Need Help with Deciding on an Online Accounting Masters Program

[Yanji]

I have posted on this already, accepted to and attending American University Kogod School of Business. TESC BSBA, 2014
Also, there have been others to post, Yanji above attended Indiana University, a top 50 program.

Top 25* :p

No, but really, MBA applications depend on so much. A couple of months before leaving IU, I spoke with someone who was involved in my admission decision, and they told me that for me, they needed to see a strong GMAT to counterbalance my less-than-impressive education. However, I attended a full-time program where traditional backgrounds are generally favored. In part-time or online programs, the priorities in the admission process are very different. P/T and online programs skew older (sometimes much older) and the admissions committee (adcom) is typically not too worried about what you did when you were 18-22. EMBA programs basically just want the box checked. In fact, some adcoms may see non-traditional education as a positive, simply because going back to school and/or getting a degree while working takes a great deal of courage and determination.

If you test out of everything, yeah, it'll be less than helpful in your application. (I had 60-75 traditional credits) But if you're an extraordinary candidate with an excellent GMAT and great professional accomplishments, you could absolutely get into a great MBA program regardless. If you're not such a candidate and you're not yet finished your degree, you may want to prepare to give the adcom something to chew on in terms of academics. That could be taking some senior hard science/math courses as part of your degree, getting a second degree, getting a Master's degree or whatever else you think may help your application. GPA is not everything either - in terms of MBA admissions, a 3.0 GPA in Chemistry or Math is probably worth a lot more than a 3.3 in Sociology or Women's Studies.

[DBRENNAN118]

Thank you, Yanji. Eloquently put. I am still deciding which way to go, but this is really helpful.