Please advise - apply for PhD in Strategy Mgmt with GMAT690

Hi,

I believe that GMAT is only an eliminatory condition. The way I imagine this process (and I have read about this as well), is a secretary splitting files based on GMAT and GPA. I have read that most schools don't accept GMAT scores below 650 overall, and I guess this is what the secretary is looking for. The qualitative decission comes afterwards and I believe a professor would be more interested to see research, focus in your career, determination, analytical abilities, than a GMAT of 700-720 intead of a GMAT of 690.

My advice, and I will do the same for my case: wait for your AWA scores - if they are below 5, then maybe it is worth it retaking it, if not, maybe u should think about this more.

What r your schools more interested in: quant, verbal, or overall? For ex. my score is low because of my verbal score (I am in the 90th percentile in math and 71th percentile in verbal). As I saw, 90th percentile in math, in my case, is a very good score. If I retake this exam, in November, then I would focus again on my math (where I believe I can score higher) cuz my verbal abilities are not very strong (btw, can u recommend me some good SC materials? It is frustrating to get a lot of wrong answers on this, and my problem is PREPOSITIONS....I don't feel them at all, to be very honest, although I spent 2 years in the US).

As for being an international student - if I remember well, u said u have a graduate degree from a foreign university - is that in the US? Cuz if this is the case, then you're all set. I would think that schools are looking for higher GMAT scores from intl students only bec they cannot interpret the student's GPA....

Be positive about all this - I am trying to do the same!!!

Keep in touch,
Mihaela.

Hi Mihaela

I think that the importance of verbal or math of GMAT depends on the field in which you would like to study. If you would like to study in finance, then the math score means a lot to admission committee. For other fields, I guess the verbal score stands out. Unfortunately, I will apply for strategic management. Although I scored 95% in math, 66% in verbal may kill me in this field.

Since I got lower verbal score than you did, I may not be able to give you suggestions to improve your verbal score. I think that, as an international student, your verbal score is high enough. If you can improve your math score to 51, you will definitely score 700+.

As to the AWA score, I heard that many admission committees would not pay attention to it because they don't actually understand each part of the score. I am not sure whether it is true, but I really don't want to retake GMAT only because of AWA.

I agree with you that most schools prefer international students with higher GPA because they can not interpret overseas GPA. While I got an MS degree from RPI(Troy, New York), the 3.3 GPA is still too low. Because of my so-so GMAT and low GPA, I will not bother to apply to top schools, except for U Of Washington, which is my first choice because of its fascinating entrepreneurship program. I read that U Of Washington is in your list too. Hope we both could get in.

Good luck to both of us.

D.K.

Hi hsudk, I am also an international student applying for next fall intake (in a different field). I have also been running a startup for the last few years. So our situations quite similar. I have spent the last 1 to 2 years preparing for my application. Have found lots of info on the web as well as talk to some profs. Here is my take on your situation:

1. Although many said that for international students, one must hit the 700s, 690 GMAT is not a bad score. I feel it may not rule you out from the top schools if you can bring out other strengths. If your score has been say less than 620, then I wouldn't say the same.

2. You are right about your RPI GPA - it seems a little lower than average. But the double MS could be a potential strength in your app.

3. Based on your focus on entrepreneurship, I think your main strengths are your research and startup experiences. Draw attention to these 2. Also, try to relate your startup to your research. Emphasize that you are going to do a career switch from the industry to the academia. Say how your startup experience are valuable to your research direction and future teaching responsibilities (e.g in MBA classes). Unless you have a few good publications to show for your research experience, just talking about this may not differentiate you enough from others.

4. Given point 1 above, I encourage you not too write off "top" schools just because of your relatively low GMAT. Identify faculty in those schools who have similar research interest. Apply when appropriate. If I were you, I would rather spend a few hundred dollars more and try the "top" school than to think about the "what-if" in years ahead.

All the best!

Hi tkkoh,

Thank you for encouraging me to apply to top schools. The thing is that, in top schools, only MIT has the program concentrating in technology entrepreneurship. Whereas MIT generally receives more than 1,000 appications, I am not confident that my backrounds can stand me out from such a keen competition.

I looked into your previous posts, surfed your Website, and found a lot of useful articles, including the one regarding the advice from a professor of U Of Virginia. It really helps and thanks a lot!

By th way, which field would you like to apply? Since you started up your own business, you must be very interested in new ventures. Why don't you go for entrepreneurship?

D.K.

Yes, after running my startup for the last few years, I am interested in new ventures and entrepreneurship. However, not at the research level. Nevertheless, my research interest is related to my startup. To put it simply, I am interested to research the field that my business is in.

MIT - 1000 applications in totality, but we have to split this figure across the different specializations. And if I'm not wrong, areas like fianance and economics tend to attracts more applications than the others. Furthermore, you may actually have a higher chance than what you think you.

Firstly, unlike some other academic fields, entrepreneurship and strategy are fields where some people say some work experiences could be helpful.

Secondly, I don't think there are a lot entrepreneurs who are switching to academic careers. At least not as many as management consultants.

Hence, the pool that you are completing in may be quite small. Which means you have a better chance to stand out. My suggestion is still that you should try for MIT and the "top schools". If you apply, you have a chance, slim as if may be. If you don't apply, you simply have no chance.