MBA30: Admission decision with score 630

Question

Hi,

Can anyone please help me decide whether to proceed with R1 applications with score 630 (Q 47, V 29)?
My brief background: 34 years age, completed 11 years in IT consulting in financial sector with 7 years in UK (managing multi £ projects, trained > 100 associates, mentor for > 10, exposure to business development), > 85% across 10th, 12th and UG degree, inter school participation in co-curricular activities, associated with different charities over the years. Project Experience: EU & UK regulations, big data & data analytics and digital integration.
I am interested in general management with strategy and analytics electives that would help me advance to next level. I am looking for European (incl UK) and US schools.

Cheers
Abhi

99Colleges · Answer

Hi abhiready4u,

You should aim for a better score, at least the median score of the school. Writing multiple applications will be lot of work, and it may not amount to much if your score pulls your application down.

Moreover, you’ll be an outlier in terms of years of experience for most full-time programs, and you would need a strong justification for why you need a full-time MBA at this stage of your career. European schools will be better bet for you as they tend to be less hard-nosed on GMAT and more accommodative of older applicants. But there too you’ll need a stronger GMAT (than your current score) for good schools. You may find this article relevant:

Are You 30+? MBA Programs May Have 3 Concerns on Your Application

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

When looking at your profile the first thing that came to mind was you seem like a better fit given your work experience and GMAT score. 2Y MBA programs will wonder if they can offer you the type of roles post-MBA that someone with your experience would be interested in. Also, EMBA programs will have less of a focus on your GMAT. I would suggest doing some research on if an EMBA program i right for you. Also, I would retake the GMAT if you can improve your score, which would help a lot if you go the 2Y route and the EMBA route either way

MBADecoder · Answer

Abhi,

As you stay in the UK, I'd ask you to look at EMBA. Your current GMAT score albeit low will fly at EMBA programs. Moreover, you will still have a job while studying - this proposition is great considering the volatile visa scenario for Indians in UK (assuming you have an Indian passport).

Also look at MBA programs beyond the top 3 (LBS, SAID, Judge) where the GMAT will not be an application killer. Almost all UK programs have a profile evaluation facility. I'd ask you to submit your profile to target programs (including the top 3) and get their views on your candidature and what job prospects do they offer you.

MG4MBACrystalBall · Answer

Consider a few more thought Abhi on your profile:
 
  The work experience, at a high level sounds good. But it would be important to understand achievements/differentiators therein. IT Consulting can mean both the tech side or the business side - where do you stand? The latter obviously would make more impact in your profile. 
  The post-MBA plan needs to have more clarity too. Do you mean you want to continue in your current career trajectory but faster? If yes, then an EMBA might be a good idea if your employer is open to that.  
  At your age/experience, you should ideally target programs that are a good fit. In that sense, apart from IMD/Judge, you may also want to learn more about specialized programs such as LSB Fellows/Stan MSx/Sloan Fellows.  
  Finally, the current GMAT score is likely to be a big hurdle for most good programs; even EMBAs to a certain extent. So a re-take is definitely recommended. However before that, make sure you are clear on some of the above things too.

Hope this helps some

Cheers,

MBA30: Admission decision with score 630

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