Can you get into an MBA program with a degree from the big 3?

[DegreeEric]

I'm looking to get into an MBA program eventually at San Diego State University and was wondering if that kind of school will accept a degree from one of these "Big 3" colleges.

Any thoughts or information would be appreciated!

[rebel100]

They are all regionally accredited, so, yes. There are many factors that can affect MBA admissions though. In particular make sure that any business pre reqs are covered in an acceptable manner.

[JohnnyHeck]

If you score in the 80th percentile on the GMAT and have a GPA greater than 3.5/4, I think you will easily get into MBA at San Diego. Although specific admissions criterea varies a bit from year to year, in general it's the combination of GMAT rank, GPA, undergraduate degree, school pedigree, application essay, and interview that determine whether you get accepted for any grad program. Higher ranked schools only want the best they can find with some proof of past performance that you can cut it in their program. GMAT tells them whether you're intellectually up to snuff with their criterea and GPA tells them whether you have the discipline to cut it. The only issue with pedigree is with the haircut they might apply to a GPA from a lower ranked undergraduate progam like one of the Big 3. For example, a 2.0 GPA from Harvard and 50% GMAT will not likely get you into an MBA program at San Diego right out of undergrad school. Always remember, grad school GPA requires 3.0+ to get that diploma. If you could not do it in your core courses at the undergrad level, what have you got to show that you can do it at the grad level? (However, no matter what came before, a 90% GMAT and a 3.75 GPA only in your senior year and a great story might do it.) To some extent it's a crap shoot, but it won't be ignoreed soley because of your undergrad school name pedigree.

[DegreeEric]

The GPA might be an issue then. I know my GMAT score will be high (my SAT was) but my GPA is at 2.4 right now. Mainly because I just didn't show up to a few classes and have a D in 7 of my total units. Can you get letter graded for CBE's at the big 3? My first CLEP was last friday and I scored a 66 on Principles of Marketing. Getting "A's" could really help me out from that.

Do you have a recommendation on which of the "Big 3" to apply and attend? I guess getting my GPA higher would be the key thing. I have 22 credits and 3 CBE from my CLEP. I'm willing to devote this summer to CLEPS and I know I could complete any FEMA courses quickly as well as ALEKS for math.

Honestly thank you so much everyone. You are all so helpful and especially you JohnnyHeck!

[JohnnyHeck]

DegreeEric, I'm going to think about several possible plans for your GPA repair and probably post a new thread on this subject just for us. In the meantime please refer to my previous post http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...chool.html where I tried to get the Forum to address just this specifice topic, although limited to a TESC student. You will have more possible options because you are not limited to TESC yet.

Pay particular attention in the thread above to the post by Yanji. She got into a top MBA program, Indiana U - Marketing, as a graduate of TESC. What is very interesting in her case is that she tested out of almost everything, so her GPA was based on only a few courses. However, she did score in the 94% on the GMAT. Since you are only at 25 credits total, you have a lot of room for GPA inprovement. Let's see if a few others chime in on your latest post, and I'll post again later on this topic. Check out some of Yanji's other posts; she is one smart lassie and has blazed a trail before you.

[rebel100]

I can't speak for the others, but COSC awards letter grades for older (2 digit) DSST exams, straighterline, and count other college transfer work in the GPA calculation. They also require 2 courses to be taken the cornerstone and capstone...which carry grades.

If you look att he degree forum wiki I think Burbuja has her COSC degree plan up there (she went on to a pretty good MBA program too)....it might be a good model for you to follow if you decide on that route. I think, though I'm not certain, that the business degree at COSc allows for a little more free elective wiggle room....that's where you might add a few of the old DSSt's to gain the advantage of the letter grade for them.

You might also consider just taking a few classes at one of the schools offering cheap self paced courses...a handful of courses would do (provided you do well) CSU-Pueblo (particularly for upper level credit, University of Idaho, LSU, BYU, University of Arkansas.

[mrs.b]

If you're needing to get your GPA up, taking courses is a prime way to do that. I took courses for the requirements I had a measure of confidence to complete and/or things that were hard prereqs for graduate schools on my short list to be certain they accepted, and some of those schools have prickly admissions requirements. Starting out, I had a weak GPA as well (partied a bit too hard when I was fresh out of high school during my first college endeavor, entirely skipped a few Finals my last semester because I was two states away on a long weekend bender with some friends) so I had a lot of ground to cover to pull the GPA from the 2.0 (it was lower, eek!) to 3.7 when I finished. It's just a numbers game, so run your numbers and figure out how many graded credits you must have to pull your GPA to pass admissions checkboxes. I took CBEs for courses I had zero desire to spend a period of time looking at and that were not hard requirements of the schools on my short list. The mixture of courses and CBEs combined at TESC to receive two awards when I completed my Bachelors - the Arnold Fletcher Award (given for completing a degree with unconventional credits, which is a talking point at admissions meetings) as well as admission to an international business honors society, Sigma Beta Delta, which opens the door for fellowship monies to help with graduate tuition - woo! grad credits are pricey - and a shiny flag of notice on my admissions packet for bonus points on partnership graduate colleges (many of which are AACSB).

If your ultimate goal is a good grad school, there are a lot of ways to go about doing it. You can be an unconventional student and use your talking points to earn admissions points, or you can go the more traditional route of letting GPA, GMAT, awards, and other numbers speak for you. You need to start by putting together a short list of graduate schools you want to aim for, and pull up all their admissions requirements. Develop your undergraduate program so you do not short-change yourself on options, and then get flexible with the other undergrad requirements that your short list do not look too hard at to save time and money. But yes, you can get into some high quality graduate programs with a degree from one of the Big 3. Like any admissions endeavor, you just need to make sure you meet the requirements and have an interesting application packet to catch admissions' attention.

[taylor]

SDSU won't discriminate against a Big 3 degree. But since it's a state school with lower tuition than many MBA programs in SoCal it will be pretty competitive to get in, just due to the sheer number of applicants. I've looked into the SDSU EMBA and I know it is more difficult to get in than many higher ranked MBA's in SoCal because of the reasonable tuition. Good luck!!!

[DegreeEric]

I can not believe how helpful everyone on this forum is, it is truly amazing.

Okay so my situation is I know what program I want to get into, the SDSU Sports MBA program.

The academic requirements are as follows

A GPA of 3.0 or higher in the last 60 semester units.

An absolute minimum undergraduate GPA of 2.85.

An undergraduate background in a quantitative discipline is favorable, but not required.

Official GMAT Score Report. I've received off the record information that I would probably need a 570+ (average is around 600)

Non academically I need work experience in the sports world (which I have), 2 personal recommendation letters, a personal statement, and to do an interview.

I am willing to retake classes or take exams to pass out of classes I've already taken to improve my GPA. For my different school options my main goal is to get things done quickly rather than cheaply. I have read that some places it costs a lot of money to use FEMA credits but if I could get 15 credits done in three weeks I would be thrilled. Looking at the requirements I feel I need to get my GPA up to about 3.3 because with that and a GMAT score of around 620 I believe I would be accepted into the program.

I definitely will be an unconvential student and my goal is to apply for this masters program next year. (The classes start in January, not the fall.) I used to care about the name of the school a lot but now realizes that nobody will care about my undergrad once I am in graduate school!


Burbuja's degree plan was quite incredible honestly.

My academic record is as follows

Pima Community College

I know I passed Microeconomics, English 101, as well as Introductions to Computers (Probably 2 C's and a B) but I'm pretty sure I failed 2 other classes due to not showing up. I didn't send any of these grades to my next community college. If I could just send over some but not the F's that would be great but I don't know if it is allowed. The other holdup is there is a hold on my record for something I need to sign in person (in Arizona) apparently with no exceptions. So I don't think it is even worth trying to bring these classes anywhere, but maybe it is.

San Diego Mesa College

Business Law 140 - A
Human Growth and Development 101 - B
Health 101 - B
Biology 120 - C
Communication 103 - C (Teacher took off TWO LETTER GRADES for attendance)
Financial Accounting 116 (4 Units) - D

CLEP

Principles of Marketing - 66


I would love to take as many classes as possible online (especially Math) and get this all done.

I know it is a TON of information and not an easy question to answer, but where should I head from the Big 3 or otherwise to accomplish my goals of getting a degree in the next 14 months or sooner with the ability to raise my GPA to an acceptable level?

Thank you everyone so much I can't believe anyone out there is so nice!!!

Eric

[mrs.b]

A GPA of 3.0 or higher in the last 60 semester units.

An absolute minimum undergraduate GPA of 2.85.

Check and see if that first quoted requirement includes graded credits or all credits. If it includes all credits, you could potentially test out of 57 of those last 60 credits, and take a single course you know you'll get a 4.0 in to fix that one. If, however, they will only consider graded credits when calculating your GPA, only the last 60 credits worth of courses that earn a letter grade will likely be considered, no matter where they fall in your total 120. You need to get clarification on that point before putting together much more of a game plan, because it could dramatically alter how many courses versus CBEs you must include in your degree plan to get the GPA where you need.

Either way, the second quoted requirement will be a factor depending on your current GPA and number of credits right now that will be submitted for inclusion in the calculation, because if you take a ton of CBEs, the Cs and Ds from San Diego Mesa will need to be offset. As for withholding the transcript from Pima CC to improve your GPA (or to just avoid the headache of going there to sign things), that's often considered questionable territory but ultimately your call.

Not meaning to toss wrenches in the works, so please don't take it that way! Just want to make sure all the potential factors that might be a roadblock get included in your plans, so they do not jump up and bite when ready to kick that Sports MBA's butt.