Top-ranked master's/MBA plan

[Jesse666]

Hello everyone,
I am seeking advice regarding my plan to apply for a top-ranked master's program, as my end goal is to obtain a master's or MBA degree from a top-ranked university to get a job in investment banking or consulting in China. As a Chinese student the major or study field doesn't matter, the only thing matters is the ranking of the university( HES is not accredited in China).

I have drafted several plans based on my current findings and would appreciate any information or suggestions on how to improve my chances of being accepted into a top-ranked master's program. Here are the plans I have devised:

1. UPMI -> Upenn LPS -> Stanford Online -> Stanford
2. UMPI -> Upenn MCIT -> Stanford Online -> Stanford
3. UMPI -> Georgia Tech OMCS -> Stanford Online -> Stanford
4. UMPI -> Stanford Online -> Stanford
I am particularly interested in knowing whether plan 4 is feasible and whether my academic performance in UMPI, if I maintain a 4.0 GPA, would be sufficient to gain admission into a top-ranked master's program like Stanford.

Furthermore, I am open to other suggestions on how to achieve my end goal. Are there any other fast-track bachelor's programs that would make me eligible to apply for a top-ranked master's program?

Thank you so much for your time and consideration. I look forward to your valuable input.

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

Starter Questions: How old are you now, what classes have you already taken, what is your current level of professional experience, and what is your current educational experience (international or otherwise)?

[Jesse666]

Starter Questions: How old are you now, what classes have you already taken, what is your current level of professional experience, and what is your current educational experience (international or otherwise)?

I would like to respectfully share some information about myself and ask for your assistance. Currently, I am 22 years old, and I withdraw from the university during my senior year after a car accident. Since then, I have been working as a private wealth manager.  I maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout high school and university, but I am not sure if my Chinese coursework can be transferred to the United States. My end goal is to enroll in a top-ranked master's/MBA program within the next one to two years. To achieve this, I plan on completing a fast-track bachelor's program in the US to apply for a master's degree. I would greatly appreciate your insight into whether UMPI could help me reach my goals, or do I need to apply for a more high-ranked bachelor's in the US to get into a Top-ranked master's/MBA?

[rachel83az]

I don't know how the Chinese university system works, but if you would be able to transfer that coursework to another university in China, then you may be able to transfer at least some of it to the USA. You would need to have your Chinese transcript translated and evaluated by an evaluation company in the US.

Whether UMPI will help you reach your goals or not depends on YOU. For the most part, American universities do not put very much emphasis on "rankings". Other things matter a lot more. These things include:

1.) Whether the Bachelor's degree is from a Regionally Accredited college or university. UMPI is Regionally Accredited.

2.) Your college or university grades. Depending on what program you're looking at, more competitive graduate programs are usually looking for a GPA of at least 3.5. I do not know what program you are looking at and what its minimum requirements might be.

3.) Your reference letters. Some graduate programs require letters of reference, in English, that state why you might be a good fit for their program. I think that some professors at UMPI will write you a letter, but many will not do it for online students. These letters of reference can sometimes be a challenge for international students to procure.

4.) Your application "essay". Many graduate programs require the student to write a letter or essay that explains why they feel they should be admitted to the program and what they hope to accomplish out of it. You obviously should not lie, but saying that you're only applying because the school has a high ranking is something that is unlikely to impress the admissions people. If your desired program of study requires a letter or essay like this, you might want to start thinking about what to put in it now.

In general, your "whole application package" is way more important overall than what UMPI's ranking is. UMPI does have a good ranking, but people from this forum have gotten into similarly-ranked schools with Bachelor's degrees from schools that have a lower ranking than UMPI.

[ss20ts]

There's a lot more to be accepted into schools such as Stanford than one's GPA. Like rachel said, it's a whole package. You will need to have the right courses to get into the grad program you want. Your letters of recommendation from American professors will be a big thing along with your personal essay. Are you looking to complete an online Stanford degree or in person on campus because those 2 problems will typically have different admissions requirements. You'll also need to find out if Stanford online says online on your diploma or global or something else that makes it known it was completed online. In some countries, online degrees aren't acceptable for employment.

[dfrecore]

I'm kind of curious why you wouldn't just finish up at the school you were already enrolled at? I know absolutely nothing about the university system there, but my first thought is to just go back and finish up. It's what I would advise someone here in the US do as well, assuming it wasn't long ago that they had to stop, and that it wasn't outrageously expensive.

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

Were you on the gaokao track in high school, or studied at an international school?

If you're 22 now, then you should have either disenrolled at your university this year or last year. What prevents you from finishing there?

I'll speak to your concerns about rank and working in China, since I've been dealing with that here for years. It is generally true that where you earn your Bachelor's degree is much less important than what you hope to do and learn within a graduate program when you apply, at least if it's a competitive admissions process. For local Chinese, UMPI would be very far off the radar. If US News is your preferred ranking bible, the University of Maine itself isn't even within the Top 200 on their annual "Hey We're Still Relevant!" list. UMPI is under the UMaine umbrella and is regionally accredited, which is the highest level and the one you'd want, but in an unfortunate example of poor labeling it is also classified as a regional college, placed in a totally separate tier from national research universities. That doesn't mean it is low quality, nor that you won't learn, nor that it isn't still a strong option for you, but it is much more small-scale than even a liberal arts college. They excel at graduating students with little debt and helping people advance in life. You know, stuff that colleges probably ought to be doing, but factors that aren't always the most valued if you are in an environment that is hyper-sensitive about rank.

I work directly with Chinese students who regularly get offers at those world-renowned universities, but they don't do it by focusing on "rank." I know you've only replied here twice, but you haven't really expressed what any of those graduate programs would give you beyond the fact that other people have gotten together and judged them to be pretty good. The student writing her UC-Berkeley personal insight essays didn't mention "rank" once, but she did discuss who she was as an applicant and who she wanted to be; the Cambridge applicants' personal statement essays highlighted their foundations in their respective fields and reasons for digging deeper into it; the UPenn graduate school personal statement emphasized her views of the field of education and the ways in which her philosophy meshed well with their grad program. The students getting offers at Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, etc. etc. etc. also shared similar visions of themselves, learning to look at "Why Us?" essay prompts as more like "Why You+Me?" questions where both parties could benefit from the exchange. The ones who wouldn't do this aren't attending.

You're going to want to make that pivot yourself across multiple self-reflective drafts, along with securing letters of recommendation and strong TOEFL/GRE/GMAT scores (around 100+, 325+, and/or 740+ respectively). The rec letters can come from supervisors. Your undergraduate GPA already exceeds their average. The rest is up to you.

[smartdegree]

As far as I am aware, online degrees are not recognized in China (yes, even one from Stanford or Upenn). You would have to take your degrees on-campus for it to be recognized.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2023...e-colleges
https://monitor.icef.com/2023/02/chinese...e-degrees/

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

As far as I am aware, online degrees are not recognized in China (yes, even one from Stanford or Upenn).  You would have to take your degrees on-campus for it to be recognized.  

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2023...e-colleges
https://monitor.icef.com/2023/02/chinese...e-degrees/

Accurate, but this is going to be irrelevant if the OP applies for and goes to an in-person graduate program abroad.

[smartdegree]

As far as I am aware, online degrees are not recognized in China (yes, even one from Stanford or Upenn).  You would have to take your degrees on-campus for it to be recognized.  

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2023...e-colleges
https://monitor.icef.com/2023/02/chinese...e-degrees/

Accurate, but this is going to be irrelevant if the OP applies for and goes to an in-person graduate program abroad.

But what happens if he is unable to do so or changes his mind?  Then all that effort, time and money for an online US bachelors / masters would be a complete waste. 

Many, many people from China plan or dream to go to Harvard / Stanford or any other elite US school. But only a very fortunate few actually end up getting accepted and/or being able to afford it.