GMAT Club Legend
Joined: 05 Apr 2006
Affiliations: HHonors Diamond, BGS Honor Society
Posts: 5916
Given Kudos: 7
Schools: Chicago (Booth) - Class of 2009
WE:Business Development (Consumer Products)
Re: Please give me your advice
[#permalink]
04 Oct 2008, 14:40
I would reach out to the school re applying in R1 and retaking the GMAT. I think it shouldn't be a problem. That said, I think you do need to retake. A 590 at Stern is simply not competitive - I believe the 80% range is something like 650-750. A 590 is substantially below that and barring a particularly stellar work history, I don't think you'd be admitted. If my math is right, you've worked approximately 1.5 years so far, so I suspect your leadership experience and career progression is likely, by comparison to someone with more experience, limited. Thats OK, but it does represent a bit of a hurdle.
I've taken to thinking about things in + and -'s these days, so at the risk of boiling your life down to a few lines - by which I mean no offense:
- 1 Weak GMAT, below the 80%
- 1 Weak extracurricular (I see a lot of limited short term volunteering, no leadership)
- 1 Limited work experience
+ 1 International work experience / Somewhat unique industry
+ 0 Average GPA
On balance, it doesn't strike me as the most competitive profile for Stern. I would advise:
(1) Retake the GMAT. Realistically you need to get into the 80% band, or at least close to it to have a reasonable chance.
(2) Consider taking on more extracurricular activities. The problem is that you wont be able to do much this year.
Consider postponing the application for the year to address (1) and (2). If you can change those -1s into +1s - I think your application will be far more likely to succeed.