Have I lost my chances at a UC Graduate School? Advice and guidance please!

Graduate School
1

<p>Hello, I am now currently in a situation where I would like insight on what steps I should take in order for me to stand out from the crowd in competition with other future students graduating from a UC or well known school. Before I get into detail I will provide some background information about myself. I realize this is a very long post, but please bear with me any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!</p>

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<p>Undergrad Major: Health Science - Health Care Administration </p>

<p>Undergrad Level: Junior status (units wise, but I am starting my 4th year this Fall 2014, won't finish till Spring 2016 started school Fall 2011)</p>

<p>Currently Attending: CSU Sacramento </p>

<p>CSUS GPA: 3.55</p>

<p>Cummulative GPA: 3.61</p>

<p>Future Goal: Work towards an MBA degree (business administration)</p>

<p>Possible Graduate Schools in 2 years in order: UC Berekly, UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Riverside, CSU Long Beach, and CSU Sacramento (by default since their business program is pretty good and it's the cheapest route, but not my first choice).</p>

<p>Current Activities/Groups: Volunteering at Mercy General Hospital (Been about 1 year now will start to intern here soon), Delta Epsilon Mu (Co-Ed Pre-Health Professional Fraternity), Kappa Omicron Nu (Health Science Honors Society)</p>

<p>Research Experiece: None.</p>

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<p>What might take my chances away from grad school:</p>

<p>Back in Spring 2012 I took a semester off of Sacramento State due to family circumstances, so I did not take a single course at the CSU. But, I did not stop going to school I continued my education at a junior college just for that Spring and received all A's for my classes, so when the grades transferred over it was a 4.0. I returned as a continuing Sacramento State student that following Fall 2012. Fast forwarding Summer 2013 I signed up for Financial Accounting which is one of my required major courses in order to advance in my career. Although, due to not being able to keep up with the fast paced coursework I ended up dropping the class with a "W" on my junior college transcript. But, when I took that same accounting class at Sac State Fall 2013 I received a B in the course.</p>

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<p>Questions:</p>

<p>1) I heard that graduate schools require transcripts from all colleges that you have attended. Since I received a "W" on my junior college transcript will it negatively affect my chances because it's also one of my required major courses even though I took it at the CSU right after? Will I be simply passed over because my record isn't clean? Also, when I took those courses at the junior colleges I listed my intended major as pre-health bio/science because I was told by my school it did not matter. Is this true? What will the grad schools think?</p>

<p>2) Since I took a whole semester off at the CSU will this also diminish my chances to get into one of those grad schools I mentioned at the top because there was a blank slot on my CSU transcript? It only shows that my courses transfered over from the junior college of which I received all As, but it does not list the semester of which I attended. </p>

<p>3) What other extra activities should I be doing to stand out? Internships (Should it be geared towards health or should it be business orientated since I'm aiming for an MBA? Since I'm not a business admin major there are many internships I won't be able to do) Should I take on a leadership position in the pre-health fraternity to make me stand out? There is also a business fraternity on campus should I join that one too? </p>

<p>4) I haven't developed a close relationship with my advisors or professors for oustanding LOR, is it too late? What can I do since there's so many students competing for the same thing?</p>

<p>5) Since I am attending a CSU am I at a disadvantage because is it not a research based school? </p>

<p>6) I have been told that graduate schools will not even look at your records if you have anything below a 3.5 GPA. Is this true especially for the UCs? I know there are averages out there, but that's usually accompanied by people who have outstsnding LOR, internships, GMAT/GRE, and research experience. </p>

<p>7) Is it true it doesn't matter where you get your undergraduate degree at, it's where you get your masters that counts?</p>

<p>8) If I receive a C in any of my major classes will that mean I won't have a chance to going to a UC grad school? I heard that even getting a B means they won't even look at your records. </p>

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<p>1) One W is not going to ruin your chances altogether.</p>

<p>2) No. Don’t leave this to chance - just explain in an addendum that you took a semester off from your CSU and took classes at a different college.</p>

<p>3) If you are gunning for an MBA, you will need work experience beyond the BA to make you a competitive candidate, especially at the UCs. With that said, what you should do in your BA program should be partially geared towards helping you get a job out of under. The other part should be driven by interest. I mean, there’s a reason you want an MBA to worh in health care administration right? It’s a passion of yours, on some level. So do what interests you and what brings you closer to that job. You don’t have to choose between health and business - do health business related internships if you can. (If you can’t, a business internship would probably be better since it’s an MBA, and most of them are more general).</p>

<p>If you want to be a leader in the pre-health fraternity, do that. If you don’t, don’t do it - there’s no reason in doing things you don’t like. There are other ways to take on leadership roles and stand out - you can volunteer, you can get a part-time job, etc. Join the business fraternity if you want to, but don’t if you don’t want to. There is no should or shouldn’t.</p>

<p>4) You still have 2 years left in college, so no, it’s not too late. There are a variety of ways to do this; the easiest way is to simply visit professors during their office hours and do well in the class. Be an engaged, interested, passionate student. You can also assist professors on research projects or work with faculty in other capacities - like if they are the advisor for an activity you do or something.</p>

<p>5) No. You’re going for an MBA, and you don’t need research experience for an MBA.</p>

<p>6) Well, on a base level this can’t be true because they’d have to at least look at your record to know that you had a <3.5 GPA, right?</p>

<p>In all seriousness, no, this is not true. Graduate schools evaluate your record holistically. Some people have high grades but that’s it - they evidence no passion towards a particular subject, or they don’t have otherwise impressive work experience and recommendations. On the other hand, an MBA program might get a 29-year-old applicant with 7 solid years of progressively responsible work experience, a clear passion in the field, and excellent letters of recommendation but a 3.3 GPA. Averages are averages for a reason - that means roughly half of the people have lower than the average.</p>

<p>Everyone who gets into a competitive graduate program has outstanding LORs, internships, test scores and work experience (not research, for an MBA).</p>

<p>7) On some level, yes. When you go to get hired for jobs with an MBA, the main concern will be where you got your MBA, not where you went to undergrad. But undergrad is a stepping-tone for that.</p>

<p>8) No. Where do people “hear” these absolutes from? Again, on a base level they HAVE to look at your transcript to even see that you have a C. But in the spirit of the question, no. Does it even make sense that if you have one B they won’t look at you? That would mean that everyone in the program has a 4.0. We know that’s not the case because the GPA average is less than that.</p>

<p>One C is not going to ruin your life forever - you could’ve had a bad semester and retaken the course and gotten an A. It could be an otherwise outstanding student who had trouble with one class. And since in an MBA program you have to have work experience, by the time you apply the C could be 5 years ago. I have a couple of Cs and an F and two Ws and I am at an Ivy League for a PhD with a less than 10% acceptance rate.</p>

<p>Holistic admissions.</p>

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<p>You are worrying about the small stuff and not looking at the big picture. You need to get to know professors join in on any projects with professors you can get. You need internships and jobs in the field you are interested in before you think about an MBA. Do stuff. Have a great story so you will have a great application personal statement. Keep up you related charitable activities and strengthen them when the opportunity for deeper engagement arises. Get to know how MBA applications works, figure out which are worth the time and money and which aren’t. Read some books and websites. That is very important so you don’t end up with an expensive degree that didn’t further your goals or help you get a job in any way–this happens to people. Now that I think about it, this isn’t even the MBA forum. You need to find it.</p>

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<p>First off I apologize for such a late reply I haven’t been able to sign onto this website for days now.</p>

<p>@juillet: Thank you for your repsonses. Since I am aiming towards an MBA degree does this mean interning/volunteering at medical institutions won’t really help since it’s not business related? </p>

<p>@BrownParent: Thank you I will do more research on the MBA program. </p>