MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 26 Dec 2008
Posts: 2457
Given Kudos: 2
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Re: Profile Evaluation.
[#permalink]
24 Mar 2010, 12:22
All I see in your profile is math -- that you're a quant/analytical guy. Give you a bunch of data, and you can turn it into a beautiful spreadsheet. If that is what you're mostly banking on as your core strength, your chances at most of the top schools are a stretch or even a long shot. The reason is because there's TONS of people like you who are great at math. But far fewer who have strong or exceptional interpersonal/team/leadership skills and potential. Your chances of getting in come down to that. My hunch is that HBS, Stanford, and Wharton are long shots even if your GMAT was 700 - you're too "left brain" heavy for their taste and even with strong essays I'm not sure if you can convince them otherwise. Schools like Kellogg, Sloan and Haas are going to be stretches. Kellogg really values a long history of teamwork, interpersonal skills, leadership and all that "soft skill stuff" that people with your background tend not to have as much of, and as a result it's going to be an uphill battle for you to convince them that you're not really a math guy. As for Sloan - you would think they love math guys like you given that it's MIT, but Sloan sees itself as being in a bit of a pickle because of that - they get way more math/engineering/analytical types applying than other schools, and as a result they overcompensate for it -- their essays and admissions process emphasize (to a fault almost) interpersonal, team, leadership and "right brained" skills, which won't play to your strengths. Haas is a stretch in a similar way -- they aren't quite as hardcore about the soft skills as Sloan is, but keep in mind that as a Bay Area school a stone's throw from the center of the technology universe (Silicon Valley), they get a *ton* of folks like yourself who have a very strong math/quant background, and the admissions process isn't a math competition.
Out of all the schools you listed, Chicago is likely the only school that is the most forgiving when it comes to the "soft skills" stuff -- they talk about leadership, teamwork, interpersonal skills but in truth they do care less about that, and are more willing to give the super math-smart guy (whether it's engineering, finance, etc.) so long as the essays are solid and the numbers (GPA/GMAT) are strong.
And all of this assumes a GMAT of 700 or greater.
In your case, you're going to have a near-impossible time getting into any top 16 school with the GMAT score you have, and a significant uphill climb with a strong GMAT score (i.e. you may have to pull a Houdini, find some magic to show that in spite of what appears to be a strong math/quant background, you in fact are stronger with people than you are with numbers). I hate to be this harsh, but I don't think it's fair to give you false hope and say "but you have a chance, you really do, with a strong story and your profile you have a chance in overcoming that low GMAT!" Yes, it can happen, but not because of your effort, and more to do with blind dumb luck that some adcom happens to love you when 9/10 another adcom reading it may ding you outright.
Do whatever it takes to boost that GMAT score first and foremost. Then go back and look at the schools you want to apply to.