Ask Jon Frank- P69-Q&A:WHY MBA? 7 OVERLOOKED REASONS TO GET AN MBA

kasulty

Hi Jon,

"Ask Jon Frank" section has become very popular in a short amount of time. Congratulations!

Here's my question, a common concern that may help quite a few as well.

I'm quite concerned with my undergraduate GPA, which is below 3.0 (2.9), and the class percentile and ranking would be no better to mitigate it.  I have since got contradictory opinions on whether or not I should try to mitigate this lousy UGPA in the essay. For me I tend to avoid even mentioning it in the essay, because that makes me seem less confident in my past and "dwell" on something that's seven years ago. But I'd really want to hear your opinion on this, especially:

1) Whether or not I should take that chance to explain in optional essay?
2) Anything (other than enrolling in a community university to renovate the record, which is not possible in China) that may reduce the concern that adcom may have to admit an applicant with below than average GPA?
3) For someone with a lousy GPA, he or she should be careful not to create inconsistency in the essay by _______________ (Filling blank


Thanks Jon!

emilysmile

Hello Joe!

Thank you very much for helping us!

I am now applying for 2011 fall MBA. Here is my background:
Gmat: 640
Toefl:106 (taken 2 years ago, i will retake it next month)
GPA: 81.5
w/e: I had a full-time internship in Fortune 500 for one year, and 1 year w/e in another Fortune 500 after graduation, working as a sales management trainee.

Which level of business school is my comfort zone? I have already decided to apply for Baruch, and I am still undecided about other business school...
Understanding that my GMAT is toooo low, i am going to retake it later.

Thank you very much!


Emily

JonFrank

Hi Jon,

"Ask Jon Frank" section has become very popular in a short amount of time. Congratulations!

Here's my question, a common concern that may help quite a few as well.

I'm quite concerned with my undergraduate GPA, which is below 3.0 (2.9), and the class percentile and ranking would be no better to mitigate it.  I have since got contradictory opinions on whether or not I should try to mitigate this lousy UGPA in the essay. For me I tend to avoid even mentioning it in the essay, because that makes me seem less confident in my past and "dwell" on something that's seven years ago. But I'd really want to hear your opinion on this, especially:

1) Whether or not I should take that chance to explain in optional essay?
2) Anything (other than enrolling in a community university to renovate the record, which is not possible in China) that may reduce the concern that adcom may have to admit an applicant with below than average GPA?
3) For someone with a lousy GPA, he or she should be careful not to create inconsistency in the essay by _______________ (Filling blank


Thanks Jon!

-- by 会员 kasulty (2010/9/29 20:29:30)

Hey there!  Yes, you absolutely should address this in your optional essay.  You are correct though, you do not want to DWELL on this issue.  Instead, you will say what happened, you will say why, and you will move on.  We do not want to make excuses here, just to be nice and clear.  The best way to overcome a low GPA is through your GMAT score.  With either a good GMAT score, or additional coursework, you can solve the problem.

And for your last (and most fun!) question, I think I can do even better than fill in the blank.  Here is the outline for an optional essay:
1. My undergraduate GPA was 3.0.  I believe that this score doesn’t represent my true academic abilities.
2. When I was in college, I worked full time.  Or…my sister got sick.  Or…I was just immature.  I didn’t focus on school, and I should have.  
3. But since then, I have done my best to remedy the situation.  I took these three classes, and got As in all of them.  I also do tons of quantitative work at my job, and I have received three promotions in three months.  Finally, I received a 740 on the GMAT.
4. Helpful?  J

JonFrank

Hello Joe!

Thank you very much for helping us!

I am now applying for 2011 fall MBA. Here is my background:
Gmat: 640
Toefl:106 (taken 2 years ago, i will retake it next month)
GPA: 81.5
w/e: I had a full-time internship in Fortune 500 for one year, and 1 year w/e in another Fortune 500 after graduation, working as a sales management trainee.

Which level of business school is my comfort zone? I have already decided to apply for Baruch, and I am still undecided about other business school...
Understanding that my GMAT is toooo low, i am going to retake it later.

Thank you very much!


Emily

-- by 会员 emilysmile (2010/9/29 22:11:14)

Emily, thanks so much for the note.  If I were you, with that GMAT score I would focus on local programs.  So if you want to be in NYC, focus on programs locally in the NY area, like baruch, Fordham, etc.  There are many programs like NY that you could target.  But in your shoes with your GMAT score, think about what City you want to be in—choose that way.  In that way you get the benefits of all the local recruiting!  


However, if you want to go to a premier program, you would need to retake the test. Your GMAT score is good enough—try to break 700!

Hope this helps,



Jon Frank

kasulty

Thanks for the response Jon. It's very thoughtful.

I decide to raise an easy question for you this time

For someone who is intimidated by the allleged agressiveness and cut-throat peer-pressure in HBS classrom and thus might drop HBS from their list, what would you like to say to them?

Any ideas?

JonFrank

Thanks for the response Jon. It's very thoughtful.

I decide to raise an easy question for you this time

For someone who is intimidated by the allleged agressiveness and cut-throat peer-pressure in HBS classrom and thus might drop HBS from their list, what would you like to say to them?

Any ideas?

Hello there—I love to talk about HBS of course.  What do I say to people who think that there is pressure at HBS?  I would tell them to do a little more research!  J  There are many reasons not to like HBS of course—there are no specializations, some courses are impossible to get into, etc.  But competition?  HBS is remarkably NON-competitive.  So for anyone who is considering NOT applying to HBS because of competition, this wouldbe a bad decision.  After all, why not just apply, and see if you get in?  I would be you a quarter that if you get in, you would swallow your pride and attend.

Hope this helps,


Jon Frank
-- by 会员 kasulty (2010/9/30 13:28:56)

DeeGao

Hi Jon ,thanks a lot for helping out here.
I have a question about career goal. I have been working for 8 years now, and i changed my job lots of times  each time into  different industry with different position(but in some good companies of course ), and i still dont have a very clear career goal, but i just want to apply for some  MBAs to have my eyes open and improve myself with some successful people around . My question is, do I have to have specific career goal to apply for MBA? If the answer is yes ,what do you suggest me to do now ?

JonFrank

Hi Jon ,thanks a lot for helping out here.
I have a question about career goal. I have been working for 8 years now, and i changed my job lots of times  each time into  different industry with different position(but in some good companies of course ), and i still dont have a very clear career goal, but i just want to apply for some  MBAs to have my eyes open and improve myself with some successful people around . My question is, do I have to have specific career goal to apply for MBA? If the answer is yes ,what do you suggest me to do now ?

-- by 会员 DeeGao (2010/10/5 22:40:55)

Hey there—I’m so glad that you asked this question, because it is SO important!  The answer is Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. J  Should I say it again? YES! YOU DO NEED A CRYSTAL-CLEAR CAREER GOAL.  It doesn’t reeeally matter what you have been doing over the past eight years—your key will be to show that now, 8 years later, you DO know what you want to do.  Those 8 years have made it very clear to you!  And now, you need to explain it to the admissions people.  “My short term goal is to work for a AAAAAA company, such as BBBB or CCCCC as a NAME JOB TITLE.”  That is the level of specificity that we’re looking for…
Good luck to you my friend!
Jon Frank

hwjhope

Hey Jon,

Thank you for your valuable answer and sincere help to everyone here!

My score is not so competitive, but I don't want to take these nightmare tests once again: ) GMAT 680, TOFEL 102, GPA 3.2. I graduated in 2006 with BA degree. 5/2 years work experience in Ministry of Finance, and 1 year in NGO mainly in charge of accounting and project implementation. Having no experience working in a company, I am not very confident in my background. Because MBA means Management of Business Administration, without business background, can I have a chance to be accepted by a good university? I hope you can recomend some universities to me. Thanks a lot!

JonFrank

Hey Jon,

Thank you for your valuable answer and sincere help to everyone here!

My score is not so competitive, but I don't want to take these nightmare tests once again: ) GMAT 680, TOFEL 102, GPA 3.2. I graduated in 2006 with BA degree. 5/2 years work experience in Ministry of Finance, and 1 year in NGO mainly in charge of accounting and project implementation. Having no experience working in a company, I am not very confident in my background. Because MBA means Management of Business Administration, without business background, can I have a chance to be accepted by a good university? I hope you can recomend some universities to me. Thanks a lot!

-- by 会员 hwjhope (2010/10/7 1:32:50)

Hey there!  It is a nightmare, I know—I went through it myself!  The good news is that for accounting, there are some great programs in accounting that you should look at—where you will have a good chance of getting in!  I would look at UT, University of Illinois, Brigham Young, and Indiana.  All of these places have scores inline with yours, and are among the best accounting programs in the US!  Top ten!
Good luck, and maybe one day you can teach me some accounting! It is my worst course…
Jon Frank