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Question

Advice needed…

Indian Female
GMAT : 680 (Q48, V31, AWA 5 IR 7)
Schools I wish to apply to : HEC Paris, IESE, ESADE, ISB, NUS, 
10th : 86%
12th : 96%
B.E(Hons) : 7.7/10 (electronics and instrumentation) from a top 10 college in India
Class of 2011

Work experience :
1. 2 years small sized IT company as Software Engineer II. 
2. 1 year in a start-up NPO as Director

Extracurriculars: 
1. Got elected as cultural representative of hostel(hostel strength:300) in College
2. Received Rashtrapati Puruskar in Bharath Scouts and Guides program

Reccomendations:
1. Director at the IT company I worked for. Due to small size of the team, the Director was able to look at me closely to give recommendation. He has 20 years of Industry experience.
2. Vice president of a company whom I approached for raising funds at the NPO.

I am keen on studying MBA from the top schools in Europe. After graduating , I want to be non-profit sector. And want to expand the NPO that I am working in.

I have the following questions:
1. Does the work exp in NPO provide me an edge over the other Indian applicants to these schools ?
2. If 650 is not enough, will a score in a range 680-700 good ?
3. How to strengthen the point of needing an MBA at this point of time ?
4. Are the schools that I am targeting in my range? If not, what other schools will you suggest ?

Thanks in advance

CriticalSquare · Answer

Hi there - question - in the beginning of your post you state a 680 and then ask if a 650 is not good enough. Can you clarify?

imnk · Answer

Sorry. I scored 650 on GMAT.

CriticalSquare · Answer

Thank for clearing that up! So to your first questions - your work at the NPO could set you apart given you a) can demonstrate scope (i.e. the organization matters) and b) impact (i.e. you mattered).

A 650 is going to make those schools a bit difficult - especially places like HEC or ISB. Indians typically have higher average GMAT scores too.  Check out our video series on whether you should retake your GMAT.

From a school and story perspective - I'd say hold off on that for the moment. If you can retake the GMAT, do so. THEN worry about schools. If you retake the test and stick at a 650, then let's chat about other options. But if you blow it out of the water and score a 700, woohoo! That's a different conversation!

Bhavik

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