MBA Colleges to target with a 700 (V40 Q47)

Question

Hi, 
I am a Lawyer by qualification with 2 years of PQE with a Law firm followed by 3 years of experience in the Social Development Sector (Education) in a family enterprise. I scored a 700 in my GMAT (V40 Q47). Other details (M, 28, Indian) (Graduation 69.9%) (ClassX - 91.4, Class XII - 90 (Science))

One international Publication 
National Moot Court Competition Participation
National Law School Sports Participation

Please suggest my go to options. 
Do I have a shot at securing an admission in 
1. HEC
2. Insead
3. ISB
4. Oxford (SAID)

Pease do mention any other good schools that accept this score given my profile.

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

Hi  Parth1494 ,

Thanks for your post. Whenever Personal MBA Coach works with lawyers they tend to do really well.

In terms of your GMAT score, you've crossed the 700 mark with a strong Q score. As you know, the pool of applicants from India is highly competitive and GMAT scores for this group are going to range in the low to mid-700's. This simply means the other aspects of your application are going to need to stand out. If you apply to 5 or more programs and put together a cohesive story, you should see good results (check out our blog on school selection   here  ).

Reach out to  scott@personalmbacoach.com  with any other questions or if you want to explore how we can help maximize your chances of success. We would be happy to further discuss your target school list and how we can help connect your litigation work with your post-MBA goals.

Best,
Personal MBA Coach

MG4MBACrystalBall · Answer

Parth1494 , a few thoughts and queries on your profile:

The academic arc is a bit tough to judge without knowing the name/pedigree of your college. The GPA looks to be on the lower side but was it good on a relative sense? Have you seen peers/seniors from you college make it to top schools in the recent past? The GMAT score might be alright overall but one can usually add 20-30 points to a given school's average to get a sense of the Indian GMAT average. Have you already tried retaking? 
  The professional profile looks interesting. While we've worked with lawyers in the past, it isn't common in that pool to have experience outside of law. What's the nature of your work at the family business? And do you intend to return to it? 
  Top schools look for evidence of   strong ECs  . Anything here?  
  For reasons mentioned  here , we don't speculate on school selection or chances. You seem to be basing it purely on GMAT which can be quite incorrect. Do a broader assessment please.  
  For European programs,   international experience matters  . Anything here?

Feel free to reach out directly with response and further discussion.

Cheers,

Parth1494 · Answer

Hi MG,

Thanks for the reply. I graduated from Army Institute of Law (Estb. 1999), which has a decent reputation among the law schools in India, however, I am not sure about the image it enjoys beyond India. While I intend to retake the exam, due to paucity of time, I wanted to explore my options with my current score.

Yes, my GPA was Good while in college, although I can understand why it may seem low otherwise. We have had a lot of seniors admitted to Harvard and Stanford JD programs/ LLM programs at King's College, Post grad at LSE. However, I do not know of any peers/ seniors who have pursued an MBA.

My work here is primarily managerial ranging from recruitment to marketing and outreach whatever the organisation needs. Yes, I do intend to return after 4-5 years. I am also an equity director at a Startup based out of Pune.

I have trained for Golf and Swimming as part of the Indian Army's Mission Olympics Contingent while I was in School. I have represented my college as part of the Football and 100m teams. I have 3 national moot court wins.

No international Experience, except one international Research Paper publication.

Thank you for your reply and time.

MG4MBACrystalBall · Answer

Parth1494 , some of that precedent can help - make sure to bring that in the narrative in some manner.

So, nothing on ECs now? Recency effect is quite important there.

You can definitely go for a few with the current score and some once you have a final score.

ExpertsGlobal · Answer

Hi  Parth1494 ,

Thanks for writing in.

You have a differentiated profile and your legal background is going to be advantageous in helping you stand out. Having said that, for schools such as INSEAD and Oxford, you might want to work towards improving your GMAT score by ~30 points or so.

All the best!

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