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aspiremba
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What are my chances at Harvard and Stanford? 03 Sep 2004, 08:57
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I would appreciate your input regarding my chances at Harvard and Stanford.
Here's my background -
Indian male
Bachelors GPA - cumulative - 86 (on a 100 point scale) from India
Masters GPA 3.5 from the US
Work Ex - Software Engineer - 5 yrs with IBM
Not in a leadership role
Starting on a new assignment involving extensive customer interaction
GMAT : 680 (90 %ile )- V38(86 %ile) Q46(80%ile) AWA 5.0
Volunteer activities - Tutoring, Counseling (both for a year now)

Why an MBA ?- My strengths - people skills, ease of communication -not utilized in my current job. I currently lack a business sense.
MBA areas of interest - General Management
Ideal career after an MBA - Management Consulting

I have read that my GMAT score is weak compared to the average Indian score. Do you think re-taking the GMAT would greatly improve my chances at the above schools? If I wait a year to get customer facing experience and then apply, would that greatly help my chances?

Thanks much
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Hjort
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What are my chances at Harvard and Stanford? 03 Sep 2004, 09:55
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Hi,

What was the top cumulative GPA for your cohort for the undergrad degree?

What was the US Master's in?

Hjort
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aspiremba
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What are my chances at Harvard and Stanford? 03 Sep 2004, 12:00
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My bachelors was in Computer Science and Masters was in Computer Eng.
I took most courses related to software engineering during my Masters.

I do not know specifically what the top was in my university, but do know that my GPA was in the top 5 of my graduating class of 50 [in my college].
The college (analogous to a University in US terms) I went to was part of a set of colleges all with affiliation to a University. I don't know how to compare my ranking across different graduating classes from different colleges in the University since I don't have that information.
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What are my chances at Harvard and Stanford? 03 Sep 2004, 17:05
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aspiremba
I would appreciate your input regarding my chances at Harvard and Stanford.
Here's my background -
Indian male
Bachelors GPA - cumulative - 86 (on a 100 point scale) from India
Masters GPA 3.5 from the US
Work Ex - Software Engineer - 5 yrs with IBM
Not in a leadership role
Starting on a new assignment involving extensive customer interaction
GMAT : 680 (90 %ile )- V38(86 %ile) Q46(80%ile) AWA 5.0
Volunteer activities - Tutoring, Counseling (both for a year now)

Why an MBA ?- My strengths - people skills, ease of communication -not utilized in my current job. I currently lack a business sense.
MBA areas of interest - General Management
Ideal career after an MBA - Management Consulting

I have read that my GMAT score is weak compared to the average Indian score. Do you think re-taking the GMAT would greatly improve my chances at the above schools? If I wait a year to get customer facing experience and then apply, would that greatly help my chances?

Thanks much
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Raising your GMAT score would greatly improve your chances at HBS and Stanford and other top b-schools, but I am not sure of course that it would make the difference. The additional experience with client interaction would also help you.

But don't just think in terms of Harvard and STanford. If you want to go into consulting, there are other fine schools that support that goal. In most cases, you will still benefit from a higher GMAT but try to expand your options when exploring schools.

Good luck!
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aspiremba
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What are my chances at Harvard and Stanford? 03 Sep 2004, 17:23
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Linda,
Thank you for your input. Knowing that a higher GMAT will help me is good to know since I was going back and forth about re-taking and re-preparing for it.
I will consider other schools besides HBS and Stanford. Since they were my ideal choices I wanted to reach for the stars :-D. Hjort has also provided some other schools to consider. Thanks Hjort.

aspiremba