recommendation

[evilprince81]

Background:

27 male, American-Pakistani

Education:
I graduated with a 2.71 cum GPA with a concentration in Finance. I have taken 2 accounting classes, 2 statistics classes, and pre-cal during my academic career. The reason why my GPA is low because I lost my father freshman year in college and had to take a full-time job to financially support my family while coping with my loss; as a result my grades declined. I worked and went to school full-time.

Work:
I have been with my employer for over 5 years during which time I recieved 2 promotions and multiple sales awards. I have also acquired NASD lis 7,63 and life and health. My future career goals will take me into the asia-pacific region where I will work in a non-profit financial sector.

USC Part-time Application:
Gmat score:580
GPA 2.71

Since there are only two questions for USC this year, I have clearly explained my long-term career goals in the Asia-Pacific region and used the second optional essay to reflect why I received poor grades. I have also mailed the school copies of all the awards and performance appraisals that I received for the past 5 years. I think they clearly reflect my work ethic.

Questions:
1. Do I have a shot at USC?
2. My individual grade vs the avg class grade has always been higher. Some teachers were really tough! Does the Adcom compare my performance relative to the class performance?
3. Does my multi-cultural and linguistic background help my candidacy?
4. Does a unique thesis for my essay help my candidacy?
5. At this point is there anything I can do to enhance my application?

[MBAApply]

To answer your questions:

(1) Yes. You're likely on the margins given your numbers (GMAT/GPA is near the bottom of the middle 80% range), but if you put in a strong written application, you should still have a shot.

(2) Yes. But your GMAT/GPA is still on the lower side (but not out of range) for USC's part-time program

(3) It won't hurt, but whether it helps or not is debatable - you're hardly the only multicultural person applying (MBA programs seem to attract all kinds of people from around the world, and you're talking about applicants in Southern California, not Nebraska).

(4) If you mean that strong essays help -- absolutely. Will they completely overcome everything else? Most of the time it won't. Remember that adcoms can admit you for any reason or no reason at all.

(5) If you can score at least 40-60 points more on the GMAT without much effort, you may want to retake the GMAT, otherwise just do the best you can on your written application and hope for the best.

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com

[evilprince81]

Thank you for the quick response.

Do you think there will be financing available or do you think student loans have also contracted making it even more difficult to go to school?

[MBAApply]

As far as I know, in terms of private loan programs (i.e. those that international students depend on that require no US co-signer) are shrinking. Citibank had provided this for top schools in the past and have pulled out. As an American or green card holder, you still have access to federal loan programs which shouldn't be affected (as far as I know).

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com