Dear Veritas,

Please help me decide on MBA programs to apply to - I'm concern with my chances.

GMAT: aiming for 700ish
Undergrad: UCLA, BA in Poli Sci and Latin American Studies and Minors in Geography and Urban Studies (2007)
Overall GPA : 3.16
Demographics: 35, Male (dual citizen Brazil and US)

Background: migrated to Oakland and worked at early age in services sector, low middle-class. took classes in community college after high school (passed half and withdrew or repeated other half – 3.13 GPA), transfered to another community college (3.36 w/ one F, should i retake course to remove F?) and then transfered at 28y/o to UCLA (3.16 w/ nearly an incomplete or withdraw/quarter plus two withdrawn quarters).

Work Experience :
Pre-UCLA worked services sector (waiter, painter, etc), NGO, internet startup (basic job functions), family business. Anything that came my way.

During UCLA moved to DC where i have been working at World Bank Group, first as research/admin assistant, then consultant and now operations officer. Finished four courses via independent studies and that is why i officially graduated in 2007, although was away from school since 2005. Today i lead projects in latin america and work closely with ministries, secretaries.

Poor academic record in community college due to ill prepared, immature to ask for help, while record after transferring due to illness in family (cared solely for mother during illness, she lived 400 miles away from school). Honestly, did not realize the importance of post-undergrad degree until came out East.

Extracurricular activities at UCLA included founding and presiding over student organization that promoted Lusophone culture and politics. During last two years in DC successfully organized world-wide programming competition in a specific Latin American country. As a result, programs created during event are being scaled to implement in pilot public schools. Coordinating this with ministries, private sector companies, community groups, etc.

Goal is to pursue a career in private-public partnerships, lead international strategies in Brazil. Deeply connected in Brazil due to professional contacts, family and friends. I see my strength as being able to bring together different groups (sectors) to work together. Lots of experience with cross-cutting and multi-sector work.

Taking into account my "turn around" story of tainted academic record and age, what can be done to improve chances? Took Calc 1 and got B. Worth taking Calc II and aiming for A or retaking the GMAT? What schools should I aim at (thought of Berkeley)?

Would it improve chances to get into MBA if apply from within a Masters program?

Should have kick ass rec letters from current employer and could also get from counterparts in Brazil.

Leadership/Awards:
- led UN mission to Latin American country to assess sector necessities to rebuild
- participated in writing several chapters, documents, articles, speaches, briefings for president
- obtained award for sucessful final negotiations of multi-secretarial project in Brazil

Thanks in advance!

Your diverse background, both academically and ethnically could make for an interesting story to tell, one that could be memorable. The fact that it ended with you graduating from UCLA is a plus and makes up for the wobbly start you had (which can also be accounted for with some of the other things you mentioned). You don't speak too much about your WE, with "projects in Latin America," but if you truly lead projects there, it could again score you points for international experience and leadership, both attractive qualities and frankly unusual for an American applicant. Dual citizenship is often a good hand to play for some of these same reasons. Don't worry about your "F" we all have a failure or two in our history (BTW, I too had an F on my transcript and still got into a top 5 b-school). To answer your other question, it probably would not help you at all to be in another Master's program, since the MBA is a terminal degree, it might even appear that you did not plan well. Better to continue racking up some interesting challenges with your current international role and build a case for why your experience would be valuable to b-school classmates. Let us know if we can help you pull everything together--R2 deadlines fast approaching!