also a need to be able to do math, understand basic finance principles, understand technical topics, etc. and an existing knowledge of the field is extremely helpful. We're looking for an entry-level researcher and have been getting a lot of resumes from people with MBAs. Problem is - I don't really get what an MBA teaches you. Their job histories include a lot of buzzwords and references to 'identifying new market strategies' and 'identifying work process inefficiencies' which, while certainly important to someone, doesn't seem to jive with our needs. I'm not ragging on MBAs, but help me understand how to evaluate them: Does an MBA require math courses? Programming courses (even just excel macros)? When you get an MBA do you focus on a particular industry? How do you define the limits of your studies? Are there any basic science requirements? Do MBA students complete a lot of research projects? Do MBA programs have color/space theory classes? How is report/presentation design taught? When someone studies English, History, Biology, Animal Sciences, etc. I can guess what their interests are, what their expertise is. When I think MBA, all I've got is 'business' in my mind, which isn't very descriptive. What is an MBA graduate interested in? Or are MBA students more likely to just buckshot the job market with their resume than other graduates?
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Jun 28, 2009 13:17
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Tezer posted:When you get an MBA do you focus on a particular industry? How do you define the limits of your studies? The structure of most US two year MBA programs is that you spend the first year studying a general business curriculum, you get an internship between the school years, and then you spend the second year doing a more advanced curriculum on one or more specific subjects. So everyone has a basic background in finance, operations, marketing, etc., but you also have specialists in each of those subjects and more. Furthermore, since most programs require at least two years work experience for admission, people are bringing some industry experience to the table. If you want more details, here are the curricula at Wharton and Stern. You can also pretty easily find details for any other school. quote:Does an MBA require math courses? Programming courses (even just excel macros)? It depends on the program and specialization. Most programs will require some basic math at some point, but any given student is free to learn that math for the test and then promptly forget it. Everyone should be proficient in Excel, but if you're looking for someone with more skill than that, you'll have to read their resumes a little more closely. quote:Are there any basic science requirements? No. It's a business degree. Any given student may have a science background from their undergraduate days, but that's by no means guaranteed. quote:Do MBA students complete a lot of research projects? That depends on what you mean by research. It's extremely rare for an MBA student to do academic research, but they have to be capable of writing a report analyzing a few case studies, or synthesizing various reports about a company or industry. quote:Do MBA programs have color/space theory classes? How is report/presentation design taught? Again, it's a business degree, so if anyone has an arts or graphic design background, it's from their prior work. quote:Or are MBA students more likely to just buckshot the job market with their resume than other graduates? To some degree, especially this year since job opportunities are a little scarcer than usual. My guess is that people are seeing that you're at a consulting company and not paying much attention to the rest of the ad, or hoping that your extra requirements are nice to have rather than necessary.
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Jun 28, 2009 15:59
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Thoguh posted:Sorry if you've stated this earlier in the thread, but what kind of industry do you work in? I analyze the performance of a publishing company's foreign units (think of acronyms). I also help them with finance, accounting, and policy issues so they comply with US and UK GAAP. It's a combination of corporate finance and financial reporting. I just want to reiterate that my MBA program has more accountants and engineers in it than finance people. I'm also in a state school and doing it part-time, so that's the only angle I can provide (sorry, no Wharton or Columbia stories here).
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Jun 28, 2009 18:08
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Tezer posted:I work for a very small consulting company - a good employee for us is someone who requires no direction to accomplish research tasks, writes well, can organize presentations and reports (we don't have an established style guideline (probably need to), people are supposed to just know how to make acceptable, consistent looking graphs/tables). There is also a need to be able to do math, understand basic finance principles, understand technical topics, etc. and an existing knowledge of the field is extremely helpful. If it's from one of the top programs it's basically a sign that the person can do what you're asking. At least in mine, the people are all "A-type" personalities who are self-starters and relentless in quickly accomplishing any task they're given. We all work in teams on a regular basis, constantly prepare reports, have to do complex mathematics, pass several finance courses, etc. I don't know how it is in other top ten schools but I assume the one I'm in is relatively similar in the type of people they accept. In my eyes, the benefit of hiring an MBA outside of finance is less for a specific skillset (because odds are if I've graduated from a program several years ago and not been in a finance/accounting workplace, I've forgotten stuff I've been taught like obscure LIFO rules.) It's more about the type of person you're getting, someone who can be taught and quickly grasp new principals, works their rear end off, and has a powerful network to rely on. The latter is an interesting point; I'm working on wall street this summer, but never worked in finance before. I was given a company to cover. Wanting to learn more about the company, I e-mailed my classmates. Within minutes I had contacts who had worked in the company, worked in the field, and worked for rivals. I setup meetings with them and was able to quickly learn key points, as well as info on industry trends that others in my company (who didn't have a network like this) could not get access to without paying a lot of money for others' research. Carfax Report fucked around with this message at 05:32 on Jul 3, 2009 |
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Jun 28, 2009 18:17
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samoth posted:ANyone have any experience with Ohio State or Otterbein? I'm working on getting into one of them and I know OSU has a pretty decent reputation, but I'd like to hear some opinions. (Disclaimer: I am not an MBA student or MBA Grad...take the following with a grain of salt) A buddy of mine and I were both considering Otterbein. We both went to Ohio State for undergrad and liked the smaller nature of Otterbein. That said, I would probably venture to say that Otterbein would only be a good choice if you were going to stay local to Columbus, Ohio. Otherwise it would probably be in your best interest to go for OSU.
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Jul 3, 2009 05:16
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I'm taking my GMAT in two months and hoping to have a decent score to submit applications this fall. I really want to go to Kellog due to being local and obviously highly prestigious. If I don't get the GMAT score for Kellog, then I'm not sure where I'll go. I might go out-of-state since the company I work for has offices throughout the US (Florida/Cali) and these Chicago winters are really starting to piss me off.
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Jul 6, 2009 23:13
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So, here's a random question for this thread. My husband and I both just finished our app's for grad school (me MBA, him MS in MIS). I remember Obama campaigning on offering a tax credit toward school costs for people that were willing to volunteer x amount of hours. Did that actually get passed? Does it apply for graduate work? Because, paying two tuition costs will not be fun and it would be super nice if we could get a little help. Edit: Or would the current "Lifetime Learning Credit" apply to us?
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Jul 8, 2009 03:16
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I'm a 28 y/o student and I take the Lifetime Learning credit each year. It seems to be a better deal that deducting the tuition amount.
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Jul 8, 2009 03:29
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Here is a question that may be difficult to answer, or really easy, but here goes: A student wants to apply for an MBA program at a prestigious program. His undergrad gpa, 3.6 in MIS from Oakland University in MI His employment for 2 years: Pricewaterhousecoopers in San Francisco His location preference: anywhere He's African-American He volunteers at boys and girls club Plus, he has earned a customs broker license, not an easy feat as only 10% of those who take the test pass. So, as for strategy: Take the GMAT now, apply, and see what happens? OR Work another year or 2 or 3, maybe get a promotion, make more money...and see what happens? Does anyone know if PWC ever puts their people through an MBA program? This person wants to start his own business, but certainly is too young and inexperienced at this time. Thanks for any info you can offer, I want to push him towards highed ed. but he is unsure if its worth it. Greve fucked around with this message at 19:19 on Jul 8, 2009 |
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Jul 8, 2009 19:02
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There are a couple good reasons for this guy to go for an MBA: 1. As an entrepreneur, he will need to be familiar with every aspect of business development. An MIS degree and experience at an accounting firm certainly cover some of that, but not all of it. 2. Going through a top school's program will give him access to all the resources of that school, including their small business development office and alumni network. Of course he's right to be concerned about the cost, so I'd recommend he talk to an admissions councilor at at least a couple schools.
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Jul 8, 2009 21:11
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He should apply for the MBA. However, he should wait another 1-2 years. The MBA will give him the network he needs to be successful. He should be aware that some programs are more entrepreneur oriented than others; Harvard and Stanford are known for their entrepreneurial programs. Columbia, Wharton, Chicago are more Finance/Wall Street, though to its credit Columbia is working hard to boost its entrepreneur program. He should wait 1-2 more years because competition is intense right now and odds will be better then, and because more experience on the resume will make for a stronger application. He won't get accepted if he applies in the fall; he should wait for the Class of 2013 or 2014 rounds. My friends who worked at PWC were not sponsored; it doesn't mean that they don't sponsor, but I don't know of a case where they did. Even if they did sponsor, it would mean he'd be coming back to PWC for a while afterward. There are advantages that he has as an African American as well. At Columbia, the black business students association (BBSA) has an incredibly strong network that he can tap to help him raise funds as an entrepreneur. They also offer scholarships for black students to help him pay for the education. If he/you have any questions, send me a PM and I'll give you my phone. I'm happy to chat about my experiences and what I know about the application process. This goes for anyone in the thread also thinking about applying to Columbia; I'm happy to answer questions you may have, just send me a PM.
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Jul 9, 2009 03:39
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Carfax Report posted:He should apply for the MBA. However, he should wait another 1-2 years. Thanks for the info, I will pass it along. I don't even know if he has a business plan or if he just wishes he didn't work for a company like pwc (pressure constantly, 70hr work weeks which when money is factored in he ends up making minimum wage) I only wish I could go to columbia..I live just 30 blocks away.
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Jul 9, 2009 05:14
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Greve posted:Thanks for the info, I will pass it along. I don't even know if he has a business plan or if he just wishes he didn't work for a company like pwc (pressure constantly, 70hr work weeks which when money is factored in he ends up making minimum wage) Yeah, people at that level tend to burn out quickly. Used to be that they'd parachute into better jobs but it's really hard in the current situation, which is why many are trying to hide away in school for a while and applications have shot up 30%... If the job's killing him, he could also spend two years doing social enterprise work and that would give him a good story for the MBA application. Several of my classmates were Peace Corps/Teach for America for a while, the school likes it. Btw, if you're in NY, you should consider coming to the goon meet this month: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3147082
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Jul 9, 2009 05:31
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Just applied to the MBA program at UVic last week, GMAT in about 2 weeks  I have a question about the Executive MBA: what is it? Can someone please elaborate?
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Jul 13, 2009 04:34
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