Mediocre Undergrad School/GPA, want to do top tier MS or MBA

Dec 8, 2020 5 Comments

Went to an ok public school for undergrad (think UT Austin/Mid tier UC/UW Madison) with an ok GPA (3.6).

Thinking about possibly going back to get a MS in CS or an MBA, but only would want to do it if it was a high ranked school, otherwise roi not worth it to me. Would prefer full time academic MS over professional Masters but have no research experience from undergrad.

Is there anything I can do right now to improve my chance of admission to these programs? Would jumping to faang help a lot, or should I just focus on climbing in my current company?

TC: 90K

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TOP 5 Comments
  • Apple
    Your Mom

    Go to company page Apple

    Your Mom
    You should really think about the career end goal first. Otherwise, you'll repeat the same mistake as you did for UG.
    Dec 8, 2020 2
    • To be honest, the degree is more to make up for my undergrad, where I didn’t take advantage of professional and social opportunities available to me. I know that’s not an ideal reason to throw money and time at a degree but I’m just being honest. Hopefully as I progress in my career I’m able to make sure I do the degree for the right reasons
      Dec 8, 2020
    • Dropbox
      Fmnx70

      Go to company page Dropbox

      Fmnx70
      I agree with the commenter here. Honestly, I don’t think it’s worth it to do an MBA unless you have a good career reason (like a pivot) for doing so, just given the time and financial cost. You don’t really need the pedigree of a good school once you have solid years of work experience.
      Dec 8, 2020
  • Google
    bananaleaf

    Go to company page Google

    bananaleaf
    I can speak to the MBA route...If you’re able to get a faang job then that would help a lot. I wouldn’t worry about your UG school being a huge hindrance here. Work experience is more important the further away from UG you get.

    What’s your gmat score and UG major? If the quant score isn’t high or if you didn’t take many quant classes in UG then you can take classes at a community college to build a side quant transcript. I’d recommend calculus, stats, and maybe accounting. You have to get an A in each of the classes.

    Overall tho, you should really know why you want to get an mba. It isn’t for everyone. And you’ll have to have a compelling professional story as to why you want the degree.
    Dec 8, 2020 1
    • Didn’t take the GMAT yet- Major was CS + minor in stats. Took math up to calc 3/Lin Alg/diff eq + 2 years of stats. Also did algorithms, discrete math, machine learning, etc. Took a good amount of Econ+ accounting classes and got A’s in those.

      Got A’s and B’s in quantitative classes - probably around 3.5. Unfortunately didn’t get straight A’s in those.

      The MBA is partly because I’m thinking about pivoting from SWE to sales or management, but to be honest it’s mainly because I want the pedigree and experience of a top school, and to make up for not making the most of my undergrad years.
      Dec 8, 2020