AdityaKumar75:
Responding to your questions:
1. Shortlisting colleges as per my post MBA goals - factors to consider
A: You should consider schools like UT Texas McCombs, MIT Sloan, UC Berkeley Haas, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, and Cornell Johnson as a starting point. Those are top schools in sustainability/energy. We can talk more about other programs that might not have as much of an energy focus but still have overall strong programs and/or still meet other criteria for you.
2. What should be the ideal GMAT score for the colleges shortlisted
A: It's kind of a "chicken and egg" question with (1). Assuming you want to go for top schools in the UK/EU and US, you need a 700 at a bare minimum. For someone coming from your demographic profile, a 730 or higher would be great. You obviously understand that from your notes above.
3. What are the things to highlight for impactful essays and LORs
A: The common areas people stress are: Leadership, Results/Achivements, Quanitative Capabilities, Team Attitude, Compassion. Each school looks for slightly different "peaks" so sometimes you neeed to tailor your response accordingly.
4. Applying in R2 vs R1 (if the GMAT score doesn't improve)
A: It does not matter. Apply when you are ready and able to put forward the best application. If you need more time for the GMAT, essays, LORs, etc. then apply R2. You might need to apply to more schools in R2 if you forego R1 to be safe.
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