B-school suggestions for GMAT 680 - Profile Evaluation

Hi, though I am not supposed to be a part of this discussion, but I am giving my piece of advice. No one else has to believe on where you can go. You, yourself has to do so. Develop your story, be very very real, show yourself as you really are, & be honest. Standard bookish sentences & purposes will not serve any thing. Prepare yourself to answer "why xyz school". Review your application from viewpoint of adcom member, who will review atleast 20 applications a day. Bring some interesting facts in your essays, this will help you a lot.

You know, what I wanted to emphasise?? "Gmat is important, but if you are in mid 80% Gmat range of your desired school, then your essays & recommendations are decisive.

Best of luck.

Posted from my mobile device

Thanks Hussain,
You were indeed to the point here. Appreciate it.
I must admit at this stage that am really low in confidence in my essay building and my applications in general.
I know for sure that essays is the biggest factor after a score of 680.
Any suggestions on how to come up with competitive essays ?

Hussain's comments are totally on the ball. Once you have the minimum GMAT score you need for the school (okay yeah it might have been better to get more, but we don't live life in the hypothetical), you just gotta go for your dreams (with the caveat of having a well-prepared overall strategy). And yes, you can get into strong tech programs. Haas, Tepper, and Anderson are some of the strongest in the US. And ultimately the school will choose you based on so many things other than the GMAT, including of course the stories!
So how to get the most out of your application? If I could answer this in one phrase, I'd be out of business
But a few good places to start:
1. Write from the heart - never forget that there are PEOPLE reading these essays. People with minds and feelings and ideas. And if you reach out to the person, your stories will always be stronger
2. Strategize your application - Heart is great, but not enough. Keep in mind that they are business schools. They want success, just like you do. Play to their needs and expectations.
3. Emphasize the uniqueness - Inevitably with soooo many candidates, one thing that will work very well is to STAND OUT. So do what you can in your application to stand out from the pack.

When applying to top schools a score above 700 is desirable. With your score you will still eb able to apply to good schools. However GMAT alone won’t determine your chances of admission; beyond the academics will also help you in determining your candidature and your work experience plays a vital role as well. In general most of the Indian applicants are from engineering background with a good 4-5 years of work experience. So you would need to differentiate yourself from others . Start thinking what makes you unique and what’s that ‘hook’ that will be key to your application. Make sure you follow the ‘show rather than tell’ principle so that the admissions committee could really understand your strengths and differentiating factors Although it is not just the work experience that counts but also what you did there like-what were your achievements, what initiative you took, what changes you drove in your workplace etc. So you need to ensure that in 4 years of work experience you have demonstrated the skills business schools are looking for. This could still put in a strong set of essays for you.
Make sure you highlight your global work experience well in the application form.

Thanks Kavita!
Am slowly starting to build my essays!
Hope they shape up well.