Hi,

I gave my GMAT today and to my dismay my scores were below expectations. I was targeting a minimum of 740 but ended up with 710. The first obvious question that is haunting me is how bad is 710?

I am looking at doing a PhD from one of the top universities. Country wise I have no preference (US or Europe are equally good) but before deciding that I would like to have your views on my profile and suggest whether it is worth applying?

I have done my engineering in computer science from an average university in India. I have excelled in my acads through out my life. ( I was the top ranker in my college - 81%, max being 100%). After engineering I immediately did my MBA from a reputed institute (though not an IIM ) My specialization is finance and currently I am working with an IB (though not in finance, recession blues.. ) I was among the top students in my MBA too..

My ECs are not outstanding.. Though I have always been a keen and active participant but have never excelled on this front. I have volunteered for each and every culture event in my college and was in the core committee of a few events. I support one of the NGOs for animals. But that is pretty much it.

I have read that the average GMAT score for admission in PhD in a good school is 760 and this is what worries me. Moreover, I have no research background whatsoever.

I would be sincerely grateful if you could provide your valuable opinions on whether or not I stand a good chance of getting in a good school for Phd (by good I mean Insead, Stanford, NUS). Moreover, please do comment on my chances of getting into a MS in finance course (just in case I decide for it, cost being the factor driving me away from it). For MS I am looking at HEC / LSE / etc..Also I am really skeptical as to how MS Finance will add value to my MBA.. If you can throw light on this front I would be really grateful..

Also, please do tell me (and you can be brutally honest about it) how bad is 710 (49Q, 38V)

Please do give feedback as I my application process will, to a very large extent, depend on the answers I get.
I would be truly and sincerely grateful for your opinion.