MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 26 Dec 2008
Posts: 2457
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Re: Profile Evaluation
[#permalink]
09 Mar 2010, 21:20
I really hate throwing cold water on people's aspirations. However, to be blunt you will have to readjust your expectations significantly. Ross is really the only school in there where you have a realistic shot. HBS, Stanford, and Wharton are basically long shots. Kellogg can be a long shot if you are stronger with numbers than you are with people.
Schools like Ross, Duke, UCLA, Cornell, etc. are more within your range - most likely stretches. Sweet spots more likely to be schools in the top 30 like USC, UNC, Georgetown, Texas, etc.
And this has little to do with your GMAT score. You can score a 760+ and it won't materially affect your chances at the top 8 schools (Kellogg, Booth, Columbia, Sloan, Tuck, Stanford, HBS or Wharton).
Since you're living in the US now, what I *strongly* suggest is to go and visit a sampling of these b-schools in the next few weeks before school gets out at the end of April. You will see for yourself the kinds of folks that get into these schools.
And the GMATClub forums are an invaluable source as well - go through the posts of many people here over the years -- you'll see the kind of competition you're up against. This b-school application process can be a very humbling experience. I'm not saying you shouldn't apply to the schools you want to go to (even if they are stretches or long shots), but to go into the application process with realistic expectations on where you stand with all the schools you apply to. Ideally, you should be applying to a range of schools where you can reasonably expect to get into, and maybe throw 1 or 2 in the mix that are stretches or long-shots.