GMAT690!!! Q51V31 what to do????

Question

I recently gave my GMAT and scored 690. I have 5 years of workex in oil and gas sector as a mechanical design engineer. I have considerable on site experience and have been to Korea on a official business trip. Please guide which colleges should I apply to? Is isb possible at this score?

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VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

Need a bit more info to tell you if you're even in the ballpark. What is your GPA? Career goals? Geographic preferences?

rajan2189 · Answer

I have been working with major oil and gas company as a design engineer from past 5 years. I have been into various leadership roles working at site with 100 workers working under me and also in office as a key person of various projects. In addition to this i have been to korea on a business trip from office. Got an early promotion based on my performance. Plus for the love of maths, I have taught in one of the premier coaching institute as a quant faculty. I have done considerable amount of social work through company's CSR initiative. My GPA is 7.25 and have done B.Tech from a government institute. Also have organised tech fest and cultural fest in college. My preference are as follows:
1. ISB
2. McCombs
3. CMU Tepper
4. Ivey business school
5. Rice university
Please guide me. Should i go for a retake and what if I land at a score of 710, will it make any much difference?

MBADecoder · Answer

Hi Rajan,

I think a GMAT retake is in order. Its an increasingly competitive world in the MBA admissions space, and a 20+ point increase will definitely help you.
Your score is lower for an Indian applicant at any of the colleges you have mentioned, ISB would be most benevolent to it from all schools in the list.

We have worked with atleast 5 applicants from the oil and gas background last year, so I'd say there are a lot of people applying for MBA from your industry, with similar backgrounds. Do put together a great application that demonstrates career progress, achievements and clear and purposeful career goals.

Reach out if you'd like to discuss.

VanessaGilMBA · Answer

Dear Rajan:

Thanks for your question. I agree that you should give the GMAT another try. You are slightly below the norm for Indian applicants, although your quant score is quite laudable. It seems that your greatest opportunities for improvement lie within the verbal section, so I would put about 70-75% of my study efforts in that department (verbal), while not neglecting the maintenance of your already notable quantitative abilities.

Regarding the list of MBA programs you provided, I agree that your score should be a bit higher in order to help you compete with other Indian applicants. However, I must add that you want to show how you stand out in terms of a) what you’d like to do immediately post-MBA, and b) what is the long-range impact you hope to make on society. Universities want to know that the applicant has set their sights on creating an impact, both during their MBA studies and beyond.

I have worked with (and continue to work with) a number of MBA applicants from the embattled oil & gas sector, and I have helped them to get admitted to some of the world's most elite MBA programs with a high success rate. As you think about your applications, make sure that you reflect upon the various experiences you’ve had that will help you shape what kind of business professional, and indeed, business LEADER, that you hope to be going forward, regardless of which sector you work in next. What insights did you gain from your business trip abroad? How long was that trip? How did the wisdom gained on that trip manifest itself in your subsequent professional life? How do you work with your team, and how has that changed over time? These are critical elements that I urge you to consider deeply. In some cases, an applicant’s responses to these deeper questions can matter even more than a strong showing on the GMAT, all things equal.

So while I think you should give the GMAT another try, I also highly recommend that you think about the “bigger” picture, whatever your score.

Happy to chat more with you, as I do provide free consultations. Feel free to contact me at [email protected].

Best of luck in life and the MBA,
Vanessa

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

Thanks for sharing the additional info. You will certainly need to retake the GMAT to maximize your competitiveness. You don't want your score to distract the AdComm from some of your other strengths especially coming from your applicant pool

GyanOne · Answer

Hi Rajan

Yes, ISB is possible at this score. ISB values people with an oil and gas background, and in fact, so do consulting firms post-ISB (in case you are planning to go that way). The international experience helps further.

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