Profiles - Admitted to Top B-Schools w/ Low GMAT or Low GPA

630( Q46, V 31, AWA 6 )

Clearly i was struggling with verbal, although my Q isn't that great too.
I am having second thoughts about retake , but I'm afraid that my score might not improve. Frankly when I was giving GMAT, i was pretty confident of making 680+, as I was getting that much in all my mock tests. I don't know where I went wrong. I had gone through Manhattan SC guide multiple times and also atleast 25% of 1000 SC and I was quite okay with it. The irony is, in the actual GMAT, I knew I had stumbled down in Q, but verbal, I thought was going pretty well, until I saw my score!
So, the whole point is I don't know where and how to improve. I had not taken MGMAT tests, may be that's one place I can do some work.

Second point is If I retake GMAT, I should take within a month(including TOEFL) in order to make to the second round deadlines, which are as early as Dec 1st.

Do you think I have good chances if I retake and score 680+ ( My profile in brief: 2 yrs WE, 7.13/10 GPA, Indian Female IT). What are the chances of funding in such case?

Please advise. I'm totally stuck in the midst of nowhere.

Thanks a lot.

pddm,
Which mock tests were you taking?
Did you go through the wrong answers in those mock tests to find your weak-spots? Since you have the Manhattan SC guide, you must be having access to their mock tests. Try taking a MGMAT mock test and see which verbal section you are falling out on. It may not be SC! Why I ask this is since you got a 6 in the AWA, your grammar must be pretty good
If its SC, try to understand what kind of questions you are making mistakes in (idioms, tenses, parallelism, etc).
If its not SC, get the OG and do the questions in RC and CR.

A quant score of 46 is not bad. There could be several reasons why it went low. It is possible that you were hovering around 49 when you made a few mistakes towards the end, thus bring down your score. Perhaps you could change your strategy in quant. What I follow is pretty simple - spend a fair amount of time for the 1st 10 and the last 10 quant questions. I don't worry much about the mid 17 questions, I don't have statistics to prove this, but I feel that even if your accuracy decreased in those 17 questions, you will be able to make up for it in the end.

I would certainly retake the GMAT if I were you because having a score of 680+ boosts one's confidence to apply to better schools. Don't you think that you deserve a better GMAT score and a better business school? Go for it, I say

I read a lot of the threads dedicated to certain schools and get so depressed looking at the profiles of others. But this thread really gives you some hope.

Thanks guys

pddm,
Which mock tests were you taking?
Did you go through the wrong answers in those mock tests to find your weak-spots? Since you have the Manhattan SC guide, you must be having access to their mock tests. Try taking a MGMAT mock test and see which verbal section you are falling out on. It may not be SC! Why I ask this is since you got a 6 in the AWA, your grammar must be pretty good
If its SC, try to understand what kind of questions you are making mistakes in (idioms, tenses, parallelism, etc).
If its not SC, get the OG and do the questions in RC and CR.

A quant score of 46 is not bad. There could be several reasons why it went low. It is possible that you were hovering around 49 when you made a few mistakes towards the end, thus bring down your score. Perhaps you could change your strategy in quant. What I follow is pretty simple - spend a fair amount of time for the 1st 10 and the last 10 quant questions. I don't worry much about the mid 17 questions, I don't have statistics to prove this, but I feel that even if your accuracy decreased in those 17 questions, you will be able to make up for it in the end.

I would certainly retake the GMAT if I were you because having a score of 680+ boosts one's confidence to apply to better schools. Don't you think that you deserve a better GMAT score and a better business school? Go for it, I say [/quote]
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Thanks Jaidev for all the advise. I will try my best to follow it.
You have a fantastic GMAT score btw...Congrats on that!
I'm planning for a retake now, even though it means missing some of my school's deadlines.
Hoping for the best

Howdy just finished my first test and found this string interesting.

GMAT: 710 (Q:46, V:41, AWA:??)
University attended: Large State university (Top 50ish)
Major(s): History
GPA / Honours: 2.92
Nationality: White American
Age: (at matriculation): 28
Gender: Male
Work Experience: No. of Years / Industry / Role : 4.5/ Energy/Oil & Gas / Consultant & Project Management
Extra-curricular Activities: Fraternity President in college and volunteered for a few local charities
Community Services:

Basically right now have the mentality that the 2.92 precludes applying to top 10 and I don't want to waste time with "saftey schools" so the plan as of now is to apply January round to:

UVA
Duke
UNC
UT-Austin
Georgetown

4 questions:

1. Thoughts on schools above UVA that are somewhat low gpa friendly?
2. Does energy qualify as unusual work experience?
3. Is the GMAT worth another testing, meaning can i make up for the 2.92 with a higher GMAT ?
4.$cholariships: I've read there are GMAT thresholds, but will the 2.92 keep me from getting scholarships?

^^^^ Ross

Hi, I can only help with information about DUKE and UNC (schools that I applied and got into)
2.- Energy in both school does not qualify as unusual work experience I think, quite a few people of the 2012 class actually have that same background.
3.- I feel that the higher your GMAT the better you will look to admissions but with that said, when they say they look at the whole package they really mean that. I got into both school with a very low GMAT and I know of people with 750 that got dings. Applications goes beyond GPA and GMAT, your story has to make sense, your essays have to convey a coherent and pretty good story, your interview has to be darn good.
4.- Most likely it will, with the way the economy still is hurting, way too many qualified candidates are applying (and getting accepted) to good schools. For scholarships they look at the whole package, one thing doesn't make up for another. With that said, if they want you bad enough, they might offer some money but it is not going to be just because your GMAT.

I hope that helps, and good luck with the application

What a thread guys! Very informative and gives me hope too....

I got a 690 (Q49/ V34). It is unbalanced but I do not want to give GMAT again as this was already my third attempt.

My profile :

Nationality : Indian
WE : 4.5 years in top IT firm (India + international experience)....permanent employee in US for about 1.5+ years now
UnderGrad : B.tech in information technology
GPA : 8.6/10 ...dont know how to convert this..(2nd ranker in my class)
Extra Curricular : Very active in sports. Was head of Sports Committee in college for all 4 years of the program. Also won Gold/ Bronze medals at Inter-College sports meet. Also very active on all cultural events at school.
Community Service : Active member of a foundation in India to help orphanages. Helping students with homeworks and mentoring in US.


I want to apply to :

MIT
Kellogg
Booth
ISB
Darden
Duke
Ross
Cornell

Do you think I have a chance in these schools? Should I also add some "save" schools on my list. I was actually more interested in 1 year programs and thought about INSEAD but then I do not have a balanced GMAT score and I am not sure if I should give it a shot. Guess for 1 year programs my only options are ISB and Cornell.

Any suggestions/ comments will be highly helpful. You can be blunt to me...I wouldn't mind! I just want to get into my dream school this year

What sort of work experience is considered unusual?


Thanks

Hi all ,

Low GPA and GMAT here and looking to apply to CBS early decision. I have a 2.18 and a 530 GMAT score and will be submitting my application this week.

A little bit about myself:

French major from a second tier university. Poor grades due to family illness. I have taken graduate and community college courses and scored A's and B's to prove I am able to achieve excellence academically. I've taken the GMAT five times and gone from a 420 to a 530, raising my score every exam. However, $250 a pop gets expensive so I stopped at a 530.

I am Latino and a member of the LGBT community. I am 29, worked in nonprofits for 6 years and have extensive community service and leadership backgrounds. I am also an entrepreneur on the side and I am cofounder of a small technology start-up that has been in development since 9/2010. I hope to use this as a strength in my application.

I applied to MIT Sloan in 2009 and got interviewed but was eventually dinged. I was dinged because the application did not make it past the final review committee. But I had admission officers on my side helping me. They said my essays were compelling! I also have an admissions consultant who ins WONDERFUL and has helped me craft my essays even further.

Anyways, 2 years later, I'm back in the game and CBS is where I want to go. There aren't many low GPA and GMAT folks on here so I hope to represent. I'm not exactly proud of my scores but hey, I'm trying to do the best I can.

I will keep everyone posted! Wish me luck!

wow very dedicated. If you don't mind, just out of curiousity, who is your admissions consultant? What kind of advice did they give you about your low GMAT scores? It seems like all the admissions consultants on this website are saying the same advice about retaking the GMAT, and that the GMAT what really matters?

Once again I decided to post a short note here to help people who are looking into top 20 schools with low GMAT/GPA.
I have read and heard so many so called "consultants" about how important GMAT is and if you don't have 700 you shouldn't even consider applying.
I had a 560 GMAT and still got into 2 top 20 school, now I'm about to start my 2nd year. This are a few thoughts as I look back into my application process and I wish I had known this when I was looking into schools I wanted to attend.
1) GMAT IS NOT EVERYTHING (I'm an example), basically Bschools want to know that you will be able to handle the heavy work load and stress that is the 1st semester. They don't want students dropping out or even worse failing classes. Sadly given that there is no standard way to measure your academic skills bschools use your GMAT scores as a gauge. I know 750 people who got dinged and I'm a 560 who got in!!
2) Your story counts, schools want to know why you want to go to bschool, how that specific school fits in your long term plans and HOW can they benefit from you going there.
3) You need to be UNIQUE to them, schools want a diverse pool of students. Make sure you don't follow a template from a consultant.
4) RESEARCH THE SCHOOL, you have to make your application "custom fit" to every school. Admissions is very good at catching BS, if you don't understand the culture of each school and what "they" think is unique about them admissions won't believe your application that says you can add to that uniqueness.

Finally, show your essays and your entire application to as many friends as you can, get as much feed back as possible then look at your application yourself and if you don't buy your own arguments, bschools won't either. Be realistic about your application and about what you want to do in life, if you went to an below average school and got a below average GPA, got a below average job and scored a below average GMAT... your chances of getting into consulting at the top 3 schools or investment banking might not happen for you AND admissions will see that, your entire story has to make sense.

Consultants don't have the answers to everything and they cannot get you into the school you want, UNLESS you can do that on your own. They just help you focus!

I hope this helps, good luck to everyone who is looking into applying for next year!!

GMAT: 680 (Q:42, V:41, AWA:5.5)
University attended: Service Academy
Major(s): History
GPA / Honours: 2.4
Nationality: US
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Work Experience:5 years/Military Officer/ Mid-level management
Extra-curricular Activities: None
Community Services: None

Business Schools (Admitted): Ross (R3) and Cornell w/ $ (R4)
Business Schools (Applied but Dinged): None

What do you think is your biggest advantage?
Leadership experience and great essays set me apart. I think people put too much weight into the GPA/GMAT portion of the application... all those are going to do is get your foot in the door. Once they have your application in front of them there needs to be a lot more to set yourself apart as a viable candidate. If you are within the range for the school you are applying too than I really don't think you should retake the GMAT... it is a waste of your time. You are much better off spending your resources fine tuning your story and translating it into words.

Hi Folks,

This thread gave me a lot of hope when I was applying. And I wished that one day I'll be posting my success story. The day has come now as I've been accepted by INSEAD. Applied to CBS ED and will update when I hear from them.

First of all, don't take your profile evaluations seriously. GMAT/GPA are important components of your application, but there is no deal-breaker. I'm an Indian male with an engineering background (GPA converts to 2.2) and have not worked/studied outside my country. I've very weak social EC and have never held important positions in any clubs. Only one promotion in last five years and an individual contributor. When admission consultants read my profile, they asked me to change my target schools. It's not their fault - the poor guys work with limited information. Here is what one consultant told me:

If you're based in the US, then I'd say schools like Columbia, Kellogg, and Haas will likely be stretches, and schools such as Stern, Cornell, Yale, Duke, Darden, Michigan and UCLA will be sweet spots. (and if you've been based in India, then these sweet spot schools will be stretches, and your sweet spots would then be schools outside of the top 16 such as Tepper, Georgetown, USC, etc.).

So what worked for me? Here are my guesses:
1. I did something which I never did in college - I worked hard. I spent a lot of time on GMAT Club. 80% of that was simply a waste of time, but it was necessary for the remaining 20% which was extremely useful. From offline content, I highly recommend two books - Your MBA Game Plan and Great Application for Business School (Paul Bodine). Cleverly and succinctly written.
2. I think I score high on the hire-ability quotient. A graduate from India's top school (yes, it's IIT), a quant in a big firm and a CFA charter-holder.
3. A credible goal essay. The proof was in the pudding as I asked them to look at my blog.
4. I wrote an optional essay clearly stating that my UG grades were due to lack of focus. No excuses. I alleviated any doubts regarding my intelligence by reminding them about my GMAT score, my Math Olympiad achievements, my IIT admit. And I challenged them to challenge my commitment after considering my job profile, my CFA charter and my blog.
5. Finally, I felt really good after preparing my application. If I were an adcom member, I would have selected myself. That feeling was missing after I prepared my CBS application and I wouldn't be surprised if they don't invite me for an interview.

So chin up everyone, and give it your best shot. PM me if you have any questions.

Update: Was surprised to get an interview invite from Columbia (Early Decision) yesterday. And I thought Columbia was big on solid academics. At least that's what I heard.

Will decline the invite soon. INSEAD it is.

Sorry for reviving a old thread but I would just like to give a follow up on the Low GPA when it comes to recruiting.


So all and all, most companies care very little to 0 on GPA. I have been asked twice, both this year, both consulting, one during the first round which resulted in an offer, the other during a second round which is pending. Outside of consulting, no one has asked me about GPA during an interview.

But here's the results
Interviewed with 2 of the M/B/B,
[*]closed listed (Moved to 2nd round)
[*]got a call which the recruiter asked to bid (dinged after first round),
[*]Screening call (no interview)


As for the other consulting firms, I was closelisted my first and/or second year from most top-20 consulting firms that recruited at Ross. I currently two offers from vault's top 10, one is a returning offer from my summer internship.

If you have questions outside of Consulting, I can do a debrief of those also, but in general your prior experience matters most, I received most interviews that I either fit my background or I tried to networked. Alternatively, I went 1 for 4 in tech.


I hope this helps all you low GPA people!

So reading through the thread, so bascially the low GPA friendly schools are: Kellogg, Ross, INSEAD and maybe Cornell? Any other schools in mind?