Hello everyone.
I apologize in advance for the lengthy post, however, there is a lot I'd like to mention
Age: 27
Born in the U.S. to a family in poverty. My parents were both refugees and came to the U.S. right before I was born
First in my family to attend college, first in my family to graduate college.
Academics:
I began my undergraduate career with a 1.2 GPA because I was on chemotherapy and couldn't handle college + chemo. Yet, despite that, I got straight A's after chemo ended, so I transferred to a top 15 school in the world, unfortunately, I lost my financial aid and had to transfer back to my original non-ranked university. However, despite transferring twice (once away and once back to my original university) I graduated with Summa Cum Laude distinction.
I was on the dean's list 6 times.
I had a minor scholarship for academic achievement.
I was a STEM major, neuroscience and biological sciences with a minor in business administration. As stated earlier, final GPA was above 3.91 which is how I got Summa Cum Laude.
I also have a graduate degree. MS in medical physiology from a top 30 university in the U.S. I also had a great GPA there.
MCAT in the 90th percentiel, Critical analysis and reasoning section was 99th percentile
GMAT: Official score of 710. Verbal 40 Q 48 IR 8 AWA 6. Here's the thing. I took eleven practice tests directly from the official GMAT on which I scored 770. 710 was what I scored on my baseline before I even began studying. I got 710, 740, 770, 760, 770, 770, 740, 770, 770, 770, etc etc. Yes, I purchased exams 3-6 so I was not taking exams 1-2 over and over again seeing the same questions. I literally only scored 710 once, yet on the official GMAT I couldn't even break my original baseline score PRE-STUDYING. I am 100% going to retake the GMAT but I'm stumped sitting here wondering why I can't perform on the real exam. The MCAT was much harder and I never had any troubles with time or anxiety.
1.5 years of neuroscience research, however, no publications were made as the final study was completed after I graduated.
Extracurriculars: I have hundreds of volunteer hours with terminally and chronically ill children, volunteer work in poverty-stricken areas of the U.S., I have tutored students while in undergrad, I have gone on international volunteer trips to aid other refugees, I have volunteered to clean up local parks, done free HIV testing, and volunteered with my dog as a therapy dog in hospitals, I have done much more I can't think off of the top of my head.
Work:
1) I was an office manager as well as customer support manager for a small less than 50 employee company for 5 summers and 3 winters while ending high school and all throughout my undergraduate career. I also functioned as the executive assistant to the CEO and was involved in strategy meetings with partners like JnJ, GE, Bosch, and more. Summarized it is about 23 months of work
2) I managed one of the highest rated cardiology clinics in the U.S. for 1.5 years before I moved out of the area. We had >20,000 visits per year. I led the clinic in more than just a supervisor role. I led the expansion of the clinic, I streamlined many processes which shortened patient wait times, decreased study transfer times, created a new cloud storage server, renegotiated contracts to save us ~30% on recurring purchases, saved about 35% on equipment purchases, oversaw staff training, oversaw hiring of new staff, created the new employee manual from scratch, and was praised by patients and nominated for a few local awards based on my work ethic and patient interactions.
3) Worked for AmeriCorps for 1 (will be 2 by the time I hopefully matriculate), year at a substance abuse clinic working with regional doctors, the state legislature, and residents in training to aid with the management of one of the most successful substance abuse programs in the nation. I directly worked with legislators and doctors and learned about healthcare policy and management as well as the legal system as it relates to healthcare and regional policies. I have the potential to personally host a regional summit - which I will 100% try to do if we can gather the funds.
Total years in work: 5.5
Total years in work in a leadership role: 3.5
Honestly, the only schools I genuinely want to go to are top 10 schools. I don't care much for harvard though. My top choice is wharton and my second choice is stanford. Coming from a STEM background, my career goals involve healthcare management consulting, health policy, healthcare economics, and my personal goal is to help fix the healthcare system in the U.S.. I have a strong background innovating healthcare, a strong understanding of the science, I have clinical experience, managerial experience, research experience, and believe I can use those talents in reforming healthcare networks or in government work.
My reasoning for the top 10 schools is that they seem to be the ones that can actually aid me in healthcare management. Wharton specifically has a healthcare management major, Stanford has incredible healthcare connections, Yale too...
I really hope to get 770 on the official gmat instead of just the practice ones, but in your opinion, what GMAT score would make me competitive at a top 10 school? More so, coming from a STEM + healthcare background, I understand I am an unorthodox applicant, as such, what can I do to improve my overall chances at being competitive?
Thank you in advance.
I have tagged the three below because their resources off this website have helped me in the past, however, any and all opinions are welcome and greatly appreciated
MG4MBACrystalBallAringoSiaAdmissions