Indian American GMAT Advice Needed

Question

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this community and I've found it extremely helpful! I'm looking for some advice on how H/S/W Adcoms look at Indian Americans vs applicants applying from India. I'm an Engineer from an Ivy (Cornell/Princeton/Yale) with a relatively high GPA and I worked for 3 years in manufacturing at a large American CPG (J&J/Sc Johnson/P&G). I switched into Brand management within my company and am now applying to B School, expecting to matriculate after 5 total years at my company. My goal is to make the switch into CPG management consulting post MBA and long term I want to start my own health and wellness company.

I took the GMAT once and got a 740 and since it was above the median/average at all top schools I chose not to retake it. However, after reading this forum and seeing the heavy competition within the Indian cohort I'm wondering if my 740 will be held against me.

I'd love to get people's advice/experience on how Indian American applicants stack up and if my GMAT will indeed be a negative for me since I'm sure that a 740 GMAT is below the average for Indian applicants to most top B schools.

Thank you!

stoiczoan · Answer

Do you have US citizenship or green card?

MBADreaming20 · Answer

I am an American citizen...

Posted from my mobile device

IvyGroupeCEO · Answer

Hi there,

What is the breakout of your 740 GMAT score? If both the quant and the verbal are both strong (i.e. above an 80th percentile), then in my view, you are fine since you have a high GPA from an Ivy.

I hope this helps - if you'd like to discuss further, feel free to reach out at https://www.ivygroupe.com/contact.

Best,
Shaifali
(Princeton & HBS grad/MBA Admissions Expert)

MBADreaming20 · Answer

My GMAT score was a 740 with a 49Q/41V with an 8 IR and 5 AWA, so it was pretty balanced. I know that my GMAT is good enough to be in the mix but reading the stories of people in this forum have me worried

MBAIvy · Answer

Your 740 makes you very competitive. In my view as a former adcom, anything over a 720 from the top schools gets you serious consideration, and then it all depends upon your essays, interview, and professional experience (and internships, if relevant). Graduating from an Ivy as an American citizen is also going to give you an advantage over an international applicant (again, just in my experienced opinion).

Happy to talk more if you're looking for any further assistance with your applications: www.MBAIvyLeague.com

Jillian

IvyGroupeCEO · Answer

Hi there,

Your balanced and competitive GMAT score as well as strong GPA will indicate to the Admissions Committee that you can handle the rigor of the curriculum. In my view, it would be better to focus on putting together strong applications instead of devoting time to score an additional 10-30 points. I hope that helps!

Best,
Shaifali

MBADreaming20 · Answer

Thank you very much for your advice! I really appreciate it

. Sent from my iPhone using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

Thanks for sharing your profile. With your stats and pedigree you should be competitive for the top programs listed. Now depending on your career goals your fit will come across stronger at some schools than others. Given you were born here, you shouldn’t be lumped into the super competitive Indian applicant pool which should help your candidacy

Sent from my iPhone using GMAT Club Forum

Sent from my iPhone using GMAT Club Forum

MBALinkLawrence · Answer

You are not competing with Indians or other international applicants but it is not completely unreasonable to believe you may be competing with other Indian Americans or Asian Americans in general (still a competitive group).

This is not something that is talked about openly but there is data that suggests it to be the case.

Lawrence
mymbalink.com
[email protected]

GlengarryRoss · Answer

From what I've researched schools separate american citizens into URM / women / "the rest" buckets, MBALinkLawrence where are you getting your data to make that conclusion. Not to mention trump's pending investigation into affirmative action, I'd be highly surprised if MBA schools actually will put an "Asian tax" on american citizens.

Your 740 is more the enough and gets a checkmark, now put in a solid application and good luck.

Your 740 is more the enough and gets a checkmark, now put in a solid application and good luck.

MBALinkLawrence · Answer

https://asianamericanforeducation.org/en ... dmissions/ https://www.slate.com/articles/life/educ ... icans.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11 ... dmissions/ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/02/us/a ... icans.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opin ... story.html

GlengarryRoss · Answer

Undergraduate admissions and MBA admissions are completely different process. I'm sure you well know being a legacy gets you a negligible boost for graduate admissions.

Here's a study I found that is relatively well researched:

https://www.sole-jole.org/12001.pdf

"According to our final specification, both black and Hispanic applicants are about 33 percent more likely to be admitted than observably similar white applicants. Like schools outside the top 25, Asians face a disadvantage in admission, although this disadvantage is not statistically significant (compared to just 5 percent more for non-top 25 programs). "

MBAbot · Answer

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Indian American GMAT Advice Needed

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