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09 Nov 2016, 06:36
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi everyone! Since it is my very first post, Thank you in advance for all the great info you are putting in through this forum. I spent a considerable amount of time reading a lot of threads about GMAT, and it was really useful.
Now I have already taken my GMAT (720 - 94th perc, Q50 V37), will be taking toefl this weekend, and currently I am working on my SoP and university list. I am quite lost and confused at that stage as I can not self assess my profile. According to below info about my profile,
Could you please advise about
1. universities I should aim?
2. any particular suggestions to strengthen my profile in this limited time frame?
3. your direct, sincere thoughts about my admission chances?
so that I may work on alternative scenarios as well.
Thanks in advance for reading this and being so kind to help!!
Test Scores (GMAT/GRE): GMAT: 720 - Q50, V38 - IR: 8/8 (have not got my AWA yet); GRE: Q:170 -
just planning to mention my gre quant score somewhere in my profile but to send only my gmat score since I have disaster verbal GRE score: 153 (open to suggestions/comments, should I not mention at all??)
Undegrad GPA:
2,8/4,0 Ba in Business Administration graduated in 2005 (from one of the most prestigious universities in Turkey, yet I know that it does not mean a lot ), it has been 11 years since I got my degree; so I hope my low GPA would be ok, since there are a number of more recent aspects in my set. (I will not hide/bury this one, but will obviously not highlight either)
Graduate GPA:
3,55/4,00 MA in Cultural Studies (from an other prestigious university in Turkey). I have already completed course req. will get my degree once I complete my research/thesis (in June)
Research Experience:
Involved in a few experimental learning practices research as I have been TA ing for academic development during my MA. Peer reviews of TA performances, facilitation of focus groups to redesign university's TA and instructor evaluation systems. I hope to relate those in learning practices/continous learning in organizations (one of my research interests) and highlight in my SoP (please again advise it did not seem related to you )
Teaching Experience:
Typical TA work, graded, proctored, performed administrative work for an irrelevant course (a history course) for two years. facilitated some recitation/discussion groups, advised MBA/senior undergrad students about professional development/career in private sector etc.
Work Experience: 8 years in total
Worked for 3 years for a multinational tech giant. Had some commercial responsibilities (mostly logistics and procurement). Took some serious roles in regional cost saving projects (collected data, mined) assisted Oracle implementations - again will try to relate this one with research roles
And then I launched my own tech company (a reseller selling call center softwares etc.). We worked with public and private sector (some giants everybody knows, I can reference). Never managed to make this startup an incredible success story, but reached till the point 250k usd annual revenues (I have solid data which I can give, to give the feeling that it was a serious business, not a dad job so to speak )
Motivation:
I want to do research. I will formulate it with fancier sentences in my SoP, yet I do not need to it here. I simply do want. I enjoyed my TA time really a lot after my prof. experience. And I have a diversified background (some solid theory from social sciences and business school). I want to utilize it -and my enthusiasm as well- to produce thoughts, rather than solely profit maximizing.
Number of programs planned to apply to:
If I can manage, I am planning to apply 25 schools (total in Europe and US). 7-8 best bus. school in europe (except the best 2-3 in UK, I believe they are more GPA oriented) plus 15-17 US (10 T20, 4 T50, 3 T100)
References:
1 great one (yet not an OB prof). a prestigious accounting prof.
1 great one (not a professor but can really evaluate my academic development related work, running the academic development in the university)
1 above average one from a prestigious prof. from my MA degree. A social scentist not a business proffessor
Dream Schools:
MIT Sloan, INSEAD, HEC Paris, McGill, Cornell. yet have a broad range
Questions or concerns you have about your profile?
My undergrad GPA 2.8/4.0. GMAT Verbal only 83rd percentile despite my compound score 720 (I hope it is an ok. one 94th perc.??). I am 33 years old. no US/europe schools in my background.
Additional Strenghts (hopefully )
I have always been good at interviews (if I can manage to proceed). I can speak Turkish, English, Italian, and French.
Ranked in first 250 among 1,5 million students in NAtional University Entrance Exam in Turkey
MAnaged to have a full tuition waiver and stipend for my MA after long private sector break
I have some great evaluation scores from the facilitation works I have done (3,83/4,00) from the TA educations sessions I ran
---------
Sorry for the long one but I will really appreciate your help as I am quite lost in terms of what to aim for.
Many thanks for your help!!!
Now I have already taken my GMAT (720 - 94th perc, Q50 V37), will be taking toefl this weekend, and currently I am working on my SoP and university list. I am quite lost and confused at that stage as I can not self assess my profile. According to below info about my profile,
Could you please advise about
1. universities I should aim?
2. any particular suggestions to strengthen my profile in this limited time frame?
3. your direct, sincere thoughts about my admission chances?
so that I may work on alternative scenarios as well.
Thanks in advance for reading this and being so kind to help!!
Test Scores (GMAT/GRE): GMAT: 720 - Q50, V38 - IR: 8/8 (have not got my AWA yet); GRE: Q:170 -
just planning to mention my gre quant score somewhere in my profile but to send only my gmat score since I have disaster verbal GRE score: 153 (open to suggestions/comments, should I not mention at all??)
Undegrad GPA:
2,8/4,0 Ba in Business Administration graduated in 2005 (from one of the most prestigious universities in Turkey, yet I know that it does not mean a lot ), it has been 11 years since I got my degree; so I hope my low GPA would be ok, since there are a number of more recent aspects in my set. (I will not hide/bury this one, but will obviously not highlight either)
Graduate GPA:
3,55/4,00 MA in Cultural Studies (from an other prestigious university in Turkey). I have already completed course req. will get my degree once I complete my research/thesis (in June)
Research Experience:
Involved in a few experimental learning practices research as I have been TA ing for academic development during my MA. Peer reviews of TA performances, facilitation of focus groups to redesign university's TA and instructor evaluation systems. I hope to relate those in learning practices/continous learning in organizations (one of my research interests) and highlight in my SoP (please again advise it did not seem related to you )
Teaching Experience:
Typical TA work, graded, proctored, performed administrative work for an irrelevant course (a history course) for two years. facilitated some recitation/discussion groups, advised MBA/senior undergrad students about professional development/career in private sector etc.
Work Experience: 8 years in total
Worked for 3 years for a multinational tech giant. Had some commercial responsibilities (mostly logistics and procurement). Took some serious roles in regional cost saving projects (collected data, mined) assisted Oracle implementations - again will try to relate this one with research roles
And then I launched my own tech company (a reseller selling call center softwares etc.). We worked with public and private sector (some giants everybody knows, I can reference). Never managed to make this startup an incredible success story, but reached till the point 250k usd annual revenues (I have solid data which I can give, to give the feeling that it was a serious business, not a dad job so to speak )
Motivation:
I want to do research. I will formulate it with fancier sentences in my SoP, yet I do not need to it here. I simply do want. I enjoyed my TA time really a lot after my prof. experience. And I have a diversified background (some solid theory from social sciences and business school). I want to utilize it -and my enthusiasm as well- to produce thoughts, rather than solely profit maximizing.
Number of programs planned to apply to:
If I can manage, I am planning to apply 25 schools (total in Europe and US). 7-8 best bus. school in europe (except the best 2-3 in UK, I believe they are more GPA oriented) plus 15-17 US (10 T20, 4 T50, 3 T100)
References:
1 great one (yet not an OB prof). a prestigious accounting prof.
1 great one (not a professor but can really evaluate my academic development related work, running the academic development in the university)
1 above average one from a prestigious prof. from my MA degree. A social scentist not a business proffessor
Dream Schools:
MIT Sloan, INSEAD, HEC Paris, McGill, Cornell. yet have a broad range
Questions or concerns you have about your profile?
My undergrad GPA 2.8/4.0. GMAT Verbal only 83rd percentile despite my compound score 720 (I hope it is an ok. one 94th perc.??). I am 33 years old. no US/europe schools in my background.
Additional Strenghts (hopefully )
I have always been good at interviews (if I can manage to proceed). I can speak Turkish, English, Italian, and French.
Ranked in first 250 among 1,5 million students in NAtional University Entrance Exam in Turkey
MAnaged to have a full tuition waiver and stipend for my MA after long private sector break
I have some great evaluation scores from the facilitation works I have done (3,83/4,00) from the TA educations sessions I ran
---------
Sorry for the long one but I will really appreciate your help as I am quite lost in terms of what to aim for.
Many thanks for your help!!!
11 Nov 2016, 07:54
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hello. I'm also struggling with my applications, so I do not have experience and knowledge enough to provide much help.
But I also have a low GPA from a top university in my country. I was advised to explain it when writing my SoP.
My GMAT is higher than yours (750) and I was told to aim to apply to T30 universities. That was one of the factors to choose universities. I suggest you go to the UTD ranking website, and check the universities which are better able to publish at journals related to OB. Then, check the faculty members of those universities, and research about papers they published. Then you'll be able to see which universities have faculty members whose research interests are aligned to yours and which are in the Top range you intend to apply. It's a lot of work, but very important to choose which schools to apply and to write SoP specifically for each school.
But I also have a low GPA from a top university in my country. I was advised to explain it when writing my SoP.
My GMAT is higher than yours (750) and I was told to aim to apply to T30 universities. That was one of the factors to choose universities. I suggest you go to the UTD ranking website, and check the universities which are better able to publish at journals related to OB. Then, check the faculty members of those universities, and research about papers they published. Then you'll be able to see which universities have faculty members whose research interests are aligned to yours and which are in the Top range you intend to apply. It's a lot of work, but very important to choose which schools to apply and to write SoP specifically for each school.
13 Nov 2016, 07:03
Kudos
Bookmarks
BrazilianPhD
Hello. I'm also struggling with my applications, so I do not have experience and knowledge enough to provide much help.
But I also have a low GPA from a top university in my country. I was advised to explain it when writing my SoP.
My GMAT is higher than yours (750) and I was told to aim to apply to T30 universities. That was one of the factors to choose universities. I suggest you go to the UTD ranking website, and check the universities which are better able to publish at journals related to OB. Then, check the faculty members of those universities, and research about papers they published. Then you'll be able to see which universities have faculty members whose research interests are aligned to yours and which are in the Top range you intend to apply. It's a lot of work, but very important to choose which schools to apply and to write SoP specifically for each school.
But I also have a low GPA from a top university in my country. I was advised to explain it when writing my SoP.
My GMAT is higher than yours (750) and I was told to aim to apply to T30 universities. That was one of the factors to choose universities. I suggest you go to the UTD ranking website, and check the universities which are better able to publish at journals related to OB. Then, check the faculty members of those universities, and research about papers they published. Then you'll be able to see which universities have faculty members whose research interests are aligned to yours and which are in the Top range you intend to apply. It's a lot of work, but very important to choose which schools to apply and to write SoP specifically for each school.
Thanks for the kind reply. By the way, huge congrats for the excellent GMAT score. Especially verbal, an incredible score!! I am sure it will create a big difference. I went through the UTD list you suggested, and will try to do my best to deliver tailored SoPs for different universities. It will take a lot of time as you suggested. But after all the effort invested in the whole process, a boring cliche SoP should not be the final touch. My university also sugessted that I might insert an "addendum" at the end of the SoP, a few sentences briefly explaining reasons behind the weak sides (low und.grad GPA or whatever). But I am still more on the not to mention side, as I think it will damage the general flow seriously.
I will use the list a guide even if I will not be following it in a linear way. Yet what I am not sure about is: what should be my origin? I mean broadly speaking, roughly. Should I start with 30th ranked univ. (5 better ranked, 5 worse for instance)? or 100 th? I know that there is not a single correct answer for these questions. But I am just trying to learn, gather any information (like you kindly provided). There are lot of uncertainties, and I know very little about admission processes. Thanks again for suggestions, I wish you will end up in one of the T30.
backgrounds are more likely to succeed-- but this is just my call, we will shortly see what admission committees think 
