Hey rahul727,
Thanks for reaching out to me. You all know the answer to this question. You should definitely retake the GMAT.
It would really be a shame not to, because you seem to have every other factor well set up. Unfortunately the low GMAT score would take you out of the running. I suppose you might be waitlisted at some of the schools you list below, but that's not the right way of going about it. Being on the waitlisted is basically being in limbo. You can't really make any choices about work, school or life. It can be worse than being outrightly rejected.
Since you have the time, you have the ability to retake the GMAT. I suggest doing so. Otherwise you're going to have a really tough time getting into the vast majority of schools you list below.
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti
rahul727 wrote:
Hello,
Can you please evaluate my profile and let me know if my target schools are reasonable and what I'll need to do to improve my application?
GMAT: 690 (Q46,V38)
Education:
- CFA Level 3 Candidate
- Bachelors in Electrical Engineering at a good Canadian university.
- Six-Sigma Management Methodology - Green Belt Associate Certification
- Awarded a scholarship for the CFA L1 exam
GPA: havnt calculated my GPA, but i have an average of about 70% (engineering is extremely intense at my university and a 70% is considered pretty decent. I guess i could elaborate this point further and also mention that I passed the first two levels of the CFA program in an optional essay on my applications?).
Demographic: 25/M/Canadian of East Indian origin living and working in the Kingdom of Bahrain
Work Experience:
- 1 year with a Big4, senior consultant in the Transaction Advisory service line in Bahrain (promoted within first year)
- 2 years with a Big4, associate in the Assurance service line in Bahrain (2 promotions in 2 years)
- 16 months with General Electric, electrical engineering intern in Canada
I have spoken to my referees (senior management at Big4) and im fairly positive that I could get solid recommendations from them.
Extra curricular: some charity work, captain of local football team, marathon participant, silver medal at chess competition, community involvment, organizing social events at work - nothing too out of the ordinary to be honest.
Im thinkin about applying for September 2013, so I should have got another year of experience by then. Should i consider writing the GMAT for the second time or should i focus on applications? im fairly confident i could bring it up to around 720-730 if i put in a lot of effort.
Im currently interested in (no particular order).
- Stern
- Booth
- Fuqua
- Johnson
- Wharton
- Tuck
- Yale
- INSEAD
- Richard Ivey(Canada)
- Rotman(Canada)
Are these schools within reach? Any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks a ton!