seeking advice

Question

I'm currently a Project Manager at a non-profit Foundation (we are funders). I'm interested in moving over to a career in Product/Brand Management and am also very interested in getting an MBA to do this. Problem is, my GMAT and GRE scores haven't been very good. I took the GMAT 3 times and the GRE once. Through having some results with better quant scores and other results with better verbal scores my GMAT high score is 550 (I understand this is quite a hindrance). On the GRE I received a 157 in the verbal section and 150 in the quantitative section.

I'm wondering if anyone can suggest MBA programs that I may have a shot at getting into that may help me move into Product Management. MY GPA for undergrad is 2.98. I've been in the workforce for 7 years with a background in project management and political campaign management.

Any suggestions and advice are appreciated.

I'm wondering if anyone can suggest MBA programs that I may have a shot at getting into that may help me move into Product Management. MY GPA for undergrad is 2.98. I've been in the workforce for 7 years with a background in project management and political campaign management.

Any suggestions and advice are appreciated.

TheIvyLeagueEdge · Answer

You seem to have better chances at Univs with your GRE than GMAT. That said, there are many questions about you still unanswered.

1) Target location/country?
2) Your UG college, Degree and Ethnicity
3) What kind of demonstrable engagements (and quantifiable accomplishments) have you had in Marketing Management (generally) and Product/Brand Management (Specifically)

DCCane10 · Answer

1) Target location/country? 
 I'm looking to stay in the USA. Region isn't too important. Ideally Southeast, Midwest or Mid-Atlantic. 
2) Your UG college, Degree and Ethnicity
 UMiami, Bachelor in Political Science, White male 
3) What kind of demonstrable engagements (and quantifiable accomplishments) have you had in Marketing Management (generally) and Product/Brand Management (Specifically)
 
My background isn't directly in marketing and Product/Brand Management, but I have worked with our wildlife conservation organization's partners/funders to establish quantifiable goals (i.e. # people involved, acres/miles habitat restored) that have been reached through our program and projects. I've worked on promoting our programs through different avenues (other partner contact lists, Press Releases, emails) to find the best possible recipients for our available funds.

I hope this adds some context. Any advice is appreciated.

DCCane10 · Answer

I instantly regret choosing that color green for my text.

TheIvyLeagueEdge · Answer

1) I don't mean to be discouraging, but you have better chances at working through marketing roles, in order to demonstrate your understanding of your goals better and then apply for your MBA.
2) Even with a good story, and the current GREs, it is still going to be a challenge to get into high ranked schools this time around.

Would suggest you look into schools accepting your kind of scores. The typical MBA route may be tougher, but there are many schools in US & Europe that offer courses in Management Sciences, with course content broadly similar. Check out the Post Degree Recruitment scene though, and speak to many students in these schools to see what your chances may look like.

ThadGA08 · Answer

Hey  DCCane10 . Not even a MBA1 yet here (just recently was admitted to schools) and mostly sharing some thoughts in case some GRE tips could be helpful (plus GO CANES!), but I think getting your scores up will make a world of difference in accomplishing your career objectives. The GMAT/GRE scores are both far below the averages for many MBA schools (much less the best ones to go into for product/brand management), but also I think the low quant score (with your GRE) will be a concern for admissions on whether you'll be able to handle the heavy quantitative work at business school. The converter tool is saying a 510 GMAT for your GRE score (you might have known this already). Your verbal GRE score is in the range of some programs listed at this link, but your quant is falling short. A higher GMAT/GRE score would also help balance out a lower undergrad GPA.

Since you've taken the GMAT three times it might make sense to do the GRE again (plus GRE averages at many schools seem to be lower (when converted) than the GMAT averages and the quant is seen as relatively easier). Getting your verbal score up to bring up your total score could probably help a lot, but I definitely think you'll need to get your quant score up as well. For my GRE I just did Manhattan prep books and don't think there was anything special I did besides study for the quant section. There is a wealth of resources on GRE Prep Club and elsewhere online though. For verbal I loved "Word Power Made Easy" (not even made specifically for the GRE but so many words shared there showed up on it) and I also liked the 500 GRE Words on Audible that I listened to on runs and in the car to help with vocabulary. Getting your GRE converted score into the high 600s GMAT I think would help immensely in getting into much stronger schools. I also don't know much about brand management but believe I have seen that companies like the prestigious schools and that may require an equivalent 700+ GMAT score. Will probably take a ton of work, but might be what's necessary for your career goals (but again I'm not super familiar with product/brand management). If you knock verbal out of the park but still struggle in quant then you may consider doing a course like MBA Math. Some admissions consultants have recommended that on here and said that schools look very favorably on it. It's about 30-40 hours of math you'll need to know for your MBA and they send notice of completion directly to schools. That would be if your verbal score is really great and your total is in the school's ballpark and then MBA Math can help alleviate concerns about your math ability. Maybe MBA Math could even be a good way to prep for the quant section on the GRE (not sure what overlap there is though)?

With Round 2 deadlines only about a week away it means you should have a lot of time to get your score up and apply Round 1 next year. Probably not ideal after four tests and it sounds like we're similar age so I know you might be ready to get to school soon, but an MBA is a big (and expensive) undertaking and dedicating the time to get those scores up a lot can provide a much greater ROI and provide a higher chance of getting you where you want to go. Hope this or parts of it was helpful.

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Have you worked with a tutor? Have you worked with a good tutor. Ideally you want to get into Kellogg, Stern, UCLA or Indiana. Mix it up in terms of your approach to this test get involved in online and in-person study groups turn this into a crowdsourcing thing get a tutor mix it up right that kind of thing you're just not in a competitive position with that score and it's an unfortunate fact. I don't think you're going to be very viable for the schools that are really going to help you catapult to that next career level until you hit the 700 Mark frankly maybe 650 if you had some amazing applications. You can do it you just need to switch it up.

https://MBAPrepCoach.com

DCCane10 · Answer

Thanks for the responses. Yes, odds are bad. I'll apply anyway. See if I can get lucky and get an interview. Have to reach for things sometimes. I'll look for some schools and options that are in my range as well. Management Sciences and MBA math courses sound like interesting options.

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