Advice on getting into a good MBA school

<p>I need some advice on how to get accepted to a good MBA school upon graduation. I curretly goto UNF (university of north florida) located in jacksonville, florida. It has a pretty good buisness school, but nothing compared to the ivy leagues or any of the top buisness schools in the nation. I was just wondering what could i do to maximize my chances of getting in to a top notch buisness school after a few years of experience. I plan on graduating with around a 3.7 gpa with a degree in finance and a minor in international buisness im hoping to land an internship with a major company this summer and i have experience doing study abroad programs in malasyia, singapore. Im sure upon graduation i would be required to work for atleast 2 years before applying to a good MBA program, i was just wondering if i even have a chance of getting into one of the top buisness schools, i have an uncle who is involved in risk managment for Duteshe Bank in NY and he told me upon graduation he could help me get into their training program, but if that doesnt happen i need some kind of back up plan. Anyone have any ideas or comments?</p>

<p>Work for a few years, get a good GMAT score, and cure cancer.</p>

<p>So basically your saying my chances arent that good as of right now, i could transfer to Universtiy of Florida which would be a bigger name school and is well known but the problem with that is that UF is located in Gainsville where there aren't a lot of internships or part time jobs during the school year if i stay in Jacksonville im hoping to get a full time internship this summer and also continue it part time during the school year which will give me 2 years experience upon graduation. Any comments ideas?</p>

<p>Actually, it sounds like you are doing the right things to this point. You are doing well in your classes, showing interest in studying business already, getting an internship related to your major and studying overseas to gain global experience.</p>

<p>My suggestion is since you are a foreign student, the most likely weakness you may have would be with the GMAT test, since you need very good communication and reading comprehension skills to do well on it. If I were you, I would take a GMAT study course, take practice GMAT tests over and over again until I was getting a mid 600s or higher score on a regular basis (preferably even 680 plus). I would also suggest you wait at least one more year before applying for an MBA (schools generally like their students to have 4-5 years of experience before they enter the MBA program). You should also start writing your college admission essay for the MBA program now (yes, I know this is a year ahead--but this will give you the opportunity to re-write it at least twice, and make minor changes to it at least 7 times--trust me, you will be amazed what you find in terms of minor errors if you put something away, then pull it out again 3 weeks later--even if you've already changed or corrected it once or twice.</p>

<p>Lastly, I would suggest you stop looking at your undergraduate program as such a negative. MBA programs are willing to admit students from any decent school as long as the student appears to have learned from the college experience, and can express themselves well. You might also talk about your experience overseas as compared to the US and how the places and experiences differ--and how the places and experiences are the same.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>