Profile Evaluation Questions

Question

Hello everyone!

Below are my details :-
Indian Male, 28 years
6+ years of experience in IT industry (3 Years in US), along with that co-founder and product officer of an Education based startup in India.
Education Background : B. Tech. (Computer Science), CGPA : 7.52, 10th - 86.66%, 12th - 84%
Extra-curricular Activities : Quizzes, Consistently participated in Quizzes(United Schools Organization of India,USO) and Maths Olympiads (with Distinction) throughout school, Represented North Zone in NTSE, National Talent Search Exam, which is organized by National Council of Educational Research and Training at College.
Target Schools : MBA in Finance in any of the M7 Schools, Fall 2020 course.

I have a few questions regarding my GMAT exam and I would really appreciate any advice and suggestions on this. I recently gave my first attempt at the official GMAT exam, but I was well short of my target score to get admitted into one of the Finance MBA programs at M7. Here are the score details :-

IR score : 5, Verbal score : 23, Quant Score : 48, Total Score : 600

Needless to say I cancelled the score right away. Then, I did a SWOT analysis to figure out my weak and strong areas and work upon them. Although I improved greatly, but not in all the sections.Here's my score 4 weeks after that first attempt.
Here are the score details from my last attempt :-

IR score : 1, Verbal Score : 37, Quant score : 49, Total Score : 710

I attempted the sections in following order in both the attempts : 
Quant,Verbal,IR,AWA

Although I improved significantly, I was short of time in almost every section of my exam. And I think, by the time I reached IR, this shortage of time got the better of me, resulting in all the questions answered incorrectly. I need expert advice in deciding whether I should reinstate my first attempt score, since it has a better IR score and send both of my scores while applying(I am not sure if that's even possible) or give another shot at GMAT exam. I have more than 6 years of experience working as a Software Engineer (3 years in US) and as stated I plan on doing MBA in finance from one of the M7 schools.

Any advice or suggestion is appreciated.
Thank You.
--Cyberjunkie.

gmatassistance · Answer

I am impressed by your improvement in verbal. What did you do differently for your second attempt?

Posted from my mobile device

gmatassistance · Answer

I am impressed by your improvement in verbal. What did you do differently for your second attempt?

Posted from my mobile device

MG4MBACrystalBall · Answer

A few thoughts on your profile and question  cyberjunkie1234 :
 
  The nature of your work, especially the startup experience looks decent. It is not clear however if the startup bit is full-time and currently, if you are in the US or back in India. It will also be important to understand actual achievements/highlights as IT can be a pretty big pool.  
  On the latter bit, given your Finance aspirations, it is also not a direct transition. Read here on what are typical   post-MBA options for IT applicants  . 
  You have had a pretty good GMAT story. However am afraid that that may not be sufficient. The average at all/most M7 is in the 720-730 range. The average for Indian candidates can be a good 20-30 points higher. You've not mentioned the name of your undergrad - so if it is not a top tier, you have to push much harder on this front still to get some shine on the profile. Here is what we say on whether to   cancel or reinstate the score  .  
  The nature of ECs, especially Olympiad is a bit more on the academic side frankly. Read  here  on why they matter to form the right perspective.

Hope this helps some.

Cheers,

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