Newbie...I think I am overthinking this and its paralyzing

[jrojahn]

I do not want to make a crazy long post that loses interest but I just want to give you some background on myself first.

I am a 27 year old man who is recently married(last summer) and have a baby on the way. This has resparked my desire to get back into college and get my degree. I originally attended PSU as an Engineering major what feels like many moons ago and sitting in class was just blah. So I left and actually happened to stumble upon something I was passionate about during my hiatus. I have always been a natural leader and when I got my first job in logistics it just kinda stuck. I LOVE the fast pace! I finally got into a great company who values my experience and what I bring to the table but realize to continue to move up at some point I will need my degree. I have moved into a supervisor role very quickly and my Ops Manager and VP of the Region tell me I have true potential.

So with that said if I follow a plan for testing out of a degree at TESC will I have trouble getting into a tier-1 or even a tier-2 MBA program because I wont have a GPA? I just can not stand sitting in classes to earn "credit hours". Why would attendance have anything to do with my knowledge of a subject? I was looking into WGU because it is gaining a good reputation as well but the same problem exists there.

So long story short...could I get into Kelley Direct, FOX OMBA, Fuqua CCMBA, MBA@UNC? Is Wharton a possibility? Maybe these programs are out of reach?

I realize there are other variables for sure I just want to make sure a lack of a GPA would not hinder my ability to advance my education and career.

Please Help!

Thanks in advance

[mrs.b]

Hello, and welcome! First, nothing is out of reach. Period. You've already demonstrated you have self-starter potential, and one of the main criteria for that is the ability to stare at a would-be problem and find a solution. In this case, the easiest start point is to work backwards. Take a look at the admission requirements of your short-list of graduate schools and see how many of them absolutely require a GPA. Of those, how many define how many credit hours they'll calculate into their GPA.

You may need to take some courses, but the nice aspect about earning a degree in the manner most on this forum do is that even courses do not require you to put your backside in a physical classroom seat. The majority of the people here are working adults, like you, that do not have room in our schedules for that kind of option. There are online courses for virtually any requirement now, and many are available in self-paced (i.e., you complete as fast or as slow as your schedule demands) options.

So to start, dig into the admission requirements of the graduate schools you want to attend, then use those to select your undergraduate option. The Big 3 (Thomas Edison State College, Excelsior, and Charter Oak) are the most commonly selected here, and people have gone on to very competitive grad schools with degrees from these. One new option that was not available to a lot of us at the time is the North Arizona University "Personalized Learning" degrees which are entirely self-paced, offered direct from the school, ad could be fast-tracked just like Big3 degrees.

If you require a GPA, it just means planning that into your degree plan. It doesn't mean you must go the old-fashioned, traditional route.

[sanantone]

How many credits do you have to transfer? If you have several graded courses, then you do have a GPA. Those credits won't count toward your TESC GPA, but the graduate school will include them in the overall calculation.

In addition to Northern Arizona University which is self-paced and gives grades, you can see if Bellevue Flexxive and University of Wisconsin's competency-based programs give grades. There is also Patten University (for-profit but cheap with no financial available) and Capella's Flexpath (for-profit that might have a bad reputation). I don't know if they give grades, but those programs are self-paced.

As Mrs. B said, you can include graded courses into your plan whether they're taken at TESC or somewhere else.

[clep3705]

If you could get into Wharton, could you afford it? Affordability isn't just the cost of tuition. It's also the cost of not working while being in school. Some business schools will be out of reach because of the logistics - not being able to be there in person, not being able to be out of work or away from work as long as required.

[Jonathan Whatley]

Just going to Harvard College, Penn College of Arts and Sciences, or their peer schools won't give you a golden ticket into HBS, Wharton, or their peer schools. Nor should completing your undergraduate degree with a state college with non-competitive admissions bar you absolutely. Highly competitive graduate schools are going to be highly competitive.

If you go through an undergraduate school that doesn't have much prestige attached, do things to earn yourself some prestige attached. One tactic is to take a reasonable number of courses, especially upper-level courses in your major, from your degree-granting school. Work to earn a high GPA and strong faculty recommendations from those courses. Look at major, legitimate national honour societies you might qualify for; at TESC, see the business honor society Sigma Beta Delta, and the adult students' academic honor society Alpha Sigma Lambda.

[jrojahn]

Thanks for the replies, it is definitely reassuring to find a site that can help with this endeavor. Would getting a AA from a CC such as Southeast of NMJC help with the GPA. I mean those would be graded courses and all but knock out the GEN-ED requirements I believe correct? I looked into the NAU program and they do not seem to have a BSBA course yet. They did have a Small Business major but they all seem to award a BA. Would this be a hurdle to get into an MBA program?

As far as the time constraints Wharton would be off the list which I knew. The online programs mentioned are some of the best rated I have seen and use the same curriculum and faculty as the B&M versions. They also do not say online, the FOX OMBA(Temple) says nothing about online when completed. This one intrigues me because I live about 1.5 outside Philly in PA.

[sanantone]

They did have a Small Business major but they all seem to award a BA. Would this be a hurdle to get into an MBA program?

No. You can have a degree in underwater basket weaving and get into an MBA program as long as you have the prerequisites.

[clep3705]

A good progression is to start with good grades at a fast, cheap, and easy community college program. Test out of everything you can. Transfer to a state university, preferably one with in-state tuition. Keep in mind that some schools give in-state tuition to online students. If you want to get a prestige degree, make it your graduate degree. Graduate school is far fewer hours than an undergraduate degree. You want to spend as few of your educational dollars at prestige schools.

Would you spend your money taking 120 hours at Harvard and then get a master's from Podunk U? Or would you spend your money on 120 hours at Podunk U and then get a Harvard MBA? Save the big expenses until the end.

[mrs.b]

No. You can have a degree in underwater basket weaving and get into an MBA program as long as you have the prerequisites.

This is it exactly. Given the grad schools listed, I'd suggest getting any Bachelor - Biz because it will automatically come with the prerequisites (or 99% of them) required of most MBA program admissions templates, but the difference between NAU's Small Biz BA and TESC's or most other standard BSBA's is minimal, and from what I glanced at when it first came out, includes the same prerequisites. I think I only saw one or two courses of difference in the Biz requirements. From what I've seen, the only things that make them not as common here is that a) they're new so most of us were already in-progress or done before they came out with their program, and b) their transfer policy is not as lenient so if you've got a lot of credits to transfer from elsewhere, they might not be as attractive. For individuals starting from scratch or close to it, though, I can see their program as almost costing less and being just as fast (possibly faster) than the Big3 choices.

Also, all of its credits are graded, and you're guaranteed a 3.0 GPA due to the way their program is set up (you can shoot for higher, but you do not progress to the next course until you've earned a B equivalent), so that answers GPA requirements for grad admissions. A BA versus a BS will not make much if any difference, though, because GPA and course prereqs are typically all that is sought.

That said, you can choose any Bachelor-Biz from whatever is most cost-effective and easy on your timeline and still meet those requirements. Like clep3705 said, save your pennies with your undergrad, and use those pennies for pricier, more quality grad school name recognition. Your highest level degree is the name most hiring managers consider.

[sanantone]

This is it exactly. Given the grad schools listed, I'd suggest getting any Bachelor - Biz because it will automatically come with the prerequisites (or 99% of them) required of most MBA program admissions templates, but the difference between NAU's Small Biz BA and TESC's or most other standard BSBA's is minimal, and from what I glanced at when it first came out, includes the same prerequisites. I think I only saw one or two courses of difference in the Biz requirements.

That's a good point. NAU's small business program still includes most of your typical business courses making it so that one doesn't really have to worry about fitting prerequisites into the degree program or completing them afterward. For business degrees, you'll find that they can come as a BA, BS, BBA, and probably some other designations. They're mostly the same. The only types of degrees in which these titles make a difference is in engineering because of the way ABET accredits degrees.

With NAU's program, there might be an issue, however, with the number of credits you receive for each subject. Economics is combined with business law for 3 credits. MBA programs that require prerequisites often require 3 credits in microeconomics and 3 credits in macroeconomics. If they require business law, that's another 3 separate credits. Managerial accounting and financial analysis is one course worth 3 credits. Prerequisites normally require 3 credits in financial accounting and 3 credits in managerial accounting. I also don't see an intro to marketing course, just Entrepreneurship and New Media Marketing; but, you can always include that in the free electives.

Luckily, UNC doesn't require specific prerequisites. They only require general knowledge in accounting, finance, statistics, and economics. Kelley only requires financial accounting and statistics. Fox seems to make you take a bunch of foundational courses within the MBA program, but up to 9 credits can be waived by undergraduate coursework. Fuqua looks to be the strictest.

How do you rank undergraduate transcripts?
We look quite closely at undergraduate transcripts and examine the quality of the institution, the overall performance, and strong performance in any relevant quantitative and business courses, including calculus, macro and micro economics, statistics, finance, and accounting.

http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/programs/duke_...nent/faqs/