meetoo wrote:
Hi,
Would love some feedback on my profile, and whether it might be a good idea to retake the GMAT (or if there's any harm in doing so). My quant percentile is 66%, verbal 99%, overall score (730) 96%. I was scoring significantly better in quant on practice tests (with a total score of 750). My post MBA goals are management consulting, and I know they look at your quant score - so I think I have an added reason to retake. While I studied Engineering, I did poorly in general quant classes (C's/B's in Calculus, Physics, etc).
Here goes:
Age: 26
Gender: Male
App History: None
Education: Industrial & Systems Engineering with an Information Systems emphasis from the University of Southern California
GPA:3.49 cum, 3.89 major
GMAT: 730 (Q44/66% V46/99% - should I retake? I know I can get that Q up)
Misc: Dual citizenship with Egypt/USA (born in Egypt, grew up in the states)
College Extracurriculars: I skipped my senior year of high school (enrolled at USC a year early and finished in 4 years still), was in "honors," rowed on the crew team for a couple seasons, served as president of a religious organization on campus and was the student speaker at the Baccalaureate Ceremony. I was also a bit involved with other stuff on campus.
Work History: I worked throughout college, interned with Cintas one summer, with NBC Universal the next in an operations management program, worked in litigation consulting/data analysis out of college. Left after a year, moved back to the East Coast, did some freelance projects remotely which evolved into me running a fashion accessories brand that didn't take off but taught me a lot, pursued internet marketing, and then worked for the census for a year as a recruiting assistant/crew leader for cashflow. For the past year, I've been working in LA at a Fortune 150 media/broadcast company in Revenue Assurance. Working with lots of data and different cross-functional teams, looking for leakages throughout the revenue stream and managing recovery efforts.
Post-College Extracurriculars: I coached crew at my old high school for three years (a public school by Newark, NJ). The kids I coached medaled at some incredibly competitive races and won a state championship in their category. I also volunteered at a hippotherapy farm and with the NYC USC Alumni Club. Strong extracurriculars back in LA, too.
Post-College classwork: An online graduate course in data mining through Stanford's statistics department. Got an A.
I'd like to go into strategy/management consulting and am looking at: Stanford, Harvard, LBS Consortium: Tuck, Yale
Thanks in advance!
I have two concerns: the Quant of your GMAT and the seeming descent of leadership in your experience. Yes, I do feel it is worthwhile to retake the GMAT, especially since you are so confident that you should be able to lift that score. In parallel, the census work and revenue assurance roles seem lackluster: they don't inherently demonstrate your ability to take risks, lead new revenue generating initiatives, and inspire people. If I'm wrong, then you have nothing to worry about. If I'm right, then in addition to retaking the GMAT you need to find ways to do these and emphasize how you've done them outside of work and in previous roles to (hopefully) distract the admissions committees from their current absence.
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