Hi! I need some advice. I have quite a few questions posted but feel free to answer whatever you want:
Background:
BCMP GPA: 3.78
Total GPA: 3.84
Graduate GPA: 3.50
I am a white male. I have good ECs but nothing too amazing.
I got my bachelor's in econ and stat from UC Berkeley and was one class shy of getting an applied math major on top of my double major. Because I took a lot of upper division & graduate level math and stat classes, my BCMP suffered a bit. In most of my classes I got an A. In one class, abstract algebra, I got a C. I admit it was hard and I did not understand much (although I would love another crack at it).
Then I went on to a PhD program in Business Finance in a top 10 university. The program was tough (I was not oriented so much towards their sort of research) and I decided I had enough of school for now, so I got an MBA instead and worked for about 14 months.
When I was working I took gen chem at a local university and did well. I quit work and decided to go back to school full time. Right now I have a 4.0 in my post-bacc courses and I expect to keep it that way through my last quarter this spring.
I will be applying this cycle for fall of 2010.
I have not yet taken the MCAT.
My questions:
1) Because I will only finish my pre-reqs this June, I am planning to take the MCAT in the summer. At first I wanted to take it in August. But everybody told me to apply as soon as possible. Therefore I came up with this plan:
I will take it on June 18th. I will keep on studying until I get my scores back within 30 days. If I am not satisfied, and because I have continued to study, I will take it again either in late July or mid August.
Is this reasonable? Or should I wait until I am ready and then take it only once?
In the first couple practice tests I have taken I got an MCAT score of 30.
I think by the time of the exam it is reasonable for me to score 33 or 34 but maybe as low as 30.
I would like to get a high enough score to be competitive at the "top tier schools" but I think I would probably need a 35 or higher. I was thinking that if I get a 33, for example, many of my "within reach schools" could be interested. Maybe I will even get really lucky and lock down a school. Then I can take it again and try to get a higher score for the dream schools.
Do schools take another look at you if you score higher the second time? If school X passes on me because I do not meet the cutoffs the first time, will they come back to me a second time if I do meet those cutoffs at a later date?
I know, I am speculating a lot here, bear with me.
2) Also, I am planning to be out of the country after I take the MCAT and complete my application. Is that a major problem for filling out secondaries?
I do not mind flying back and forth if I get interviews. I just don't want to compromise sending my secondaries back in way later. Most can be done online right?
3) How helpful is it to have an MBA? Should I focus a lot on it during my application process?
Am I right to feel that some schools would value it a lot more than others?
4) The PhD program I was in was very tough. I did mostly well. But I did get a D and a C in two different PhD econ courses in two different quarters (part of the reason the PhD did not pan out for me and I opted for the MBA). How negative an impact does that have?
My reasoning is that I really tried to push myself beyond my limits and sometimes it backfired. I am ok with it and I did learn a lot from these experiences on both a personal and academic level. I just hope the admission committees take course work difficulty into account.
5) I was a third author on a paper back in my undergrad that was about statistics. Will this be useful for me during the application process? Can I claim I have been published? It was a while ago and I have since moved away from that kind of research but it was valuable nonetheless.
6) Finally, which schools do you think I have a shot at? I would love to go to UCLA (or any other California school -- I am a resident) partly because I grew up there but I know it is very very competitive.
Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance.
Background:
BCMP GPA: 3.78
Total GPA: 3.84
Graduate GPA: 3.50
I am a white male. I have good ECs but nothing too amazing.
I got my bachelor's in econ and stat from UC Berkeley and was one class shy of getting an applied math major on top of my double major. Because I took a lot of upper division & graduate level math and stat classes, my BCMP suffered a bit. In most of my classes I got an A. In one class, abstract algebra, I got a C. I admit it was hard and I did not understand much (although I would love another crack at it).
Then I went on to a PhD program in Business Finance in a top 10 university. The program was tough (I was not oriented so much towards their sort of research) and I decided I had enough of school for now, so I got an MBA instead and worked for about 14 months.
When I was working I took gen chem at a local university and did well. I quit work and decided to go back to school full time. Right now I have a 4.0 in my post-bacc courses and I expect to keep it that way through my last quarter this spring.
I will be applying this cycle for fall of 2010.
I have not yet taken the MCAT.
My questions:
1) Because I will only finish my pre-reqs this June, I am planning to take the MCAT in the summer. At first I wanted to take it in August. But everybody told me to apply as soon as possible. Therefore I came up with this plan:
I will take it on June 18th. I will keep on studying until I get my scores back within 30 days. If I am not satisfied, and because I have continued to study, I will take it again either in late July or mid August.
Is this reasonable? Or should I wait until I am ready and then take it only once?
In the first couple practice tests I have taken I got an MCAT score of 30.
I think by the time of the exam it is reasonable for me to score 33 or 34 but maybe as low as 30.
I would like to get a high enough score to be competitive at the "top tier schools" but I think I would probably need a 35 or higher. I was thinking that if I get a 33, for example, many of my "within reach schools" could be interested. Maybe I will even get really lucky and lock down a school. Then I can take it again and try to get a higher score for the dream schools.
Do schools take another look at you if you score higher the second time? If school X passes on me because I do not meet the cutoffs the first time, will they come back to me a second time if I do meet those cutoffs at a later date?
I know, I am speculating a lot here, bear with me.
2) Also, I am planning to be out of the country after I take the MCAT and complete my application. Is that a major problem for filling out secondaries?
I do not mind flying back and forth if I get interviews. I just don't want to compromise sending my secondaries back in way later. Most can be done online right?
3) How helpful is it to have an MBA? Should I focus a lot on it during my application process?
Am I right to feel that some schools would value it a lot more than others?
4) The PhD program I was in was very tough. I did mostly well. But I did get a D and a C in two different PhD econ courses in two different quarters (part of the reason the PhD did not pan out for me and I opted for the MBA). How negative an impact does that have?
My reasoning is that I really tried to push myself beyond my limits and sometimes it backfired. I am ok with it and I did learn a lot from these experiences on both a personal and academic level. I just hope the admission committees take course work difficulty into account.
5) I was a third author on a paper back in my undergrad that was about statistics. Will this be useful for me during the application process? Can I claim I have been published? It was a while ago and I have since moved away from that kind of research but it was valuable nonetheless.
6) Finally, which schools do you think I have a shot at? I would love to go to UCLA (or any other California school -- I am a resident) partly because I grew up there but I know it is very very competitive.
Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance.
