don_strategy wrote:
Indian.
Education
-------------
PG: Management, IIM (equiv to MBA).
GPA: 3.7/4.33, major 4.0
Ranked 4 in class of 120 students.
Majored in strategy, all strategy/economics courses A or A+
UG: Engineering, Top 10 college in India.
GPA: approx 3.4 or 3.5 (US equivalent, since grading is on 10 point scale and tougher)
GMAT: Not yet taken, expecting 720+
Research experience - Nil
------------------------
No quantitative or statistical research.
MBA projects in strategy courses, but contemporary and good quality
LOR: Can get good recos, but professors aren't well known in US circuit.
SOP and Essays: I can write a good, compelling story.
Applying for the fall-2009 admits. Need to know what range of schools can I target.
I think any school gets several dozens of applications with stats similar to yours. the good news, some of these gets accepted, even to top schools. the bad news, most are rejected. but this is in line with the low acceptance rate....
really, your stats have nothing wrong or bad to disqualify you from any school, neither they contain something that make you stand out of the pile of other applicants.
what will make the difference is your SOP. you didn't mention neither your research interest nor your reasons for going to phd. these two stories will matter more than your GMAT.
they should also matter more when you choose schools. do some research. find a school whose faculty have matching interests. find people that you like how they write. this should be the primary consideration when choosing where to apply.