The gist of things is that I'm having second thoughts about pursuing a masters and later a phd in religious studies, with money being my primary cause for concern.
Stats: I flunked out of college five years ago, but I went back again two years ago and have maintained a 3.85 GPA since then. I'm now in my senior year thanks to a combination of transfer credits from my initial stint in college, summer classes, and large course loads during the normal semesters.
I expect to have fairly strong recommendations, but they're from within my major of Religious Studies.
Also, while I haven't taken the GMATs, I did take the GREs and was given estimated scores of 750-800 on both major sections.
Lastly, I have no experience with business, either academically or professionally, whatsoever.
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The overarching question is whether or not it would be a good idea to go to business school, and I suppose the answer to that question emerges from two separate lines of inquiry.
First of all, I'm wondering how attractive I'd be as an applicant and, accordingly, what calibre of school might accept me. I have several marks in my favor, but they're offset by my earlier performance as well as the gulf between my present field of study and the material that would be covered in an MBA program.
Second of all, I'm wondering how difficult it would be for me to acclimate myself to a different academic environment after spending the past few years studying something else entirely. Do some programs presume a certain degree of familiarity with core curriculum, and how hobbled would I be by my lack of familiarity?
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Finally, it would be lovely if you could perhaps give me a list of schools that might suit me, given my background. Obviously I'd restrict myself to schools that accept GREs, and beyond that I'd prefer schools near urban areas with a special preference for Boston and Chicago.