higher acceptance rate for an entrepreneur ?USC? please help

[hccchen]

Hi everyone,
I am not very familiar with any type of admission process. I own one small store now and is looking to open another one by this Dec. My first choice is USC (i like the asian network there) but I know with my score is kinda hard to get in. I was just wondering if any of you can give me some advices and recommend me other MBA schools that will suite me better.
btw, my status is still a twnese citizen.

1000000 thx ~ looking forward for all of ur advices!!!

[cburger]

Hi there

I am a current USC MBA student (2nd year).

Just by looking at your GPA/GMAT, it should be adequate for the application. GPA means less as you have more work experience. Also, your GMAT should fall within the normal range. However, it means you will need to have a killer essay and recommendation letters. You can focus more on your business, what you learned from that, and what you think the MBA education will help you acheive. Entrepreneurship is definitely a good angle. Our new dean just said that he wants USC Marshall to be the premier business school on entrepreneurship and innovation, and our Entrepreneruship center was just named No.1 in Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine.

Hope this helps

[hccchen]

thx for your reply~sounds so encourage! u r actually de first one and de only one says that i have a chance of getting... hehe i just wrote u a msg more about my situation.. hehe.. if u have time , plz take look at it
:)

Hi there

I am a current USC MBA student (2nd year).

Just by looking at your GPA/GMAT, it should be adequate for the application. GPA means less as you have more work experience. Also, your GMAT should fall within the normal range. However, it means you will need to have a killer essay and recommendation letters. You can focus more on your business, what you learned from that, and what you think the MBA education will help you acheive. Entrepreneurship is definitely a good angle. Our new dean just said that he wants USC Marshall to be the premier business school on entrepreneurship and innovation, and our Entrepreneruship center was just named No.1 in Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine.

Hope this helps

[whoopsnow]

Just go ahead to apply. Do not worry about GPA since it cannot be changed anymore. Maybe try to retake GMAT.

I am not familiar with other schools but USC definitely has a strong Entrepreneurship selection of courses. Marshall has a student club that is geared for entrepreneurs. By taking courses and joining the club, you can frequently meet guest speakers coming to share their experiences, ideas, and so on.

Marshall also provides opportunities for you to join outside-campus speaker series, mostly for free. What happened to me is that I didn't have enough time to attend every one of them. The point is it'd never be the other way around :)

You said you opened a store by yourself. If you could have overcome the difficulty of opening a business, it really shouldn't be a problem for you to overcome the challenges of this application process. Just articulate what you are passionate about, why USC and SoCal are good places to learn entrepreneurship at, and find yourself some strong recommendations, you should be able to get in.

I don't feel Marshall is particularly strict on applicants' academic records. The common characteristics I find on Marshall students are passion and friendliness.

You are most welcome to apply for and visit Marshall =)

[hccchen]

thank you for your advice. I'm truely appreciated. Is there a difference btw applying 4 first round n second round (b4 jan 15). If not, i probabbly should retake the gmat; just to be more competitive.

[Yimmiwan]

I just want to express that I think it's important to write proper English in this forum. We are not 7th graders writing text message to one another, and writing properly can also help some applicants who may not read much English writing besides GMAT & TOEFL English.

My 2 cents

[hccchen]

I am sorry about that. I got really used to slobby typing. You're right; that is something that need to avoid in the forum. Thank you for mention that. (It would be nice if there is a spell check on here) :)

I just want to express that I think it's important to write proper English in this forum. We are not 7th graders writing text message to one another, and writing properly can also help some applicants who may not read much English writing besides GMAT & TOEFL English.

My 2 cents

[Jade]

(It would be nice if there is a spell check on here) :)

You can get spell check if you use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer. It automatically checks your spellings while you are typing.

[davidlee0222]

why not go to babson?
for real entrepreneurs
you must have encountered whole bunch of problems regarding management and sustainability
its curriculum specifically focus on all dimensions of start-ups
and extensive resources and network that almost satisfy everything entrepreneurs need
it's a really fantastic school for entrepreneurs if you look deeply on that program
and your score is right on the spot

[hccchen]

thanks for your suggestion and indeed I encountered many many problems while having my own business especially with my past or current employees. (i felt dealing with employees is the hardest part) (for some reason i can never hire a right person)- this is part of reason why i want to go MBA so i would know how to deal with my staffs better. I actually thought of Babson, but i don't want to limit myself only being an entrepreneur and doing small business in the future. I want to see what's out there for me to explore, (i am interested in meeting new people and want to maybe work in a big corp. for few years) and at the same time keep my business running well. (too vague huh? or maybe too much, ha.) - many might thought that I miss a goal here...sign~

why not go to babson?
for real entrepreneurs
you must have encountered whole bunch of problems regarding management and sustainability
its curriculum specifically focus on all dimensions of start-ups
and extensive resources and network that almost satisfy everything entrepreneurs need
it's a really fantastic school for entrepreneurs if you look deeply on that program
and your score is right on the spot

[hsudk]

New ventures can be divided into two categories: lifestyle business and high growth ventures. Most MBA programs in entrepreneurship focus on the latter. A small retail store is usually considered a lifestyle business as it lacks the momentum to grow rapidly. Sometimes a lifystyle business becomes a high growth venture when the entrepreneur is ambitious and capable. I think this point would be a good argument for you to include in your application as an entrepreneurship MBA can help you grow your lifestyle business.

Besides, don't mention that you would like to work with a big company as you are interested in meeting new people. Working with a big company is a great experience, but this won't necessarily make you "meet new people." Instead, doing you own business forces you to establish a strong and broad connections with people.

At last, I don't suppose that the admissions committee will be glad to hear that you are going to work with a big company while running your own business at the same time. This is naive. You can work with a big company and invest in a start-up at the same time, but you can not work with a big company and run the start-up at the same time. Undertaking a new business requires the commitment from entrepreneurs, consuming a lot of their time and efforts.

Entrepreneurship is an emerging discipline, which requires various skills such as daily operation, knowledge of technology, financial analysis, ability to raise risk capital, sales and marketing, and leadership. The most important characteristic for entrepreneurs, however, is passion. Good luck.

:laugh thanks for your suggestion and indeed I encountered many many problems while having my own business especially with my past or current employees. (i felt dealing with employees is the hardest part) (for some reason i can never hire a right person)- this is part of reason why i want to go MBA so i would know how to deal with my staffs better. I actually thought of Babson, but i don't want to limit myself only being an entrepreneur and doing small business in the future. I want to see what's out there for me to explore, (i am interested in meeting new people and want to maybe work in a big corp. for few years) and at the same time keep my business running well. (too vague huh? or maybe too much, ha.) - many might thought that I miss a goal here...sign~

why not go to babson?
for real entrepreneurs
you must have encountered whole bunch of problems regarding management and sustainability
its curriculum specifically focus on all dimensions of start-ups
and extensive resources and network that almost satisfy everything entrepreneurs need
it's a really fantastic school for entrepreneurs if you look deeply on that program
and your score is right on the spot

[hccchen]

Get back to what "hsudk" said~
Very interesting. I've known the difference between lifestyle business and high growth ventures but I was never able to put them into words. Very good point why I want to go MBA so I can turn my lifestyle business to a high growth ventures. (but this is my ultimate goal; my short term goal is hoping MBA can prepare myself going to a big corp. )
You're right about working in a big corp. will not necessary lead me meeting new people as much as if doing business as my own but you're also right about its a great experiences. I don't want to miss that experience so by just doing entrepreneur throughout my life might not be my thing at this moment but at the same time I don‘t want to miss any opportunity that can help my lifestyle business to a high growth ventures. (I know its kind of naïve to say I want both. - of course I won't put that on my application heheh (I‘ll make sure~) - I will only focus on the entrepreneur part -since that’s my strength. Picking a good school or I should say a right school is more important to me at this point. I don’t feel like apply too many of them. 5 is probably my max. Back to the story, do you think babson is still a good choice for me?
p.s. thanks for the advices on the essay - I really appreciated that
-- I cannot believe how helpful this forum is~ I truly appreciated you guys’ opinions. Every time when someone drop me a comment, I learn a new thing. :)

[cburger]

An alternate way could be that you want to work for a larger firm for the short-term to gain some managerial and organizational expertise, and then continuing to look for opportunities to start a new business. Having your own company and working in a large firm at the same time isn't necessarily naive, but if you want to do that, you need to think more about delegation and priority. If you can pull that off in your essay, it would be a big plus in my opinion

[hsudk]

USC is a good choice for you as it's close to your business. Babson is generally recognized as the nation's #1 program in terms of entrepreneuship. Besides, Indiana University (IN), U of Colorado at Baulder (CO), Rensselaer Plytechnic Institute (NY), and Syracuse University (NY) may be of your interest as they have very organized and reputable MBA programs in entrepreneurship. If you are a tech savvy, you may also consider MIT and UW at Seattle, which focus on technological entrepreneurship.

Looking into the program and course description under each school, you will find the right list. Best of luck.

Get back to what "hsudk" said~
Very interesting. I've known the difference between lifestyle business and high growth ventures but I was never able to put them into words. Very good point why I want to go MBA so I can turn my lifestyle business to a high growth ventures. (but this is my ultimate goal; my short term goal is hoping MBA can prepare myself going to a big corp. )
You're right about working in a big corp. will not necessary lead me meeting new people as much as if doing business as my own but you're also right about its a great experiences. I don't want to miss that experience so by just doing entrepreneur throughout my life might not be my thing at this moment but at the same time I don‘t want to miss any opportunity that can help my lifestyle business to a high growth ventures. (I know its kind of naïve to say I want both. - of course I won't put that on my application heheh (I‘ll make sure~) - I will only focus on the entrepreneur part -since that’s my strength. Picking a good school or I should say a right school is more important to me at this point. I don’t feel like apply too many of them. 5 is probably my max. Back to the story, do you think babson is still a good choice for me?
p.s. thanks for the advices on the essay - I really appreciated that
-- I cannot believe how helpful this forum is~ I truly appreciated you guys’ opinions. Every time when someone drop me a comment, I learn a new thing. :)

[hccchen]

Thanks everyone~ i will look into these schools and do some more researches myself. Thanks for all the excellent advises!! i will let you guys know what i come up with afterward~