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chicagohopeful
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Joined: 24 May 2010
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Profile Evaluation 24 May 2010, 22:03
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Linda,

I have been impressed with the thoughtfulness of your advice and would really appreciate your view on my qualifications as an MBA applicant. I am focusing my applications on Chicago and Northwestern and I was hoping you could give me your thoughts on whether I am a competitive applicant. I believe I have a well-rounded application, but I am not sure if my GMAT score is strong enough. I am also concerned that my lopsided verbal/math score will be a red flag to reviewers despite my demonstrated success in a field which requires strong quantitative skills.

Here is my profile before I go any further:
Sex: Female
Race: Caucasian
Citizenship: U.S.
Age: 27 (28 at the time of my application)
College: Top tier liberal arts college
Major: Economics
GPA: 3.6
GMAT: 690 (V: 46; M: 39)

Leadership/Volunteer:
While in college I held several leadership responsibilities. I was also a student athlete. Since college, I have taken on volunteer leadership positions at two different non-profit institutions planning major events, fundraising and organizing other volunteers. I also currently hold several volunteer leadership positions at my alma mater in both development and alumni relations.

Honors/Awards:
During college I received a fellowship to conduct economic research. I also graduated cum laude. More recently, my college recognized my significant involvement by awarding me an honorary leadership role.

Professional:
Over the past five years, I have worked in the field of investment banking. I was recognized for my performance with an accelerated promotion from Analyst to Associate (typically a very small percentage of Analysts are promoted to the Associate level). Throughout my tenure, I have been given increasing responsibility. I have been actively involved in mentoring and recruiting junior bankers.

I believe I will have strong recommendations from my employers. I am looking to make a career move into corporate development, ideally at a consumer products company, and I believe that an MBA will best help me achieve this goal. The transactions that I have found most engaging involved advising consumer-oriented businesses. I really enjoy the transactional work I do and I believe corporate development will provide an opportunity to continue this work as well as advising management on other areas of strategic thinking. I would also like to strengthen my management and marketing skills as I believe these skills are critical for advancement in a consumer focused company.

My concern is that a 690 is slightly below the average at both Booth and Kellogg and that the admissions office may perceive my math score as a serious weakness. I believe I can score higher on the math, but given my practice exams I do not expect to score higher than the mid 40s. I am prone to test taking anxiety, so I would not be surprised if my overall score stayed the same but my math went up a bit and verbal went down. In general, I think my score would stay within a 680-715 range. Given this expectation, do you think I should consider taking the GMAT again or do you think my 690 along with my other characteristics makes me a competitive applicant?

Thank you very much.
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Profile Evaluation 26 May 2010, 12:49
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chicagohopeful
Linda,

I have been impressed with the thoughtfulness of your advice and would really appreciate your view on my qualifications as an MBA applicant. I am focusing my applications on Chicago and Northwestern and I was hoping you could give me your thoughts on whether I am a competitive applicant. I believe I have a well-rounded application, but I am not sure if my GMAT score is strong enough. I am also concerned that my lopsided verbal/math score will be a red flag to reviewers despite my demonstrated success in a field which requires strong quantitative skills.

Here is my profile before I go any further:
Sex: Female
Race: Caucasian
Citizenship: U.S.
Age: 27 (28 at the time of my application)
College: Top tier liberal arts college
Major: Economics
GPA: 3.6
GMAT: 690 (V: 46; M: 39)

Leadership/Volunteer:
While in college I held several leadership responsibilities. I was also a student athlete. Since college, I have taken on volunteer leadership positions at two different non-profit institutions planning major events, fundraising and organizing other volunteers. I also currently hold several volunteer leadership positions at my alma mater in both development and alumni relations.

Honors/Awards:
During college I received a fellowship to conduct economic research. I also graduated cum laude. More recently, my college recognized my significant involvement by awarding me an honorary leadership role.

Professional:
Over the past five years, I have worked in the field of investment banking. I was recognized for my performance with an accelerated promotion from Analyst to Associate (typically a very small percentage of Analysts are promoted to the Associate level). Throughout my tenure, I have been given increasing responsibility. I have been actively involved in mentoring and recruiting junior bankers.

I believe I will have strong recommendations from my employers. I am looking to make a career move into corporate development, ideally at a consumer products company, and I believe that an MBA will best help me achieve this goal. The transactions that I have found most engaging involved advising consumer-oriented businesses. I really enjoy the transactional work I do and I believe corporate development will provide an opportunity to continue this work as well as advising management on other areas of strategic thinking. I would also like to strengthen my management and marketing skills as I believe these skills are critical for advancement in a consumer focused company.

My concern is that a 690 is slightly below the average at both Booth and Kellogg and that the admissions office may perceive my math score as a serious weakness. I believe I can score higher on the math, but given my practice exams I do not expect to score higher than the mid 40s. I am prone to test taking anxiety, so I would not be surprised if my overall score stayed the same but my math went up a bit and verbal went down. In general, I think my score would stay within a 680-715 range. Given this expectation, do you think I should consider taking the GMAT again or do you think my 690 along with my other characteristics makes me a competitive applicant?

Thank you very much.
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I share your concerns, not so much about the 690, but about the quant score. It is surprising given your work and your academic background. I do think you should retake the GMATand focus on your quant score. Don't worry about the verbal. Realize that the schools will use your highest score and see all of them. Also, a few school will take the highest individual scores.

Are you currently competitive at top business schools? Maybe. However, given that it is early and there is time to retake and that your upside is far greater than your downside, I recommend retaking.

Best,
Linda