How do you get into grad school?

Question

I'm only a sophmore, but i know i want to go grad school to get an mba in business mgt. after my first year, my grades are only okay.......their good, but their just okay. I don't want it to get in the way of my plans for grad school....how do u get in to grad school?

Answer 1

MBA programs are different from academic programs. For most academic programs, you try to do well in your field as an undergraduate and apply to a graduate program in the same field when you are a senior. The process is very similar to applying to college out of high school.

But MBAs are professional degrees. The top MBA programs want to have a broad mix of people -- so the undergraduate degree you get is not so important. You have to do well as an undergraduate -- but GPA is not as important for that degree as other graduate programs. For example, having a 3.3-3.5 won't keep you out of the very top MBA programs -- but it would probably be hard to get into the very top PhD programs in almost any field.

So -- what do you need. Besides a good GPA, the top schools want you to have three to five years of work experience. They ask you to write essays, send in recommendations, interview with them and take the GMATs. Going to a good quality undergraduate school helps -- but is not essential.

When I got my MBA at Duke, I found that most people were strong in all of these areas -- but may have had one thing missing. For example, someone might have had great essays, great GPA, went to an Ivy League school -- but just had OK GMATs. Others might have had great work experience, high GMATs, went to a good school and had a slightly lower GPA. Others were stellar everywhere, but didn't go to a great undergraduate school.

I saw very few students who were missing two things.

If I had to rank the criteria, I would put them this way:

1. Work Experience
2. Essays
3. GMAT Score
4. Undergraduate GPA
5. Interview
6. Recommendations
7. Quality of undergraduate school

Answer 2

You already know the answer. Grades, grades, grades. Buckle down. If your a sophomore, you can easily bounce back.
If you have a flair for writing getting an article or two published in a business magazine wouldn't hurt either. Check out the "Writer's Market" at the library. It has tips on how to write, where to send your piece, and the proper format for submission.
Good Luck.

Answer 3

Usually you would study very hard after college and then take the GMATs. Then you apply to some schools. It's actually very similar to the process for getting into college, but the GMATs are a ton harder than the SATs were.