What are my chances of getting into a Top Business school?

Question

I'm a freshman in community college w/ a 4.0 so far in Georgia. I plan to transfer to Georgia Southern University, a tier 4-5 college.

What do I need in order to increase my chances in getting into a Top Business school like Wharton, Duke(Fuqua), Emory, etc...??? I'm hispanic, would that help?

Answer 1

I can think of a few things you might do. First of all, you might want to broaden your options of transfer colleges. While I have nothing against Georgia Southern, it is, as you said, not a top school. All of the schools you mention will take students from lesser schools, but will prefer students who have already achieved at a top school, so you may apply to transfer to undergraduate programs with very strong reputations rather than limiting yourself locally. Since you recognize that Georgia Southern is a tier 4-5 college, you sound like you are already pretty sophisticated for a freshman, but in case you weren't aware, Business Week now prints rankings of top undergraduate business programs, to give you some possibilities.

Secondly, congratulations on your terrific first year! You might look into transferring into an Honors program somewhere. Taking honors courses at any school looks better on your resume than taking regular courses at the same school.

Thirdly, this is the time to start looking at internships, and you can be strategic about this. Many major corporations have diversity-related internship programs; in many cases, these not only give you job experience, but provide mentoring, which can give you a leg up. Someone like Coca Cola in your area offers such programs, and I've had students get incredible experience there. Also think about how this looks on your resume, even if you end at Georgia Southern. Someone looking at your resume will see that you have been part of a corporate environment throughout your college years, increasing the likelihood that you can succeed in that environment after your MBA.

Fourthly, look at the offerings of organizations like the Diversity Pipeline Alliance (www.diversitypipeline.org) and the National Society for Hispanic MBAs (www.nshmba.org). They can give a lot of guidance and assistance (including scholarships) along the way to help you get to where you want to be.

Fifthly, start preparing yourself now to have something to talk about in your admissions essays and interviews. Developing your communication skills so that you can present yourself as confident and enthusiastic will help you in job interviews as well as in the MBA admissions process.

Finally, don't forget that just as it was important in college admissions, community service matters in professional school admissions. For MBA programs, what they particularly want to see is leadership potential, so find something to do in which you can play a leadership role and show your achievements - preferably something which would sound good when you talk about it in admissions interviews.

Answer 2

Transfer to a top university for upper division. Continue to get between a 3.8-4.0. Work for 1-3 years, then take the GMAT. Score above a 700.

No, being Hispanic will not help. You might be able to get some scholarships, tho.

Answer 3

you should boost up your g.p.a higher so you can get into a greater and better college. they may even pay for you. try taking extra classes and join some communities or programs your school provides you to.