B-School / Career Change?

Question

I am at a cross roads of sorts and would like advice. I am an Industrial Engineer by profession and am looking to make a career change - manufacturing is dying out. I have been studying to take the GMAT (for a long time now) with the aim of getting into a good B-School. I score in the 90+ percentile range in the verbal and only in the 50+ percentile range in maths. I just don't seem to have a talent for numbers despite my engineering background. As a result, I am looking to getting into a b-school that is not that competitive - further, given my numbers handicap, I am not sure what I should specialize in. Any ideas, suggestions would be welcome. Ideas on alternate careers will also be welcome - thanks.

Answer 1

at cross roads? carefull not to get run over!
suggest some reading and self analysis.
'what colour is your parachute'
'48 days to work you love'
read digest reassess take notes.
check out local /school career counseling (free). ask your self - am i interested in a job or a career (something i would do for "love of it') there is a difference.
should you find a field of different interest , check out their associations at national and then at local level to find the truth not what a college tells you.
as for 'good schools', pedigrees are not that great to the real world smart employer. Production is.
recent major MBA school study found out the average MBA after 5 yrs earned 93000$
(while in school debt of 125000$). go figure.
ask your self what opionons, fears, assumptions, pre judgements you are willing to change to suceed in your life.

Answer 2

GMAT scores are only one part of what a business school considers when making selections. Your gpa and career experience is also considered. Most schools prefer a diverse group. I am not necessarily talking about race, but background diversity. An MBA with a BS in Engineering would be a strong combination. A concentration in management would probably have less math than a concentration in finance. You will still likely have at least one course in statistics, unless you had that at the undergraduate level. Marketing would be another area of concentration which would have some statistics, but not much more in the graduate school. I remember reading about some schools who are no longer using GMAT, but don't recall who they are, at the moment. Going to a state school would be less expensive. If you stay away from their main campus, they may be less competitive. You might also check into some of the Internet colleges, such as Phoenix. There are more colleges and universities who are taking the class room to the students. Each year the schools are ranked. I would look into the second tier schools. Frankly, the rankings have more to do with school name recognition than the quality of the education. One other thing to check into is the Executive MBA programs offered by many colleges and universities. They are pricey, but you don't need to put your job or career on hold to attend classes. By the way, with an MBA a new world could open for you. There are a number of people who are becoming consultants.