Mr. Tech Strategist

You are an excellent candidate for Carnegie Mellon’s hybrid online program. You bring a wealth of experience and an additional master’s degree to the game and have a meaningful job in a global tech company, though it would be helpful to know how large and important a player that company happens to be. As you no doubt know, the stats to get accepted in Tepper’s online program are somewhat different than they are in the full-time MBA program even though the school maintains that its admission standards are the same across all its MBAs. If you were applying to the full-time program, however, both your GPA of 3.13 is just a tad below the class average of 3.2, while your 313 GRE is below the 320 class average. I predict you get admitted, for sure.

Hi Mr. Tech Strategist, thanks for posting. This is Kate Richardson, Senior Admissions Consultant. I think overall you’ve got a good shot at Tepper’s online hybrid program. In particular, I think your experience in different functions in high tech will be attractive, and you have several strong leadership accomplishments you can point to. Your GRE / GPA stats are a bit lower than Tepper’s averages, but I don’t see those being huge barriers. As you may have seen on P&Q, the acceptance rate for that program is 56% so you have a much better shot there than you would at Tepper’s full time program. Whenever I work with clients who already have a Master’s (even if it is in a narrower field), we develop very concrete/specific learning goals for the MBA and make sure we’ve fully thought through why and how the MBA will add value. Hopefully you’ve already done that!

Hello Mr. Tech Strategist, I’m Lisa Cummings of Stratus Admissions. You appear to be a solid candidate for Tepper’s hybrid program. Are you considering any other programs? You may want to broaden your list just in case. Wherever you decide to apply, I definitely suggest firming up those post degree goals and looking in to the WHY MBA Why Now questions. When I was on the Adcomm at MIT Sloan, we often saw applicants who already had a masters, usually it was a technical second degree. But, when it was a MFin, we would question why the candidate now wanted an MBA. Even thought an MFin is a more narrow masters, there is some overlap. How do you feel about sitting through some of the same finance classes? This was in no means deal breaker but it did cause us to ask questions. So you will want to address that up front. Also, as a reality check, it can be hard to pivot jobs/industry after doing an online, PT or hybrid program as that often is not the goal of PT students. So you will want to be sure to have a Plan B, not only to discuss with an admissions officer but also as a backup just in case. Good luck!