GMAT 650 - Female US MBA

Question

Hello,
I am a 29 years old, female, from Italy.
I recently took my GMAT and my score was 650 (Q45 V35). My quant score was slightly lower than my score in the practice tests (47) but my verbal score was surprisingly much lower (My score range was 39-41).
I have been working in banking in the UK for 4 years - and I graduated from a top school in Europe (BSc and MSc).
Since I was 16yo I have been studying and working in the US, Italy, the UAE, Singapore and the UK
I know that given my low GMAT I don't stand a chance for admission at Harvard, Berkley or Stanford but I was wondering whether I could stand a chance at MIT, NYU, Yale or Columbia?
if so shall I try applying for R2 or take the GMAT again and apply for R3?

hacorus · Answer

Hi Ellevi,

If you have taken the GMAT only once, I'd advise to retake, as stress can be an important factor. 
In my case, my verbal score went back to normal on my second try, so I scored as predicted when my first score wasn't what I expected.

For schools, it all depends what you want to do after graduation.
With your international profile 
You should look at Insead.
I am also unsure if 650 is within the 80% range of the schools you mention.
Finally, if you count on scholarships, R2 is better for many schools. But the advise is to apply with your best profile, so if you are confident for R2, go for it, if not and can improve for R3 then that could be better.
Fingers crossed.

Posted from my mobile device

Nikhil · Answer

Hi ellevi Check What Are My Chances? tool in the following link to see how your profile compares to the profiles of the admitted applicants from the mentioned schools. https://gmatclub.com/forum/what-are-my- ... 09854.html You can also check some of the admitted/rejected profiles of the mentioned schools in the decision tracker in the following link https://gmatclub.com/forum/decision-tra ... ml?fl=menu

MiMEssay · Answer

Hey  ellevi ,

Before I start with your profile evaluation, I’d like to clarify that other than the GMAT score, there are a lots of factors like your academics and GPA, extracurriculars, and achievements, that play an important role in your chance of acceptance and thus getting an admit from the top business schools. That said, you have provided limited information for me to give you an accurate estimation of your chances in schools like MIT, NYU, Yale, or Columbia. Having said that, let’s begin with your profile evaluation.

Coming to your academics, you haven’t given me any information about your GPA that plays an important role in your chance of acceptance into the top schools like MIT Sloan. Although, from the information that you’ve provided me, the international exposure that you’ve garnered from your undergraduate and postgraduate engineering degree coupled with it being from one of the top European universities showcases a good academic background and will further bolster your profile. As most schools are looking to add diversity to their cohort, your international background gives you a unique perspective that provides value addition to their program. Ensure you highlight your takeaways from these experiences and how it helped you to grow and develop a broader perspective in the managerial field.

As for your GMAT, your overall score is on the lower end and for most of the management courses, it is one of the referencing points. That said, if you are open to boosting your score further, I would recommend that you retake the GMAT to improve your score by 50-60 points and aim for a minimum overall score of 710 and above to increase your chances at your preferred list of schools. Alternatively, the schools that you are targeting are waiving off the GMAT due to the present COVID-19 scenario, and therefore in this case you can refrain from submitting your GMAT score.

As far as your work experience goes, since an MBA is a manager's degree and requires significant work experience, your 4 years of work experience in the banking sector would put you at par with other applicants. Since you haven’t mentioned the company’s name/brand, I would like to tell you that a big brand name plays a crucial role in the selection process, and therefore will give an upper-hand to the candidates having more extensive work experience hailing from the big 4 brands. Also, MBA specializations require the students to showcase leadership skills and initiative-taking capabilities, hence you ought to explain and highlight the major projects of your work and how these experiences helped you develop and further groom your skills and knowledge. Also, ensure that you highlight why you chose your firms, how you have gone beyond the role, any initiatives you undertook, any kind of impact created to establish a connection with your goals, and portray the knowledge gained from these experiences. Properly highlighting this would help you stand out from the pool of applicants.

Coming to your extracurriculars, Since you haven’t provided any information regarding your extracurriculars, I would like to tell you that your extracurricular activities and your other endeavors matter as well because AdComs are looking for applicants with holistically developed profiles. Thus, it is essential to shed light on the endeavors you’ve taken up at the clubs, associations, and events you managed or participated in. Also showcasing any volunteering or CSR activities that you participated in would strengthen your application as it would bring to light the socially responsible aspect of your personality, a trait held in high regard by any and every b-school.

Coming to the schools that you are targeting - MIT, NYU, Yale, and Columbia, all fall under the dream category. Therefore, based on your profile you would have a 40% chance of getting accepted in these schools.

That said, in order to hedge your bets wisely, you can also be targeting a few competitive schools like Wisconsin, Northeastern, Texas, and Maryland to broaden your options and increase your chances of selection.

Lastly, while you have a competitive profile, to increase your chances of getting admitted to these schools you would need to ensure that you have a very strong application (consisting of - Essays, LORs, and Resume) that highlights your strengths and overshadows your weaknesses in order to differentiate your profile. You need to showcase your journey, what makes you different from your peers, and how you are a great value addition to the school.

Thus, if you are looking to target the top B-schools and want to craft a winning application that would increase your chances by at least 3 times, you can check our comprehensive all-in-one solution that has helped thousands of applicants get into their dream schools worldwide.

Link to our All-In-One Solution-

https://www.mim-essay.com/mim-all-in-one  
 
Hope this helped!

GMAT 650 - Female US MBA

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards