ROUND 2 or ROUND 3? H.E.L.P!!!!

I 100% agree with it. Adcoms will say "ohh you were sick and that's why you got a 550? Yeah right." Saying you were sick will not have them add a few points to your GMAT score. It ends up just sounding like you're the kind of person that's full of excuses. (Which I doubt you are )

Personally, since you're young, I would say put in a concerted effort into the GMAT. Take it in the spring, and apply R1 in the autumn with another year of experience. You're 24, I'll be 29 at matriculation. There is no rush for you (Well there's none for me, either!) The programs you get into with a 650 or 700 GMAT will vary drastically from the programs with a 550. And thus, the career opportunities afterwards will be much more robust. (Also, there are plenty of threads on here of great GMAT success stories and fantastic people that will help you improve your score just as they did.)

As far as b-schools favourable to engineers, you're kind of looking at quant schools like Booth, Sloan, and Tepper. And a 550 won't cut it at any of those schools. I'm unsure of 'lower-ranked' quant schools or schools in Asia if you prefer to stay out there. Frankly, it seems like you're very early on in your decision process and investigation process. I would strongly recommend taking a few months to prep for the GMAT, acing it, and strongly looking into programs that fit your profile afterwards.

And sorry if I sound 'mean blunt', I intend to sound 'helpful blunt'! Best of luck, sincerely!

I would for sure advise waiting another year. Spend as long as it takes on the GMAT until it is the best score you think you can get within reason. (If you got a 700 and you think the max you could possibly get is a 710 then I would say don't sweat the difference.)

You also need to spend as long as it takes to figure out exactly where you want to go. The type of school you are looking for is very different than what I was looking for, so I don't have advice for you there, but do put forth the effort to do a lot of research and come up with your perfect list.

R3 is the hardest round for anyone. Most of the class has been filled by then, and I get the impression that only people with really odd profiles end up getting accepted in that round. It is even worse for applicants who want scholarships or international applicants. Most scholarships are allocated by R2, and R3 can create visa issues. I could be mistaken, but even if you are willing to risk a visa disaster the adcom might not be and might be more likely to reject you because they are worried that you will have trouble showing up in the fall.

Please, please, please wait a year to apply so that you can be in a better round, have a higher GMAT, and lastly, know where you actually want to go. You can use the extra time to work on an interesting hobby/do cool volunteer work, and 4 years beats 3 years of WE any day.

Just look at your situation objectively: you're a young person from an over represented ethnic group with a GMAT score that is multiple standard deviations below the mean score of successful scores for applicants from said pool. Combined with how difficult R3 is, you have almost no chance. 24 is too young anyways. Take another year, score 700+, apply R1, and you'll have a much better shot.

Posted from GMAT ToolKit

You gotta do your own research. You know yourself best - don't let a bunch of strangers on an Internet forum mold your BSchool search.

1. Step 1: conquer the GMAT.
2. Research schools and career goals.

Rushing round 3 apps is going to be a recipe for disaster. Better to start with a clean slate this fall instead of being a re-applicant.