<p>Hello all,</p>
<p>I am new to this forum and i was recommended here to get some of the brightest ideas and wise words:</p>
<p>I am currently a sophomore at Purdue University
Major: Computer and Information Technology
Avg GPA: 2.4</p>
<p>Recently i had a "moment of clarity" if you will. I am highly interested in going to Grad school for an MBA, and my one and only goal for the school is Wharton University of Pennsylvania MBA program.</p>
<p>I'd like to know how I can achieve this goal..
What I have to do to get there..</p>
<p>Any and ALL help would be great. I truly am lost as to where to start. Advice is much needed, please!</p>
<h1>1. get GPA up. b-schools have lower academic standards, but not that low. you should really aim for 3.5 but 3.0 is the minimum. this will also help job search (the 3.0 barrier can be brutal)</h1>
<h1>2. research what it takes to get into “brand name” companies like GE from purdue. ask the career services office…i am sure it happens, and you want to position yourself to make it happen. perhaps joining some clubs etc to get more leadership will help.</h1>
<h1>3. do not take an IT job; aim for a software engineering job at the best company you can. i think software is more prestigious than IT, and prestige/brand-name will make or break you. sales engineer would be an even better path if you think you would be suited for it.</h1>
<h1>4. kill GMAT. aim for 700+ which should help and certainly not hurt you.</h1>
<h1>5. be ambitious in your future job. aim for promotions and more responsibility. seek out opportunities to showcase leadership.</h1>
<p>good luck!</p>
<p>btw, inherent in the plan i outlined is a 3-4 year work gig at a minimum. i don’t think job-switching is particularly helpful for your app so make sure you get the best company you can to start with</p>
<p>It’s not that it can’t be done. It’s whether it should be done. I don’t see the point. If you start now and if you have a “Wharton IQ” you can make gobs of money in the same amount of time that it will take you to get into Wharton. You would be wasting time and effort. People like that end up going to Wharton as an after thought not as a goal.</p>
<p>You’re about to base you own self worth on the whims of others.<br>
Your about to throw away ten years of your life for that. (Minimum 9 years)
-2 yrs for graduate courses to get into grad school
-2 yrs for a graduate degree
-minimum 5 yrs for work experience</p>
<p>I don’t see the value, and the variables involved are too great.</p>
<p>BostonEng is right. Up your undergrad GPA or take graduate level courses after you graduate. You have to prove yourself academically. If you take grad courses anything less than a B is a failure.</p>
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<p>at risk of offending the OP, even if he is smart he is already on a fairly un-prestigious track that will likely end in a tech job with a company. the positions where you can make gobs of money (ex wall st) usually recruit at elite undergrad institutions, and trying to break-in from a lower ranked school is a major uphill battle. thus a top mba could be a great idea to transition into one of those tracks, as unless the OP is from a prominent well-connected family i don’t think gobs of money are going his/her way.</p>
<p>and in the end, the steps to take to aim for wharton will help any career (ok , aside from prepping for the gmat), even if a career in tech takes off. so why not aim high?</p>
<p>
How about? “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”</p>
<p>What’s wrong with doing the best you can in order to get the best possible GPA, best possible job, and best possible work experience? Even if he ends up not getting into Wharton he will probably be much better off than If he had slacked through school and settled for some average-paying IT job.</p>
<p>People need goals to achieve something great, even if sometimes the path to these goals will lead them somewhere else.</p>
<p>As long as the path to Wharton does not interfere with any of your other plans, go for it.</p>
<p>You’re really going to need as close to a 4.0 GPA from now on as physically possible to get that GPA up. 3.0 is the bare minimum you will need when you graduate, so you really want to get it as high as possible. If this is your true goal, you will do whatever it takes to get a 4.0 throughout the rest of college (i.e. forgo going out if an A is ever in question). You will certainly need to ace the GMAT. 700+ once again is bare minimum. Network like crazy to land good business internships and eventually jobs. MBA programs value work experience the most, and the top contenders for the top b-schools like Wharton generally are from management consulting/high finance backgrounds (the absolute toughest jobs to get into out of undergrad). Huge uphill battle, but it’s not impossible.</p>
<p>i don’t think op will be able to get top mgmt consulting/high finance jobs, and in my opinion mba chances are better if you take an engineering job at a brand-name company than to work at a second-tier firm like accenture. That way, at least you are bringing a “diversity” component and a good brand. There also seems to be a premium on coming from a well known company at the forefront of your industry (whatever that industry is). </p>
<p>Basically, i think a General Electric “Engineering Leadership Development Program” grad (the recruitment program for tech majors) is better positioned than an Accenture consultant, so its better to aim for GE because I don’t think McKinsey or a comparable firm is going to happen. I imagine the GE opps and similar jobs ARE available to tech grads from Purdue. It would be worth an attempt to go for Mckinsey et al but i wouldn’t say to get your hopes up.</p>
<p>I wasn’t trying to suggest he not aim high. I was questioning the value of this particular goal. If he is willing to take chances and be creative he can make great money and he doesn’t need a great GPA or top B-School credentials. The odds of success are higher if he’s smart, works hard, and starts networking.</p>
<p>I don’t usually look at things from the perspective of going to get a job. If you’re going to work for someone then this makes sense. Just remember these recruiters are looking for analysts and associates that they can use and spit out. They are not interested in sharing ownership. You have to build equity and bring value yourself. That’s why so few people last. The system is designed that way.</p>
<p>If you bring value and build equity it makes more sense to do it on your own terms. Most people just aren’t that capable. If you know your limits like that okay, but if you think you are Wharton material then you can also believe you are founder material.</p>
<p>I though about it last night. I got my UG at Temple because my mother was a professor there. She got her Masters at Penn. My Father went to Wharton, and my sister got a Masters in Systems Engineering from Penn. So my perspective on these “top schools” is a little different. I’m a legacy who thinks it would have been incredibly stupid of me to pass up a free education at Temple U. just for the Penn credentials. Particulary when most of the top executives in the Philadelphia area come from Penn State or Temple.</p>
<p>When I went to T.U. the business school didn’t even have a name, now it’s a T1 school and top ten in MIS, and International Business.</p>
<p>I’d first like to thank you all for your input, i’m absorbing all this and trying to learn from it.</p>
<p>I had some replies to post for all of these suggestions, hopefully you all can get back to me with some advice</p>
<p>My goal for a career is to land in the Management area in Network Security (my main concentration for my CNIT major)
I am a very social person, i can network very well. I’m in a fraternity, with a lot of alums in top companies like GE, Motorolla, Humana Health Care, Accenture and many many more…
My father works in Rolls Royce, and my friend told me to forward my resume to Rolls Royce HR department for help, dont know how that will help…</p>
<p>What i really need to know is, what are the steps i need to take to reach for a top school like Wharton to get my MBA set in place.</p>