Profile Evaluation

Question

Good Afternoon,

I recently took my second GMAT exam and got a score of 695 FE (Q83, V87, D83).

Demographics: White, Male, 25, European

Work: I've been working in big 4 consulting for 3 years, which will be 4 before matriculation, with a focus on technology strategy and delivery.

Education: I went to a tier 2 state school in the United States, majored in Information Systems and Computer Science and got a 3.56 GPA.

International Experience: I don't have much international work experience, other than a brief project in college, but I am a first generation immigrant to the United States.

Extracurriculars: I'm on the alumni board for an organization I was a part of in college, I've been on the board for 2.5 years.

I'm looking to gauge what my likelihood is for admittance into M7, INSEAD, and LBS. What are my chances for these schools, and how can I improve my profile?

admitStreet · Answer

ssier - Your profile shows potential. Some more details can help assess better: Was your GMAT score in line with your mocks? Any scope to improve, if you were to retake? Have you had any promotions (or progressions) in your roles? Any key professional achievements worth highlighting? What are your directional career goals post-MBA? Reg. extracurriculars, are you still on the board of the organization, and what activities are you involved in there? Any other extracurriculars e.g. arts, sports, volunteering, etc.? Regards, Arvind Founder, admitStreet | Request a free profile evaluation W: https://admitstreet.com | LinkedIn | E: arvindk@admitstreet.com

CrackAdmission · Answer

ssier ,

Thank you for reaching out and congratulations on completing your second GMAT. You've clearly put serious thought into your MBA journey, and there's a lot to work with here. Let me give you an honest, strategic read of where you stand.

Your profile has  real  strengths but also some friction points that require deliberate positioning.
 
What's Working in Your Favor 
· Tech strategy + delivery at Big 4 is a cleaner story than pure advisory. You're not just recommending you're building. Adcoms notice that.
· First-gen immigrant is your most underutilized asset. At INSEAD and LBS especially, this isn't a footnote it's a headline.
· Board tenure at 25 shows early leadership trust. We just need to find the impact inside it.
 What Needs Work 
· GMAT for some schools (mentioned below) is slightly at the edge / lower side. I can imagine that a 3 rd  attempt might be too draining for you, but definitely worth a shot in pursuit of your ambition.
· Undergrad school needs smart framing but a 3.56 dual STEM major in consulting context actually plays fine. Your recommenders carry this one.
· Leadership stories need more depth. Right now you have the  titles  — Big 4 consultant, board member — but M7 adcoms want the  moments . Where did you take a stance? Drive change? Bring people along?
 
Realistic Odds 
    School  
  Verdict  
 
  HBS / GSB 
 Long shot one swing worth taking 
 
  Wharton / Booth / Kellogg 
 Competitive with 705+ 
 
  MIT Sloan / Columbia 
 Strong targets right now 
 
  INSEAD 
 Potentially your  best  application 
 
  LBS 
 Natural fit European roots, tech focus

The Positioning Opportunity We'd Explore With You 
Here's what excites us about your profile:  you are a European-born, first-generation American immigrant, with deep tech strategy expertise, who chose to build roots in a new country while developing world-class professional skills.  That is not a generic consulting profile. That is a  character arc.

Feel free to setup a 30 min pro-bono profile brainstorming session with us. We think there's a compelling application here and we'd love to help you find it.

Cheers and wishing you all the very best !!

MBAGuide · Answer

Hi ssier INSEAD Alumna here. I would say pretty good chances for a European who has studied and lived abroad. Your GMAT score is also top notch for your demographic. I wonder why you say you do not have ample international focus in your profile when you have grown as an individual at the intersection of cultures. The Ad Com is looking for examples in your essays where you demonstrate appreciation for diversity and an open mind. Some examples- travelling, working in a multinational with teams situated across geographies, moving within native country for jobs, family or education (can signal ease of mobility and adaptability), learning a new language or working with people who are demographically different. What are your goals? Hope they are aspirational and motivational at some level and not just generic like moving into MBB firms Best wishes Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD MBA alumna, former INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer) Founder, MBAGuideConsulting LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/aanchal-sahni-83b00819/ |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/ | Message(WA): +91 9971200927| email- mbaguideconsulting@gmail.com

GeneralEducation · Answer

Hello,

Your 695 FE is slightly on the lower side for M7 and a bit below the average for INSEAD and London Business School. A retake makes sense only if you are confident of a clear jump to around 715 or higher. Otherwise, your time is better spent strengthening the application

Your profile is solid but also quite common for these schools, given Big 4 tech consulting backgrounds. What will matter is how clearly you show impact. Focus on what changed because of your work, not just the projects you were part of. Your GPA is fine, and your recommenders can help reinforce your strengths

Your first-generation immigrant story is valuable and should be used more clearly. The main gap is leadership depth. Schools look for ownership and decisions, not just titles.

You can evaluate your target B-schools by trying our free  B-school selector  tool.

GyanOne · Answer

Hi  ssier

Your 695 FE is already strong enough for every school on your list, and we would not make another GMAT attempt the priority. For context, HBS reports a 685 median GMAT for its current class, with a middle 80% range of 645 to 735. Your 3.56 GPA from a solid but non-elite undergraduate institution is slightly less distinctive than the test score, but the 695 largely removes concerns around academic readiness.  
 For the M7, we would separate the schools rather than treat them as one bucket. HBS and Stanford should be considered reaches, primarily because Big 4 technology consulting is a highly represented applicant background and you will need unusually strong impact and leadership to differentiate yourself. Wharton, Booth, Kellogg, Sloan and CBS are more realistic competitive targets, although none is a safety. Four years of experience at matriculation is perfectly viable, with HBS currently reporting 4.9 years on average and a middle 80% range of 3 to 7 years.  
 LBS looks particularly reasonable, while INSEAD is also very viable if positioned correctly. LBS averages around 5.5 years of experience, so you will be somewhat younger professionally but not unusually so. INSEAD currently averages about six years, but explicitly considers younger candidates who demonstrate exceptional maturity and leadership. Your first-generation immigrant experience can actually help with the international dimension because INSEAD evaluates international motivation and openness to different cultures, not simply the number of overseas projects on your CV.  
 The biggest improvement opportunity is not another 10 or 20 GMAT points, but stronger evidence of leadership and differentiation at work. Technology strategy and delivery at a Big 4 is credible, but admissions committees will see many consultants. We would want to show promotions, unusually large client responsibility, instances where you influenced senior stakeholders, built something internally, led teams, won work, or created measurable client impact. The alumni board also helps, particularly because 2.5 years demonstrates commitment, but its value will depend on what you actually changed rather than simply holding the board position.  
 Overall, we would classify HBS/Stanford as reaches, the remainder of the M7 as competitive reaches to realistic targets, INSEAD as competitive, and LBS as competitive to relatively strong, assuming the career trajectory and recommendations are solid. The application now needs a sharp answer to why MBA, why now, and what specific post-MBA transition requires these schools. If those answers are generic, the profile can blend into the consulting pool. If they are distinctive and backed by genuine leadership examples, this is a profile capable of converting multiple schools from your list.   
Hope this is helpful. Reply here or  contact us directly .

Profile Evaluation

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

School	Verdict
HBS / GSB	Long shot one swing worth taking
Wharton / Booth / Kellogg	Competitive with 705+
MIT Sloan / Columbia	Strong targets right now
INSEAD	Potentially your best application
LBS	Natural fit European roots, tech focus