<p>I applied to my dream school last month and got rejected because of my GMAT scores.Now, I don't want to wait until the next term doing nothing. I have applied to 'my safety school' and have got accepted too. I am extremely confused on whether I should go ahead here. And, if I go ahead should I apply again to my dream school for the next sem?</p>
<p>Does anyone hve any opinions on Brooklyn College - CUNY?This is my safety school and am applying to the Computer science dept. I am scared that my degree(M.S.) from here might not help me secure a job or further on Ph.D. Please give me ur opinions.</p>
<p>Transferring grad schools is not like transferring between undergraduate programs. You can’t just go to a school for one semester, then apply somewhere else to “move up the chain.” For one, most graduate programs only accept students once a year. Spring admits are relatively rare - and almost never funded. For two, graduate students are expected to commit to in-depth research and study, mentored by a particular professor. Jumping ship after one semester doesn’t show much commitment.</p>
<p>If your “safety school” isn’t a place you’d be willing to go and get your degree at, you shouldn’t have applied there.</p>
<p>flyers, thanks for your response. I am undecided on pursuing a PhD later on, but I only hope the school that I do my M.S does not ruin any of my chances for pursuing a PhD,if I decide to.</p>
<p>polarscribe, thanks for your response. Yes, I know transferring is going to be hard and I may even have to retake the courses that I complete. I was actually planning on non-degree admission so that I could take one course(3 credits) for this spring 2011 term and at the same time give the GMAT another shot. Then, will re-appy to my school of interest and try to transfer the credits. In the worst case, that my credits are not transferred(assming that I am accepted into the program), I would have wasted my money and time on only 3 credits.
I am pretty confused and hope you have something more to add here.</p>
<p>I’m confused, too - as to why you’d spend time and money applying to a school you apparently were never interested in attending as a degree student. Generally, a safety school is somewhere that’s not your first choice, but that you’d be happy going to.</p>
<p>If your “dream school” is a super-competitive program, it’s not likely that just increasing your test scores will get you in where you were rejected before.</p>
<p>No M.S. from an accredited university is going to “ruin” your chances of getting a Ph.D. The strength of your research and recommendations will speak for themselves.</p>
<p>polarscribe,thanks again for taking the time to reply. I am interested in attending this school but this is not my first choice definitely. My dream school rejected me coz of my test scores alone(I spoke to the admissions office after being rejected). So, thinking of taking 1-2 courses now and then re-applying to the school of my choice.</p>
<p>And,are M.S programs also accredited (such as AACSB or ABET etc)? or are you talking about the Department of Education accreditation?</p>
<p>If you were rejected solely because of your GMAT scores as you say, why would you take 1-2 courses at another school as a non-degree student? If the only thing holding you back was your GMAT scores - as this admissions officer told you - then why wouldn’t you just study for the GMAT and retake it to get higher scores? It seems like your money would be better spent taking a test-prep class and then retaking.</p>
<p>juillet,thanks for your response and ur suggestion. I thought I’d complete the pre-requisites(I need 2 courses) now itself along with my GMAT prep. Taking a GMAT prep course is also a good idea. But, I am not sure if I can afford that $1000 now. Instead, if I use it toward my pre - requisite courses/non-degree admission courses then, I would be able to reduce my course load in the master’s program/complete it earlier.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that even if you improve your GMAT scores and take the prerequisites, you may still be rejected from your “dream” program. You are facing the old bird-in-the-hand issue.</p>