Hi there,

I would love any advice you guys could give me about my business school strategy approach. I would love to do my MBA in France, ideally at INSEAD but I have a sneaking suspicion I would have to retake the GMAT....

I am female, 28, American.

Education Background:
BA in Political Science from Boston University (Unsure of GPA)
Masters of Science in Wine Marketing and Management from Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre (Average 16.4/20, Mention Très Bien)
- for this degree, traveled to 23 different wine consuming or producing countries in Asia, South America, North America and Europe

GMAT Score: 680 (Q41, V41). Quantitative is 57 percentile, Verbal 92. I was scoring 700 - 730 in practice tests, with my highest test from the GMATPrep Software a 730 (Q44, V44). I didn't finish 2 Quant questions, and I feel that nerves definitely got to me.
Writing: 6.0

Work Experience:
- Currently managing the marketing for a winery in the Languedoc-Roussillon in France, reporting directly to owner and managing all aspects of marketing; most likely being promoted to Brand Manager for the company in about a month (in negotiations). Came to this position to get experience in wine production as I now live on the wineryand help in the cellar and vineyards when possible.

Previous positions:
- Account Executive at the top marketing/PR agency for wine and spirits (2.5 years). Managed accounts for major wine regions in France, as well as assisted with major spirits brand campaigns. Experience in PR, marketing, advertising, social media, events
- Sales Representative for French wine distributor (6 month externship to complete my masters)
- English Teacher in primary schools in France (1 year)

Although my ultimate goal is to work in marketing, my work experience has been tailored to get experience in all sectors of the wine industry - I worked in high end restaurants in college, did sales for an importer/distributor, and now am learning production - because I believe that understanding all aspects of the wine business helps me to create more successful integrated marketing campaigns.

Extracurriculars:
- Hold Advanced Certificate from Wine and Spirits Education Trust

Goals:
I would like work in Brand Management for one of the top global Wine & Spirits companies, ideally eventually becoming a Marketing executive working on international branding strategy.

Schools: I'm looking to apply in 2012.
Before the GMATs, my top choice was INSEAD. I would also consider other programs in France but want them to be highly regarded in the US as well.
I've also considered Columbia and Stern but am not sure what else I should be looking at?

I also feel that I have to strongly consider retaking the GMATs. The issue is that I took them during a trip back to the US, I don't want to take them in France with a different keyboard, and I would have to travel 2-3 hours to the closest testing facility. It will be difficult before the format changes, especially as I have 3-4 weeks of travel for work in that time.


Thanks so much for any help!
Jess

Your verbal score looks good, and it would not be too difficult to improve the quant score , so retaking GMAT can be beneficial.