JackBauer24

Hoping someone can clarify some things for me here. I'm trying to get a handle on just what exactly an MBA prepares an individual for. Originally, I thought that an MBA was basically just a general business masters degree. Yet, from the research I've done, it sounds like MBA colleges tailor programs to prepare students for specific higher positions within their original profession (or a related field) or field of study, rather than for individuals looking to break into completely different professions. Is this a fair assessment? I have a Bachelors in Landscape Architecture with work experience. Yet I'm looking to possibly leave that profession behind and go in a completely different direction. Business, in general, interests me. Yet my background is more arts/technical oriented. I've had no experience in the daily workings of running a business from a financial or marketing standpoint. If I wanted to get into say, finance, information systems or marketing, would the mba curriculum do me any good in obtaining positions within those fields upon graduation, or would my prior background be working against me? It just seems as though the mba is not the place to start for someone with a non-business background. Am I right or wrong here?

Right now I'm considering quite a few, but an MBA is at the top of my list, and probably most complimentary to my first degree.

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate subforum to post in, but I just wanted to throw this out and see if anyone here has advice for me. I'm 37 with a Bachelors in Landscape Architecture (BLA) from a respected state institution. My cumulative GPA is 2.6, and my upper level gpa is about the same. The reason for the low gpa was not partying or anything of the sort, but rather some emotional problems I had at the time, which I have since sought professional help for and overcome. Since graduation, I worked for 8 years at three different firms, and progressed in responsibility with each one. I left my job in 2008 to move to a different area of the country, and was caught out of work when the great recession hit. The recession hit the construction-based industries (Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Civil Engineering) extremely hard, so for the past 3 years I've been taking odd jobs here and there to get by. I'm very interested in going for a masters in another field. My question is, do I have a realistic chance of getting accepted in a masters program, even if just on a probationary status, with my low gpa? And if not, what can I do to improve my chances? Should I be looking at 2nd-tier schools instead? And if so, are they worth the cost in the long run? I've read that taking non-credit grad level courses and doing well in them can help. Is there anything else or am I just wasting my time?