Am I shooting too high for full-time?
I have an overall GPA of 2.5, I transferred and received 72 of my 120 credits from another university and received a GPA of 2.7, my 2.5 overall GPA seems to be right at the minimum or just below (within .25) the 80% acceptance GPA range, I have talked to two other admissions counselors and they claimed if I get between a 650-680 on the GMAT and have a good overall package (recommendations and essays) I stand a decent chance of admission. I did work 20-25 hours per week through school and will address this in my optional essay. Also would taking a pre-calc class help my chances of being accepted? I called two of the schools and they said they don’t require calc for admissions or graduation and don’t feel it would influence their admissions decision. My GPA is 2.9 between Statistics, Accounting, and Economics. I appreciate any help you can provide.
Also If I am shooting too high could you provide any schools I should be considering?

Target Schools
University of Texas-Austin
Georgetown
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
University Rochester
Wake Forest
Babson
Fordham
Rutgers
Villanova

What do you do for a living? The quality of your work experience also matters.

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com

I have 1 yr experience working in credit/controller training for a large plumbing distributor. The past 2 yrs in accounting/operations for a large U.S. insurance company that issuess private bonds (off balance sheet) (from my understanding this is not very common), I also have been studying for Level I CFA. I will have 4 yrs experience by the time school starts next August. I was told by someone in the front office if I want to work in their group to get best education, by going full time.

Given what you mentioned and your GMAT/GPA combo, the schools you mentioned are in range.

Schools like UT-Austin, Georgetown, Vanderbilt, Rochester and Notre Dame are sweet spot schools for you -- these are the range of schools where you should really focus on. Choose 3-4 from this group.

Schools like Babson, Wake Forest, Fordham, Rutgers and Villanova are decent safety schools for you. Choose 0-1 from this group.

You may want to look into a reach/stretch school like Duke, Darden or Michigan - choose one; you never know.

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com