Do U.S. graduate admissions favour people who are not requesting funding?

Question

If you are applying to a U.S. university for a graduate place how much more likely will you be to get a place if you are funding yourself? Consider also that this is a business school that requires a gmat score of 550 minimum and the person applying has only got 400. Is it still possible to get into the school if your bachelors degree and gmat score are well below average but you are paying your own way? The application is for a masters program at a lower ranked U.S. university.

Answer 1

Minimum GENERALLY means "if you did not acheive that score we WILL NOT allow you to take course toward the degree". You MAY be allowed to enroll in courses that do will NOT be applied toward the degree, but that is not common at schools that do not explicitly state so.

Funding is GENERALLY separate, as business schools are generally NOT known for being inexpensive. The assumption is that most/all students WILL be paying (albeit, many with borrowed money or money from their employer).

You must remember that "lower ranked" is a relative term -- clearly no one with "below average" bachelor's degree is going to be welcome at even a top 200 MBA program -- frankly it might not even be realistic to consider anything other than a straight unranked "open admission" program, though the value of such a program is very questionable...

Answer 2

No. Admissions decisions are made separately from financial aid decisions. A student has to be admitted first, then the school looks at who it wants to offer it's funding to after that.

You might be better off taking some refresher courses and getting your GPA up and retaking the entrance exams. Don't cave in and do some fly-by-night online MBA or something like that. Those degrees are not valued by employers and the schools are often not accredited. You won't be doing yourself any good at all getting a degree from a school like that.