GMAT Score - University selection

Itisha,

I recommend using the next few months to get comunity service experience. Aim for leadership experience if you can get it (coordinating other volunteers, sitting on a board, etc.)--that will set you apart and make up for previous weak involvement.

At work, informal leadership is better than no leadership. Make the most of what you have and seek out leadership opportunities in the coming months.

Given your limited work and leadership experience you may not be able to aim quite as high as your numbers seem to warrant. I think CMU is doable, but you could also aim for Michigan, Duke, Texas, and Indiana, which are highly ranked in both entrepreneurship and/or finance. With more experience and accomplishments you could aim higher.

Schools don't expect you to be able to document your community service, but they do occasionally have third-party firms do some verifying to weed out the frauds. They also have a pretty good nose for people who are exaggerating or falsifying--it usually sounds generic and vague.

Good luck,

Hi Paul,

I am done with my GMAT.Managed a 710(Q49,V36), AWA Score still awaited. I wish to apply for Fall'07
Though I have told you this in my previous posts..I will summarize my profile
--Female/Indian/IT/B.Tech
--will have 2 years of work experince by 2007
--Work experince as a sofware engineer, not leading a team.
--Little community service, had raised money for a victim once, had put a stall for an NGO once.
But plan to get actively involved in it from now with some organisation like Rotary or CRY and get some kind of leadership experience.
--Good academic scores 76% in my grad, though not from the top colleges in India.

I want to do MBA in finance/entrepreneurship

I am aiming for the following universities:
1)Yale
2)UCLA
3)CMU
4)Duke
5)Tuck
6)MIT
7)Vanderbilt

I have a few doubts which I am listing down in the following points.

I plan to seriously get involved in community service from nowonwards, though I hav only some 4-5 months time befoe the apps.
This is one major area on which I am going to work upon in the following months.
Also, I plan to get in touch with the current students and alumini's of these univs.

a)How do you evaluate my chances at thes univ's?

b) Are these school good for the course I want to take?

c)Is there anything specific, I can do to work upon my profile and which can help me with the apps process.

Hope to hear from you,

Regards
Itisha

Itisha,

If you have no leadership at work and minimal community involvement then your odds at the schools you listed will be small, with Vanderbilt and CMU offering your best shot. Given your goals, you might look at Rochester, Indiana, or Cornell for finance and Babson, USC, Texas, Indiana, and/or UNC for entrepreneurship. Anything specific you can do: You need to build up your leadership profile and start building a network at your target schools.