Hi Admissionado,

I have applied to few North American B-school in round 2 for 2021 intake: Fuqua, Tepper, Emory, Rotman, Mays, and Scheller (round 3).
I have certain red flags in my profile, but then certain areas that stand out. Please help me understand my chances of getting through to the above-mentioned schools.

Below are more details:
Career: 6+ years of exp. in boutique marketing agencies in India with 4+ years of management exp. Current responsibilities include client servicing, portfolio management (USD 1 Million +; Fortune 500 clients), team management, project management. A mid-management role at the current organization. A lot of solution creation, leading team/project, & constant decision making. Have got promotions every year, in terms of both CTC and responsibilities. Working in the agency space gives me opportunity to work with clients from various industries and projects of varying nature. Also, being a project driven industry, I get to work with people from various backgrounds in an environment that is very much dependent on coordination and teamwork. I have had direct reportees (1-2) for 3+ years and apart from that have also managed larger project teams, team sizes going to 50+ members.

Education: Bachelor of Business Management from Christ University, India (top tier undergrad b-school in India); GPA 2.79/4.00
GMAT: 660 (45Q, 35V, 7.0IR)

Extracurricular:
- Member of Business Quiz team at Uni and represented the Uni at several national level competitions.
- Established and operated a hydroponics community veg. garden during the lockdown.

Professional Accomplishments:
- On-boarded and have successfully managed a fortune 500 account.
- Developed a knowledge-sharing program for the company employees.
- Got selected to attend a company-sponsored 5 member, 3 months long, mentoring/skill-dev/leadership program, led by MD of a large Indian business.

Post MBA goals: Strategic or Marketing Consulting in North America. Have transferable skills and want to pursue MBA to learn strategy and improve soft skills and leadership qualities.

Addressing low scores:
- GPA: Had an addiction problem from high school till the end of undergrad. Overall GPA is low but have better scores in my specialization (Marketing) and practicum. My high education has been from international boards (IGCSE/IB), in which I have good scores. So wasn't able to adapt well to the theoretical nature of the Indian education system.
- GMAT: I have given the exam twice and have increased my score (590 to 660). I am considering re-appearing, but to make any significant jump, will need to prepare for a month or so. By then, round 2 application assessment would be over. So, for now, have to work with this score only.

Please help me understand my odds based on the current profile.

dhrjain:

Thanks for reaching out.

You are right. You have good work experience but your scores (GPA, GMAT) are a drag on your overall application. I like your lockdown extracurricular achievement but did you include anything else? That component of your profile seems slightly bare.

To be frank, I am not sure the focus on soft skills and leadership qualities was the right approach. Those tend to be viewed as throwaway ideas. You tend to need more concrete reasons for wanting an MBA. I caveat that I obviously have not seen your application essays, so it's difficult to determine how this reasoning was executed.

You definitely have a puncher's chance at these programs. Make sure if you get interviews that you really nail them. They represent your last best shot at leaving a good impression on the admissions committee.

Please reach out if you need our help with interviews or strategy moving forward. Wishing you the very best!

https://admissionado.com/

-Admissionado