What are my chances?

Question

Hi,

My Profile:
GMAT : 680(90%) VA 32(64%) QA 50(95%)
TOEFL : 297

Education : Bachelors in Business Administration. Percentage 76%, Overall rank in college 2. (I did my graduation in India, so my college does not follow the GPA system, hence I am hoping that my ranking gives a better idea of my standing) 

Work Ex : Information analyst in a top management consultancy (e.g.Mckinsey) in India. Working for last 15 months (will have 2 years of work ex by the time I join). 

Community work: Have done a couple of projects for a national NGO. Helped in starting their chapter in my city. 


I am planning to apply to following universities :
Hopeful to get in the following:
Columbia
Darden 
Duke (Fuqua)

Still Thinking abt the following
NYU
Dartmouth
Cornell
CMU

Please assess my profile and my chances of securing admission to aforementioned schools
1. Does my TOEFL score offset my dismal performance in VA?
2. I plan to major in Finance. Is this the right set of schools I am considering. (esp. Darden where min requirement for work ex is 2 years)
3. Does Columbia Early decision provide any benefit? (i.e. does it really give me any advantage, over other applicants, if I apply to Columbia in the early decision round?)
4. Low GMAT score- I understand my GMAT score is not very competitive considering the country I am from and the high scores that ppl get here. I can differentiate myself from ppl frm my country in terms of my background - that is in business rather than IT, my essays and other things. Is this good enuff?

Thanks

Hjort · Answer

Hi,

American MBA programs are generally well acquainted with undergraduate colleges that use class ranks instead of a US-style GPA. 

1. The TOEFL to some extent addresses the issue of "communication risk" - the fear of admissions officials that a given applicant will have difficulty communicating in and out of class with other students and the faculty. Further, the verbal score is not that low compared to many applicants. 

2. You have listed some impressive schools. There are, however, schools with more impressive placements in finance than some of the schools on your first list. I would consider moving NYU to the first list. Did you evaluate MIT, Chicago, Penn, and Michigan?

3. I would not rely on the Columbia early evaluation system to increase the odds of admission greatly. However, if Columbia is your first choice there seems to be little downside to applying early.

4. The overall GMAT score still seems low relative to other applicants to the elite and ultraelite schools.

One issue to consider is nominal work experience. About 24 months would be at the far left tail of the distribution for both Virginia and Duke.

Another issue, perhaps one that you have already researched, concerns the undergraduate degree. If this is a three year degree, some US MBA programs will not consider it the equivalent to the American 4 year BA/BS. However, as I recall, Virginia accepts the 3 year degree.

Hjort

Accepted.com · Answer

To answer your questions:

1) Your TOEFL may mitigate the impact of the verbal, but it doesn't cancel it out. The schools will be concerned about your ability to communicate. 

2. The schools you are considering do support your finance goal, although some others may be better. I'm thinking of Chicago, Wharton, Yale, and Haas. Darden is a great school, but it really wants students with more experience as does Dartmouth. 

3. Last I checked the acceptance rate for ED at CBS is almost the same as for regular decision. ED is primarily for those who are committed to attending Columbia. If Columbia is your first choice, then it's a good idea to apply ED. If it's not your first choice, you could be making your life much more difficult.

4. That's easier said than done. Yes your work experience is not the typical IT work experience, but it is in "information" so you're not exactly a poet in a sea of engineers. I share your concerns. If you believe you can raise your GMAT, specifically the verbal, then I encourage you to retake it. If you don't believe you can raise it, then apply as is, but apply to those schools where you are at least at the school's average. Applying successfully to school's with GMAT's of 700+ is going to be difficult coming from your background.
Good luck!

Winds_R_Behind_Me · Answer

Hi Linda

Thankx for your reply. I was re reviewing the schools in my list and that's why couldn't reply all this while.

My field is not information ...but it deals with analysis of information...something what a researcher would do at an investment bank or at a consultancy. This field is totally different from the Information in information technology. my job deals with no technology but only analysis of various companies...their financial performance, strategies et al.

With this view my profile is very different from a typical indian IT graduate. I have a few questions for the schools that I have shortlisted for myself:
Cornell(Johnson) : How good is it for MBA in finance and strategy?
Tuck : I remember reading in one of your posts that Tuck does take ppl with less work ex whereas your last post mentions that it would take ppl with more work ex. Pls explain
CMU : How good is it finance ?

Between Darden and Duke which one offers better chances with less work ex. I haven't taken up many leadership projects but my work is very diversified. Moreover, I have a good reason to why do an MBA now. i will be writing this in optional essays.

Winds

Hjort · Answer

Hi,

Cornell appears to have finance placements that are consistent with its general reputation cluster. For instance, in one year it had fewer placements at Goldman Sachs than Michigan, Duke, NYU, and UCLA but more placements than UCB and VA. In another year, Cornell had more placements than Yale at GS but fewer than NYU, Dartmouth, or Michigan.

In another year Cornell had as many placements at Lehman Brothers as UNC but fewer than UCLA or NYU. Cornell had more placements at Citi than Yale but fewer than Michigan, NYU, Rochester, or Georgetown.

For consulting, Cornell appears to occupy a similar position. For two years combined, Cornell had more placements at McKinsey than several elite schools including VA and UCLA but fewer than Michigan, Dartmouth, and Yale.

Hjort

Accepted.com · Answer

Thanks for clarifying your role. That does make a difference. I'm sorry I misread your original post. 

To answer your questions:

1) Cornell is very strong in strategy and finance. It actually had a trading room.
2) Tuck: I'm not sure what earlier post you are referring to so I can't comment on that. I can say unequivocally that Tuck prefers older applicants. According to BW's stats, it admitted not applicants with less than 1 year of work experience. Its admitted applicants have an average of 61 months of work experience, on the higher end of the schools' averages, and the middle 80% of students have 30-70 months of work experience.
3) I am not sure of CMU's strength in finance. The students on my chats have praised CMU's strength infinance and a significant number of its grads go into finance-related fields, but Citigroup was the only bank listed on its top fifteen recruiters. So if you are interested in corporate finance, it is probably fine. If you are interested in IB, there may be better options.

Good luck!

Accepted.com · Answer

Thanks for clarifying your role. That does make a difference. I'm sorry I misread your original post. 

To answer your questions:

1) Cornell is very strong in strategy and finance. It actually had a trading room.
2) Tuck: I'm not sure what earlier post you are referring to so I can't comment on that. I can say unequivocally that Tuck prefers older applicants. According to BW's stats, it admitted not applicants with less than 1 year of work experience. Its admitted applicants have an average of 61 months of work experience, on the higher end of the schools' averages, and the middle 80% of students have 30-70 months of work experience.
3) I am not sure of CMU's strength in finance. The students on my chats have praised CMU's strength infinance and a significant number of its grads go into finance-related fields, but Citigroup was the only bank listed on its top fifteen recruiters. So if you are interested in corporate finance, it is probably fine. If you are interested in IB, there may be better options.

Good luck!

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