I have a C.S. degree from an Ivy and am working as a software developer for a BB right now. I did ok in undergraduate, with a marginal GPA, but still managed to land a job, as I did very well in interviews (though got dinged at a lot of places because of my GPA). I did extremely well in some classes, and poorly in others, mostly based on my interest in the subject material, as well as keeping up with my business degree friends' social schedules. Also towards my junior and senior years, I realized it wasn't what I wanted to do, and lost interest. Obviously, there are some major holes in my transcript (not visible in my GPA) that I'd like to patch. I was considering doing an M.S. in math, statistics or a similar field, working another 2 years, then going for my MBA. I'm confident I could do very well in an M.S. program. Would that be enough for MBA programs to overlook holes in my undergrad? How do you feel about this approach?
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Get a high GMAT and keep doing well in work and that will mitigate your low GPA. No need for a MS degree.
The M.S will definitely set you apart from everyone else. High GMAT scores and doing well at work is typically what everyone looking at top 10 MBA focuses on, but in your case that combined with an MS will most definitely be a differentiator. You have to make sure to do well in the MS program because colleges put heavy emphasis on measuring your ability to perform in a classroom environment. That's the reason why GPA is a big deal, as is the GMAT's. Another thing is, colleges usually have the hardest time choosing between candidates with high GMAT scores, high gpa's and great work experience (BB''s -> PE/HF's), but there is always a differentiating factor between them, which colleges focus on to diversify their class. In your case the U.Grad gpa is not good so to make it up go for MS and do well, plus it will be a differentiating factor as well.
Thanks guys. Anthony: I think if I was going to law school, this would be an option, as they focus almost exclusively on LSAT scores. I feel like B school is different. non-target: Thanks, do you think that BB->PE/HF is their "ideal" work experience? I'm BB now, but on the IT side. I don't really see myself getting out of IT, unless it's doing high-freq trading or something similar, which is still kind of IT. Wondering what your thoughts were on schools. I'm NYC based right now. The good schools are Columbia (expensive), NYU (expensive), and CUNY Baruch (cheap). Any other schools or programs that I'm overlooking?
The BB and PE/HF candidates are usually well fit for an mba program but the colleges will only take very few with similar experience because its more about having a diverse group of students with unique backgrounds. I could definitely tell you Harvard has at least 900 applicants with this background, but they might only take 10 or 20.
You can definitely leverage your current experience to go for an MFE degree, but you might be perceived as a quant and get stuck. That's why I am very cautious about this and think, Statistics->MBA route is more flexible.
Just do a MFE and be done with it. I think all the broken time is going to hurt you.
Some of the M.S. programs are part-time, could work, be paid, and have school paid for at the same time.
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