Forum Home > GMAT > Quantitative > Problem Solving (PS)
Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Dec 1208:00 PM PST
-09:00 PM PST
Inquire for a free profile evaluation and guarantee statement for possible admits and scholarships!
Dec 1308:30 AM EST
-09:15 AM EST
Get the inside scoop on what makes Emory’s Goizueta Business School great, learn how you can present a strong MBA application, and connect with an Admissions Director to get your questions answered.
Dec 1207:30 AM PST
-08:30 AM PST
Join the conversation to learn more about INSEAD vs LBS
Dec 1210:00 AM EST
-10:30 AM EST
Did you know you can lock in a spot at an elite MBA program years in advance of attending? Learn everything about Deferred MBA programs and why they’re becoming a game-changer for students and professionals.- Dec 14
08:00 AM PST
-11:30 AM PST
Join us for an exclusive Admit Weekend designed to help you navigate the exciting yet challenging process of choosing between multiple MBA offers and provide valuable guidance on financial aid, scholarship negotiation, visa processes, and more. 
Dec 1511:00 AM EST
-11:30 AM EST
Meet Tuck at an informal student or staff-hosted coffee chat in a city near you!- Dec 16
08:00 AM PST
-11:59 PM PST
GMAT Club 12 Days of Christmas is a 4th Annual GMAT Club Winter Competition based on solving questions. This is the Winter GMAT competition on GMAT Club with an amazing opportunity to win over $40,000 worth of prizes! - Dec 18
10:00 AM PST
-11:00 AM PST
Here is the essential guide to securing scholarships as an MBA student! In this video, we explore the various types of scholarships available, including need-based and merit-based options. 
Dec 2109:00 PM IST
-10:00 PM IST
Dreaming of a successful post-MBA career? Explore the 2026 career pathways in consulting, tech, finance, and dive into the exciting opportunities and the potential ROI these industries offer, helping you make informed decisions and more.
goenkashreya
14 Oct 2016, 02:09
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hello Admission Consultants,
I am posting on one generic thread hoping I'd get responses from varied consultants. I have been entrenched in the application process for over a year now and had to retake the GMAT. I finally have a score of 720 (Q46|V41) and I don't plan on retaking it.
I am an Indian female, 28. I pursued my undergraduate degree at The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. I chose engineering as my major (a choice I am not so happy about when I think about it today - I am more attracted to the liberal arts/economics etc.). Since it wasn't my calling and ended up with a GPA of 3.0 which was quite damming given I have been fairly good at academics all my life, but I assume not so bad since its engineering. I have always had an entrepreneurial side and returned to the country to work in the start-up space.
I was fortunate enough to be able to tread on a slightly non-traditional career path - I worked with a forward thinking consultancy (start-up) set up by a former Kellogg alumni and my team had a few MBA graduates (My manager etc.) from top MBA schools. Hence, my recommendations are going to hopefully be strong since my colleagues have the background. We were in the business of brand equity analysis and extension through licensing & joint ventures. At an early stage in my career, we faced financial distress and had to shut shop (a great learning experience). I then worked in strategy & insight consulting mostly involving consumer & market research, product/brand positioning & roll out, portfolio optimisation, launched a few digital apps. I have been promoted fast over the past 4.5 years starting at an analyst level and reaching the level of a senior consultant. I am passionate about design-thinking & product innovation and work with a non-profit firm (last 2 years) which uses design-thinking to solve waste management issues in the country. I run a curation blog on sustainable innovation. Besides that, I love to travel and have spent a fair amount of time backpacking across SE Asia, some organic farming, yoga is core to my existence.
My goal is to move towards innovation consulting or social impact consulting/work with start-ups in the sustainable innovation space.
I had applied last year with my GRE score and got accepted to IE. I got a reapplication offer (only 10% candidates get it) from INSEAD - they liked my profile but wanted me to take the GMAT and wanted a 70-75 percentile in quant and verbal. My quant percentile is n the 60's and verbal in 90's. Overall percentile in 90's. I will be sending my scores to INSEAD and hope that they consider me for an interview.
I, however, would like to keep my options open and wondering what shot I have at the following schools. Would be great if we could break it up into very strong, strong, competitive & stretch.
1. LBS
2. Berkeley
3. Stanford (Dream school - I know its tough)
4. NYU
5. UCLA
6. Judge
7. MIT
Any other school you may recommend based on my interest. I am not keen on going to a small city to study.
Thank you so much!
I am posting on one generic thread hoping I'd get responses from varied consultants. I have been entrenched in the application process for over a year now and had to retake the GMAT. I finally have a score of 720 (Q46|V41) and I don't plan on retaking it.
I am an Indian female, 28. I pursued my undergraduate degree at The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. I chose engineering as my major (a choice I am not so happy about when I think about it today - I am more attracted to the liberal arts/economics etc.). Since it wasn't my calling and ended up with a GPA of 3.0 which was quite damming given I have been fairly good at academics all my life, but I assume not so bad since its engineering. I have always had an entrepreneurial side and returned to the country to work in the start-up space.
I was fortunate enough to be able to tread on a slightly non-traditional career path - I worked with a forward thinking consultancy (start-up) set up by a former Kellogg alumni and my team had a few MBA graduates (My manager etc.) from top MBA schools. Hence, my recommendations are going to hopefully be strong since my colleagues have the background. We were in the business of brand equity analysis and extension through licensing & joint ventures. At an early stage in my career, we faced financial distress and had to shut shop (a great learning experience). I then worked in strategy & insight consulting mostly involving consumer & market research, product/brand positioning & roll out, portfolio optimisation, launched a few digital apps. I have been promoted fast over the past 4.5 years starting at an analyst level and reaching the level of a senior consultant. I am passionate about design-thinking & product innovation and work with a non-profit firm (last 2 years) which uses design-thinking to solve waste management issues in the country. I run a curation blog on sustainable innovation. Besides that, I love to travel and have spent a fair amount of time backpacking across SE Asia, some organic farming, yoga is core to my existence.
My goal is to move towards innovation consulting or social impact consulting/work with start-ups in the sustainable innovation space.
I had applied last year with my GRE score and got accepted to IE. I got a reapplication offer (only 10% candidates get it) from INSEAD - they liked my profile but wanted me to take the GMAT and wanted a 70-75 percentile in quant and verbal. My quant percentile is n the 60's and verbal in 90's. Overall percentile in 90's. I will be sending my scores to INSEAD and hope that they consider me for an interview.
I, however, would like to keep my options open and wondering what shot I have at the following schools. Would be great if we could break it up into very strong, strong, competitive & stretch.
1. LBS
2. Berkeley
3. Stanford (Dream school - I know its tough)
4. NYU
5. UCLA
6. Judge
7. MIT
Any other school you may recommend based on my interest. I am not keen on going to a small city to study.
Thank you so much!
17 Oct 2016, 07:41
Kudos
Bookmarks
Positives:
1) Par GMAT score.
2) Work ex seems diverse. But need more clarity.
3) No trace of Indian IT; welcome.
4) Exposure to start-ups
5) Learning from failures.
Negatives:
1) Undergrad brand ain't great. But this shouldn't be a deal-breaker.
2) GPA is low. Concerned here.
3) You'll have to explain your diverse interests including engineering and getting out of it, in a coherent manner, which would be a challenge.
The timelines in your work ex description are looking hazy. Can you elaborate on the duration for each job. Two factors to be ruled out - Frequent change of jobs and below average time spent in each job. Once I have this info, I'll let you know my recommendations. Haas and Judge don't belong to the same cohort. You could drop them.
1) Par GMAT score.
2) Work ex seems diverse. But need more clarity.
3) No trace of Indian IT; welcome.
4) Exposure to start-ups
5) Learning from failures.
Negatives:
1) Undergrad brand ain't great. But this shouldn't be a deal-breaker.
2) GPA is low. Concerned here.
3) You'll have to explain your diverse interests including engineering and getting out of it, in a coherent manner, which would be a challenge.
The timelines in your work ex description are looking hazy. Can you elaborate on the duration for each job. Two factors to be ruled out - Frequent change of jobs and below average time spent in each job. Once I have this info, I'll let you know my recommendations. Haas and Judge don't belong to the same cohort. You could drop them.
19 Oct 2016, 03:47
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi goenkashreya,
On INSEAD
Most schools are particular about a balanced score (between Quant and Verbal), and are generally more concerned with a low Quant score. INSEAD, in fact, mentions the minimum recommended split on their website.
Although GMAT and GPA are the two most important inputs in the assessment of an applicant’s academic profile, the process is more holistic especially in border-line cases (and I think yours is one). You may read more on this in my response in this thread:
schools-forgiving-of-low-gpas-225476.html#p1735026
So when you send your score to INSEAD, also mention any other evidence of your proficiency in Quant to allay their concerns about your low Quant score. You may not have much to mention from your undergrad in this regard, but if you’ve something from your professional work (consulting, in particular), then do mention it as an evidence of your proficiency in Quant. This way, you can strengthen your case at INSEAD.
This post will throw more light on this:
Why Quant Is More Important than Verbal in GMAT, and How to Compensate for a Low Score?
Other
If you apply to the schools you’ve mentioned, you’ve a slight advantage of an interesting track record, honest admission of low GPA and what you learnt in the process (yes, it can be taken positively!), and lessons from shutting the shop.
What matters disproportionately more at top schools is the quality of your work experience: lessons learnt (that’s why I say shutting the shop can be a positive), faster career growth, impact, leadership experiences (not necessarily entailed by position), problem-solving, unusual experiences and so on.
Among the schools you’ve in your list, Stanford and MIT will be particularly tough, but you should have one or two such schools in your target list.
Last, regarding your career goal, make sure to make them concrete (at the moment, they look abstract).
On INSEAD
Most schools are particular about a balanced score (between Quant and Verbal), and are generally more concerned with a low Quant score. INSEAD, in fact, mentions the minimum recommended split on their website.
Although GMAT and GPA are the two most important inputs in the assessment of an applicant’s academic profile, the process is more holistic especially in border-line cases (and I think yours is one). You may read more on this in my response in this thread:
schools-forgiving-of-low-gpas-225476.html#p1735026
So when you send your score to INSEAD, also mention any other evidence of your proficiency in Quant to allay their concerns about your low Quant score. You may not have much to mention from your undergrad in this regard, but if you’ve something from your professional work (consulting, in particular), then do mention it as an evidence of your proficiency in Quant. This way, you can strengthen your case at INSEAD.
This post will throw more light on this:
Why Quant Is More Important than Verbal in GMAT, and How to Compensate for a Low Score?
Other
If you apply to the schools you’ve mentioned, you’ve a slight advantage of an interesting track record, honest admission of low GPA and what you learnt in the process (yes, it can be taken positively!), and lessons from shutting the shop.
What matters disproportionately more at top schools is the quality of your work experience: lessons learnt (that’s why I say shutting the shop can be a positive), faster career growth, impact, leadership experiences (not necessarily entailed by position), problem-solving, unusual experiences and so on.
Among the schools you’ve in your list, Stanford and MIT will be particularly tough, but you should have one or two such schools in your target list.
Last, regarding your career goal, make sure to make them concrete (at the moment, they look abstract).
