The MBA Thread

[Lord-Barrington]

Originally Posted by phreak

SHSU (****** state school) 3.3 B.B.A. Economics (done)
720 GMAT (done) but I still have to take the GRE

I plan on taking Trig, Calculus I, II, III, Diff Eq, Linear Algebra at Galveston Community College. It's really my only option because of my job. This should take a year because I'm starting this Summer.
U of Houston Clear Lake offers a couple of Econometrics courses that I will take before applying too.

The (overly) optimistic plan is to get into Rice or UT (way longshot) grad program, with a fallback being UH. I know I have to bust ****** with these math courses. Any recommendations as to what I need to supplement what I've already thought of; advanced probability/statistics in particular.

Are you applying for an MBA? If so:

1) Why are you a "longshot" for Rice and UT with a 3.3/720? No work experience?

2) Why the GRE?

3) Why all the math classes?

 

[phreak]

^^
It's an MA/PhD in Economics (didn't want to start a new thread lol). A bit different from MBA but hopefully someone has knowledge of this too. They want the GRE, not the GMAT.

The 3.3/720 thing was more of an assumption. My work experience will be 2 years of back office operations (banking) and 2/3 years of Risk Management/BSA (banking) by the time I apply. Am I overestimating how difficult it is to get into these programs? Turns out Rice is top ~75 (they only accept 6-12 students per year wtf?) and UT is top ~25

From everything I've read these programs demand a lot of Math, what I've written above as a minimum.

 

[Lord-Barrington]

Originally Posted by phreak

^^
It's an MA/PhD in Economics (didn't want to start a new thread lol). A bit different from MBA but hopefully someone has knowledge of this too. They want the GRE, not the GMAT.

The 3.3/720 thing was more of an assumption. My work experience will be 2 years of back office operations (banking) and 2/3 years of Risk Management/BSA (banking) by the time I apply. Am I overestimating how difficult it is to get into these programs? Turns out Rice is top ~75 (they only accept 6-12 students per year wtf?) and UT is top ~25

From everything I've read these programs demand a lot of Math, what I've written above as a minimum.

Oh, I see. I imagine those programs require a fair bit of math. Any PhD is difficult to get into and they usually only accept 6-15 students a year,

 

[Ad Fundum]

Originally Posted by phreak

^^
It's an MA/PhD in Economics (didn't want to start a new thread lol). A bit different from MBA but hopefully someone has knowledge of this too. They want the GRE, not the GMAT.

The 3.3/720 thing was more of an assumption. My work experience will be 2 years of back office operations (banking) and 2/3 years of Risk Management/BSA (banking) by the time I apply. Am I overestimating how difficult it is to get into these programs? Turns out Rice is top ~75 (they only accept 6-12 students per year wtf?) and UT is top ~25

From everything I've read these programs demand a lot of Math, what I've written above as a minimum.

Never assume you will get anything. I have watched far too many people expect a score because of past practice exams or grades. I wish you luck but the pressure for these types of exams affects people differently. Study hard

 

[phreak]

Originally Posted by Ad Fundum

Never assume you will get anything. I have watched far too many people expect a score because of past practice exams or grades. I wish you luck but the pressure for these types of exams affects people differently. Study hard

I've already got the 3.3 GPA with a 720 GMAT....

On a related note, does anyone have any info on the revised GRE that starts in August? 9 weeks is on the edge of how long I want to study for this thing and I do not want to go in unprepared. The admissions advisor from U of Houston she said it is going to be 'much harder' and was worried about students being really unprepared.

Take both? The revised doesnt have analogies or antonyms

 

[pkblaze100]

My Story - shoot me questions if you are interested

3.2 GPA - very good undergrad b-school
did 6 internships in different industries incl Finance (acct, i-bank), marketing (PR, brnd mgmt, mrkt rsch) and consulting (3 full summers, 3 during school years)

Full Time - consulting at good consulting but not top firm (one of acn, pwc, deloitte) in mgmt consulting but not strategy (i specifically wanted some full lifecycle project experience)

GMAT - 770 - no prep course - if you want my guide go to the beat the gmat forum and search for my name in the advanced search (the post is few years old) - that being said a number of my friends (6) have used that strategy with scores ranging from 720-790. requires some dedication though

MBA - chose full ride at my favorite but also my safety school (on par with Ross/Darden/Duke that tier). turned down Ross (+Erb program), Kellogg, Tuck but didn't get into H/S (didn't apply to W). Don't regret decision to go to school for even 1 sec - my experience says go to the place you fit and love as long as if you work hard it will get you the job. Lead major club, VP in another club I really care about. GPA after 1 yr - 3.7

summer internship - one of M/B/B in one Bos/NYC/SF

General comments to posts in the last few weeks:
1) skip the phd - I did a ton of research on them and i don't think they are worth it unless a) you love school b) you love research c) you want a quant job out of school
2) don't underestimate how much time you need to both prepare for the gmat and write applications
3) if you go for an mba post masters they look at both your gpa's though a good masters gpa can offset a bad undergrad one to a large extent
4)newinny - curious where you go to school - PM me as I also just finished my first year and am also cruising until internship starts

5) Big 4 audits generally do not hire post MBA at top 20 schools except in advisory (read consulting)
6) MBA's outside of the top 20 have vastly diminishing returns vs price. I honestly think anyone with the guts to apply and the willingness to study hard on thier gmats is capable of getting into a top 20
7) 2% or so of top 15 MBA grads have no work experience - they are cheating themselves though (IMO) - I appreciate what I learn way more after having worked
8) I * think * UTA is a target for McKinsey and Bain Dallas but I don't think they have much pull in other offices. This is something important to understand - some schools are core to only certain offices in consulting, the higher ranking the school the more offices it pulls into
9) my school is on the sticker shock list.....

10) KJT - do Gtown - UTA/UNC are great schools but gtown will get you where you need to go if you put the effort in. Note that b-school is massively busier than you think (similar to law school except some of the work is mandatory networking events) so prep your fiance for that. Just cause you've got a glass of wine in hand doesn't mean you're not working hard

 

[dmass1]

Going to be starting a part-time program in Boston in the fall - either at BC or BU. Does anyone have personal experience with these two schools or work with alumni.

From what I can tell, both are similar in terms of ranking, although BC seems to have a slightly stronger "prestige" factor. BU is a little bigger with a diverse, huge alumni network and BC has a tight-knit alumni network, especially in finance. I work in the insurance industry and plan to concentrate on finance, but honestly do not know if I'm going to pursue a typical finance career.

BU is a slightly shorter program by a semester and is a shorter commute from my office and from home, but my gut is telling me BC may be a better investment in the long-run.

Curious to see what you all think....

 

[Lord-Barrington]

Originally Posted by dmass1

Going to be starting a part-time program in Boston in the fall - either at BC or BU. Does anyone have personal experience with these two schools or work with alumni.

From what I can tell, both are similar in terms of ranking, although BC seems to have a slightly stronger "prestige" factor. BU is a little bigger with a diverse, huge alumni network and BC has a tight-knit alumni network, especially in finance. I work in the insurance industry and plan to concentrate on finance, but honestly do not know if I'm going to pursue a typical finance career.

BU is a slightly shorter program by a semester and is a shorter commute from my office and from home, but my gut is telling me BC may be a better investment in the long-run.

Curious to see what you all think....

Neither of these MBA programs have much prestige but they'll probably get you places in the Northeast.

 

[KJT]

Originally Posted by pkblaze100

My Story - shoot me questions if you are interested

10) KJT - do Gtown - UTA/UNC are great schools but gtown will get you where you need to go if you put the effort in. Note that b-school is massively busier than you think (similar to law school except some of the work is mandatory networking events) so prep your fiance for that. Just cause you've got a glass of wine in hand doesn't mean you're not working hard

Thanks - appreciate the advice. That's the decision I have made. We're preparing for the flip in our schedules, which will be interesting.

 

[dmass1]

Originally Posted by Lord-Barrington

Neither of these MBA programs have much prestige but they'll probably get you places in the Northeast.

Yea - I know they're not HBS, Tuck or Sloane, but still pretty strong schools.

What do you think about their reputations in the business world and the opportunities I'll have from each individual school? BU is much more convenient for me like I said, but I want to go to school that will give me the best opportunities.

Is there much of a difference?

 

[cchen]

Originally Posted by dmass1

Yea - I know they're not HBS, Tuck or Sloane, but still pretty strong schools.

What do you think about their reputations in the business world and the opportunities I'll have from each individual school? BU is much more convenient for me like I said, but I want to go to school that will give me the best opportunities.

Is there much of a difference?

outside of Boston I don't think there's any difference

 

[dmass1]

Agree with that for the most part, although I think BU probably has better networking opportunities outside of Boston because of the diversity in their student body and the fact that many of them don't stay in Boston after completing the program. On the other hand I think most BC grads stick around, which will help if I stay in Boston.


The reputation I can't figure out though. Some rankings have BC higher and some have BU higher, and people that I have spoken with also have diverging opinions on the strengths of each program. Having a tough time deciding and I was hoping to get some objective info.

 

[yjeezle]

i've been thinking about going from private to public and then going to grad school in a few years (MBA).

is this an inadvisable?

i'm currently a business analyst at a large electronics manufacturer.

my reason for moving is: my branch is going down and I need to start looking at options.

 

[Lord-Barrington]



i've been thinking about going from private to public and then going to grad school in a few years (MBA).
is this an inadvisable?
i'm currently a business analyst at a large electronics manufacturer.
my reason for moving is: my branch is going down and I need to start looking at options.

That's a pretty good reason!

Private to public is actually a good move at this point. Why? A few reasons:

1) MBA programs actually like public sector/NGO applicants because they don't get enough of them and they round out their applicant pool. bankers and consultants are incredibly bloated applicant pools whereas government/NGO applicants usually look elsewhere, so the competition for those spots isn't as fierce.

2) You'll likely get more time off in the public sector which will give you much needed time to prepare your applications and study for the GMAT, both incredibly time consuming endeavours.

3) I think doing a stint in the public sector (especially in a commercial role) is good for private sector workers and vice versa. Government and industry do billions of dollars of business together in the US, yet there's very little crossover aside from certain sectors.

 

[yjeezle]

what do you mean by commercial?

also, would i be taking a pay cut moving from private to public?

my salary atm isn't stellar ($45K) but I would still like to maintain my current lifestyle...