Accepted to Darden. Should I consider reapplication?

Question

Hi all,

I would be delighted to hear your expertise for this cursed question that need to be curbed in my mind for the last 2 weeks. I have been in a fortunate position to get accepted into a fabulous school, Darden. Although I still have a heart break with my Cornell rejection after interview, I am proud of my admit to Darden, especially with my low GMAT (620) score. Here is my story.

I have 7 years of work experience in Finance in three different industries and four different companies (Deloitte, Coca-Cola, P&G and currently IKEA as Finance Manager). I am 30 years old and my main motivation to have an MBA degree is to make a career switch.

I would most likely opt for a consulting role (%75 probability) after graduation but I also consider the option of IB or corporate finance roles (depends on my success in consulting recruitment). As an international student, I heard that it is a bit hard to compete with brilliant native guys in consulting track due to several factors such as background, language skills, firm's high GMAT score desire. And since I am planning to finance my degree by using loan option (it could be severe for me to pay such amount of debt if i have to return back to my home country), recruitment opportunities in US carry a great weight for me in order to provide a healthy ROI. My analysis for Darden and my current situation is as below;

Pros:

Student oriented faculty team and teaching 
Very collaborative, close-knit community, passionate students, strong alunmi support
Great Ranking in US News
Better presence in consulting industry
Case Method, a great chance for self improvement
Ready to embrace diffucilities and strong need for change in my life (personal)
A decent success with such a low GMAT score (personal)

Cons:

UVA and Darden are not prominent brands internationally (not an Ivy League brand,which is deemed as prestige stamp across Europe and Middle East) (If I need to return to my home country after MBA, an ivy league brand will better help me in recruitment process)
Studyload, especially for the first six months, that means not enough time for networking and preparing for internship and recruiting, which is cruical for me
Case Method, completely new challange that I need to overcome
My Age (I will be one year older and it may worsen the recruitment and career switch chance for me)
The risk of failure in GMAT

Somehow I believe in that I could get a better score in GMAT (at least I can improve it up to high 600s) and I will be get accepted to my dream school, which is YALE SOM or may be I will be enough fortunate to get a scholarship from a Top MBA next year, which can ease this decision process for me. Could you please give me some wise suggestions to surmount this diffuculty? Thank you so much!

wmay · Answer

It's gonna be pretty hard to obtain a scholarship with a <740 GMAT from a top school unless the rest of your profile is spectacular. Even SOM is known to be GMAT focussed. Given your work experience, and age, you may wish to consider going to Darden but getting your GMAT to >720. MBB is known to require >720 GMATs whether you are from HBS, Tuck or Darden.

bb85 · Answer

Frankly speaking, scholarship does not come in the first place for me. I am aware that I need to improve my GMAT score for MBB recruitment. Thats why I am planning to retake it in one month even if I will decide to go with Darden. The question is what will i do if i do not find a good recruitment opportunity in US and need to return back to my country or Europe? Without an Ivy League badge, will it be hard for me to find a good job and will i stay alone with my $120K debt? :-D

JackSparr0w · Answer

Keep in mind that Darden is very well respected in the US, and the fact that you were able to get in this year is no guarantee that you will get in next year, regardless as to whether or not you improve your GMAT score. As you said, you'll be another year older, and without any material changes in your profile, I think the adcomms will view this negatively. Additionally, turning down the offer and reapplying to Darden probably won't go over well with them since you'd be hurting their yield. I won't offer advice as to whether or not you should accept because it is a huge financial committment, and one that you'll need to be comfortable with. Congrats on your acceptance, and good luck!

mbaapplicant2013 · Answer

You're extremely lucky to get into Darden with a 620 and a 3.2. It's going to be tough recruiting with those stats because so many firms (and all consulting firms) will ask for GMAT scores, so you're going to have to target companies that care less about that stuff and will value the impressive name brands on your resume. But a 620, 3.2 is going to get you almost certainly dinged at every Top 15 school, especially one like Yale SOM which has become fixated on GMAT scores in recent years. You're 100 points from their average score.

MBAschooled · Answer

As others have pointed out, getting in with a 620 at a T-15 MBA program is not an easy task. As such, unless you think you can significantly improve your GMAT scores from now until the next application cycle I would go to Darden, work on your GMAT, and network and build relationships as good as you can to set yourself up in the best possible position. Good luck!

farrous13 · Answer

I have couple of questions to help you dig deep into your life goals:

- Do you want to stay in the US or go back? I know there is no guarantee in staying in the US, but you need to be wanting one and working for it. As many said. Darden is a great school in the US and nationally respected.
- What makes you satisfied? Is it the job that matters post-MBA, the school name on your resume or the skills and learning experience that you have acquired? 
- From what I read, I can sense that you are worried about how you will be matched up against others. Language skills and a better GMAT score can be acquired, so don't stress over them much. Getting into consulting is not as challenging as you might think (hard work is important of course). While some might ask for high GMAT scores, some companies have hired before undergrads as consultants. So that's something to keep in mind.

Good job really in getting into Darden. Some here are saying you are lucky. But I think it's a factor of different metrics such as good experience, good worded focused essays and great recommendations. So good work!

AjMBA · Answer

I don't believe that this is a hard fast rule for consulting. Sure, a high GMAT may give you a better chance at an interview, but it's by no means a requirement. This is based on recruiting this year for consulting and seeing people without these scores get 1st round, 2nd round interviews, and jobs.

bb85 · Answer

Same here. According to me, a good GMAT score may give you an opportunity to reserve a seat for interview but the rest is all about you and your performance. A high GMAT score can create a difference at first but do not underestimate the underdogs during race :-D

bb85 · Answer

- I want to stay in the US after graduation (at least until paying back the loan amount). However, this is life and for any unexpected scenario I should arm myself. - I am still searching for the answer of this question. If I have to rank them now, it will be 1) The school name-reputation 2) Post-MBA career 3) The skills and learning experience. May be it is all about the region that I grew up. In this geography (like in Asia), reputation or the brand that you bear is almost everything. Thats why our subconscious automatically links success with brands on your resume. I also do not want to consider myself as lucky. Because as you mentioned, in order to dilute low GMAT effect in my application, I tried to strengthen the rest of the components and it seems i did it well. As Sir Alex Ferguson says "Statistics are like mini-skirts, shows a lot of things but does not show what is essentially". :-D

I think a wise man who plan to apply to top-20 should always remember this maxim and believe in himself :-D

dtse86 · Answer

I never understood why other countries are so obsessed with brands (especially designer brands!).

Honestly bb85 , Darden is a great opportunity that you have available to you now. I'd take it and try to get the best job you can immediately post-MBA. If image were so important, why did you apply to Darden in the first place and not H/S/W only?

I think deep down you know that Darden is a great school with the resources to get you where you want to go. It's up to you now to take this chance and improve your life moving forward. Taking the GMAT again is a great first step to becoming a more competitive applicant for the top consulting firms, but like you mentioned before it only helps getting your foot in the door. Your interview performance will really determine if you make the cut. Once you get there and have worked for a few years, the MBA school you have on your resume will matter much less. People will pay more attention to the MBB firm that you rocked at ;-)

on the GMAT and at Darden! Perhaps we'll see each other around at an MBB post-MBA ;-)

on the GMAT and at Darden! Perhaps we'll see each other around at an MBB post-MBA ;-)

rexman · Answer

While I do think 'lucky' is the wrong word, I would say that you were very fortunate, all things considered. It seems that you have decided to matriculate? I think that was the best option available.

MBA18 · Answer

Just a thought. Are you opposed to recruiting for an MBB office in your country? Assuming there is one.

bb85 · Answer

Frankly, I am not opposed to this option (MBB currently have offices in my country). Just one detail. I am planning to use the loan option and it is a bit intimidating to owe in terms of dollar and pay back in terms of Turkish Lira.

bb85 · Answer

Yeah, I would also prefer to define it with the word "fortunate" :-D

I paid my first deposit in order to reserve my seat in the class.

Mo2men · Answer

Hi bb85, I like to congratulate you for matriculation. Let me throw my 2 cents: 1- You need to familiarize your-self with Case method. Please go to this video for finance class in Darden. https://youtu.be/suyxP_JkSKM There are a lot of videos also. 2- From my view, you need to think to do your GMAT retake test those days as I heard from a lot of Alumni and students that the work load are heavy. 3 case/day (12/week) + readings+ assignments. You will be totally immersed in the program As I can see, you come from Turkey. One of the best wonderful alumni was from Turkey. He offered Skype meeting with me. if you are interested, please PM me so that I can put you in contact. :gl

bb85 · Answer

Hi Mo2men,

Thanks for your valuable inputs.

I have started to familiarize myself with Case Method by reading some cases (Darden and HBS publishings) and articles daily. I feel I have to increase my pace and get used to familiar with intense work load. As you mentioned in your message, a heavy workload waits for me and thats why I plan to retake GMAT before the classes begin.

JackDaniels · Answer

Aren't Darden and Cornell pretty much on the same level? At least I always considered them on par.

And what's with the Ivy League BS. Would you choose Cornell over Stanford as well because the latter is not Ivy League? :/

bb85 · Answer

It is all about reputation and brand recognition. Of course I would not choose Cornell over Stanford because in Europe and Middle East, Stanford is also considered as an Ivy League level university. In order to make the picture more clear, I could say that even Wharton's popularity and recognition can be questioned in these regions. You can come across with this fact (brand recognition issue) in most of international student's posts.

wmay · Answer

Then why did you apply to Darden in the first place if you had doubts over its prestige factor.

Accepted to Darden. Should I consider reapplication?

What should I do?

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