<p>I graduated this May (2009) with a CS major/ Math minor from an average liberal arts college in the mid-west. My stats are as follows:</p>
<p>CGPA: 3.32 (I only have either As or Bs in my entire transcript, nothing below that)
GRE: 740Q, 610V (with 3 weeks prep, can do better and will retake)
Software engineering internship in eCommerce company in San Francisco
Currently hired full time at a school district as an Information Technology Specialist
No research experience
Excellent LORs especially from internship, work, school
Trying to get into a tier1/tier2 management information systems program. </p>
<p>Option 1: I am thinking whether to retake GRE asap and apply to tier2/tier3 grad schools that I can meet the deadlines of.</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>Option 2: Work one more year and get about 2 years experience, take GRE and GMAT both and score over 90 percentile in both. And then apply for all -- reach, match and safety schools.</p>
<p>What do you guys think is better for me? Will 2 years of IT experience (and most probably a promotion in February), excellent recommendation from school, past work and current work (from the superintendent of the entire school district) help cover up for the bad GPA?</p>
<p>Also, if option 2 is better, should I involve in other projects/research of any kind to improve my chances? Please let me know because I will have inform my employer ASAP whether I want to extend the contract.</p>
<p>Your GREs are probably fine for a master’s in IT, and it doesn’t sound as though your work experience is going to increase your research, just your experience in the field, although it’s not clear that a master’s program in IT management would require research. The GPA requirements for master’s programs is much less stringent, especially if the GPA seems not to reflect the actual ability of the applicant as seen through LORs.</p>
<p>You face two potential problems. The first: it may be too late to apply to top-rated programs. If it is, then waiting another year and preparing to apply early won’t hurt you. The second: you have to make an employment decision before you will hear back from programs. Normally I would advise an applicant to apply anyway, to see what happens, but in your case, you have to take a risk if you choose to apply. You’re going to have to assess whether that’s worth it in today’s economy.</p>
<p>You do not mention whether you are currently in any debt from your undergraduate education. Yes, a good IT degree should get you a good job, but please sit down and do the math. Usually students have to pay for an M.S. or M.B.A. program. If you add your undergraduate debt to your probable grad school debt, how long will it take for you to get out from under it? Waiting a year to go to grad school will not give you any fewer options than you have now, and it may give you several more.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the reply guys. Yes, I do have about 12K debt from undergrad education. That will be cleared by this year, and if I stay a year more, I will save some money for my Masters as well. I already have a decent job in tech, most probably a promotion and an increase in salary in February as well. However, my intention is to get into the big industry. But since my college is not very reputed, I have very limited network.</p>
<p>So, I was hoping, maybe if I wait one more year, I will save up some money, have 2 years of work experience in IT, and then get a Masters in Management Information Systems from a reputed institution, maybe my chances at a successful career would increase. I know that a degree or the reputation of a college is only some of the battle in actually landing a job.</p>
<p>All I am wondering is that would this approach of gaining more work experience, getting higher scores in GRE/GMAT (whichever is required, dont mind giving both as well), getting into a top MIS program put me in a better position VS. just applying for masters right now?</p>