Hi Experts,
I have a very low GMAT but I want to do my MBA this year itself.

Kindly evaluate my profile, sharing the details below:
GMAT: 610 (Q47 V28)
Work Ex: 9 years
Industry : IT ( Product based organization)
Gender: Female
Graduation (GPA) : 4
Grad Stream: Engineering
10th / 12th : 88% / 72%
Nationality: India
Role in current job: I work as a quality assurance engineer for ADP( a software product based HCM organization).
Extra Activities:
1. I have organised large scale global hacakathons and multiple town hall events
2. I am the member of Product Management Camp in my org.I am increasing my learning about the basics of product management and have given many product demos.
3. I am a part of a Communications team where I facilitate and conduct global meetings and events.I publish internal newsletters as well.

Not sure if this will matter but I was on a break for the last 8 months, for the first 6 months I was on maternity break and next 2 months was for recovery from covid.

I am trageting the below mentioned b schools in India:
MDI Gurgaon- NMP
SPJIMR - PGPM

Not sure whether there are any other b- schools I can apply for.

Kindly provide some guidance whether it is even worth applying.

I cannot attempt GMAT any further due to personal reasons, please suggest other ways to boost my profile.

Thanks in advance

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Ananya, I'm not an expert but I happened to come across your post.

My two cents: could you please post your work-related, engineering-related, and extra-curricular achievements? That'll help the experts judge your profile better. I've been applying to B-Schools for a while now, and schools mostly assess the overall strength of a profile, they do not base a judgement on just 1 pitfall. Since you have 9 years of experience and your engineering GPA is high, 610 might not be the worst score if your work role (managerial experience), workstream, work achievements, extra-curricular achievements, work experience outside of your main job (work with startups, starting a company, working on consulting, etc) paint a strong picture.

Another point would be to have a broader list of schools to apply to based on their admission deadlines. Having 4-5 B-Schools as a contingency might not seem necessary, but can be helpful. SPJIMR is definitely worth a shot. The PGPM program helped my old boss switch from IT to Sales Operations last year, with better pay and a better company.


Thanks,
Saurav

Hi AnanyaPS ,

Thanks for sharing your profile. Based upon the information that you have shared, it is recommended that you aim for one year programs of these colleges - IIMK, IIMI, IIMU, Great Lakes, SPJIMER, MDI, XLRI. These colleges will be within your striking distance if you prepare well for your applications and interview.

In some of the colleges, where last round (eg SPJIMER) are about to close, you can target with this GMAT itself. For rest of the colleges you can either - 1. go with the same score if you think you are saturated by the GMAT preparation 2. Try to improve by 20-30 points and target other colleges in round 2 this year. Given your work experience of 9 years, waiting for one more year will not be advisable.

You have good academics and good work experience and it seems to be a great profile. It will be great if you can share more details so that better evaluation can be done. Hope it helped. You can contact us for more detailed discussion.

Best Wishes!
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Hello Saurav

Thank you for spending time and replying to my post. I will be adding the extra details to the original post.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi there,
First of all, we have seen many MBA candidates accepted into top programs with low GMAT, you can see some examples here: https://www.aringo.com/aringo-top-mba-gmat-results/
With the right strategy and highlighting your strengths you can do this as well!

Second, many top MBA programs now offer the option of a GMAT waiver, maybe you should consider this option? see more details here: https://www.aringo.com/more-top-mba-pro ... t-waivers/

Feel free to reach out to discuss this some more, and in any case good luck!
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It is possible to apply for even the score is low? Thanks.

Hi thomasdelange,

While naturally it varies from school to school, it is becoming less common to see students earn admission to top 10-20 schools with a GMAT score below 700.

When determining your target score, researching average scores is a great way to start. While those with a very strong profile, a unique background, or from an underrepresented applicant pool could gain admission with a below-average score, it is becoming less common to see large numbers of applicants with scores more than 20 to 30 points below average succeed.

In some cases, if you are applying from an overrepresented applicant pool, you may need to score 20 to 30 points above the average to even be on the same playing field as other applicants.

Personal MBA Coach offers customized tutoring services with tutors who have scored in the 99th+ percentile on the GMAT/GRE exams and are graduates of MIT, Harvard, UPenn, Yale, Columbia and more. Feel free to reach out to scott@personalmbacoach.com if you are looking for guidance here!

Best,
Claire


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