MadtownJacket

Atlanta is vastly underrated for the LGBT lifestyle, specifically the Midtown and VA-Highlands area. Second on Research Triangle Park as well.

Meh, the entire world knows my #1 pick and I still got an interview with them. This will probably jinx my luck now though.

For me it was my work experience. My GPA and GRE scores were mediocre, yet my resume and SOP helped me get an interview with a top 3 professional program. Don't sell yourself too short!

Heard back from UNC's MHA program today. Got an interview!

I have a 3.1 GPA and none of the professors I talked to batted an eye at it. I wouldn't worry about the numbers, as long as they're above the minimum threshold.

Same here. Location is key for me. I applied to schools where I could see myself living in the region for the long-term, since schools typically have strong relationships with businesses in the area.

I don't expect to hear back from UNC until January, since I applied to their MHA program and they process those applications a little bit faster. I remember seeing that some people didn't hear back from the MPH program until about February. UNC is really good at evaluating their applicants as a whole, rather than just focusing on the numbers. It's also my dream of getting into the Gillings School, and it's my top choice of the schools I'm applying to. Best of luck!

Applied to UNC and Johns Hopkins for MHA about a month ago, but all of my LORs were turned in yesterday so now they're officially complete.

Just one meeting with the CIO, but multiple meetings with people from the hospital, so I should probably just stick with naming the hospital itself and not the CIO. I just wasn't sure if the adcom folks would read my statement of purpose and think that I would be lying if I didn't list the specific names.

I'm starting to write my statement of purpose, and I'm not exactly sure how specific I can get regarding names of people that I've interacted with. For example, if I've held a meeting with a CIO of a hospital, do I just leave it at that? Or should I actually say the name of the person and/or hospital?

Heck, I'm only applying to one, because it's the only school I can see myself going to, and I don't want to take out student loans for a school that I don't like.

From what I've heard, people generally get higher scores on their ETS test than their Manhattan practice tests.

Wow, I wasn't aware of this. Thanks for the heads up! I'll be taking the GRE this Saturday, so hopefully it goes well.

I'm in a somewhat similar position. I work for a software company who pays their employees well, and it's not really expected for people to leave and go off to graduate school. I actually do feel bad that I'm already thinking about going to graduate school although I just started there recently, because I'm already helping them out a lot, and me leaving wouldn't go well with them. I'm asking for former professors to write LORs for me instead of asking my boss because 1) I've read that adcoms prefer to read LORs written by others in academia and 2) I don't want to tell my boss that I'm thinking of leaving.

1) I read an article on WSJ or NYT that stated the average engineer increases their salary by about 30% after obtaining an MBA, which is impressive compared to an average of 10% increase for other positions. There's a trend of companies hiring engineers with MBAs for their executive positions. Just FYI. (I can't find the article, but it was from a year ago). 2) It's not "worth" getting an MBA unless you go to a top 10 school, and they almost always require work experience. Now, whether that work experience has to be relevant, I'm not sure, but as long as you can explain why you think your experiences are valuable, then I think you'd be okay. In MBA programs, there's a lot more "teamwork" involved than in traditional graduate schools, so they believe that the more students can share about their experiences with each other, the more they'll get out of the MBA program. This applies to any professional school (MHA, MPA, etc). 3) It wouldn't be a bad idea to get your EE degree first and then obtain an MBA. Also, check and make sure both your GPA and GRE scores meet the minimum thresholds for the schools that you want to apply to. I have heard that they are slightly more forgiving for those with engineering degrees, but I wouldn't depend on that.

Started: March 2013 Goal scores: V160 - Q 165 Practice test scores: 157 V - 163 Q (Manhattan) Previous GRE scores: None GRE test date: June 29th Materials: Manhattan books, vocabulary words from Kaplan I have an engineering background, so I think the admissions committee would be a little forgiving with my low vocabulary score, but I'm still going to try my hardest to boost that up to 160 or higher. The math isn't hard for me, and I'm sure that I can increase the score to at least 165 after I memorize a couple of minuscule concepts. I've also heard that people have gotten higher GRE test scores compared to their practice test scores if they're using the Manhattan study material. I hope that's the case!

First time applying to grad schools as well. Plans: Taking the GRE in two weeks. Been getting ~163Q consistently on practice tests (only quantitative sections), and I'll be studying the Verbal sections this weekend. Afterwards, I'll start working on updating my resume and writing my SOP. I want to have those done (or at least revised) before asking my professors to write LORs. My resume hasn't been updated since job applications last year, and I honestly don't know how it should be formatted for grad school (MHA program). Thankfully I'm starting early enough to work on that. Goals: I only want to go to one school. Is that weird? People keep telling me to apply to a handful of schools, but even if I got into Columbia, Harvard, etc., I still wouldn't be happy going there, and what's the point of taking on so much debt for schools that I don't care about? The reason why I only want to apply to one school is because it's in my favorite city, I have family in the area, and it's a top 3 program for MHA. As a side note, it's hard applying to grad schools and working a full-time job, especially one that demands 45+ hours a week! I'm ready for this application process to be over already.

CIO of a hospital.