Profile Evaluation

Question

I would like to ask you to evalute my chances of getting to indicated schools. Also, please let me know if improving my GMAT score to 720/5.0 level will significantly increase my chances of getting in. Thank you in advance for your support!

Expertise
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Product Strategy and Development
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* Conceptualized new products for mobile operators 
* Negotiated partnership deals to widen product portfolio 
* Actively participated in requirement engineering as well as the release of several software solutions 
* Represented product management team in media

Management and Organizational Development
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* Assembled and managed software development team 
* Initiated agile transformation to improve the software development process and acted as a coach and leader for development team 
* Managed expert team during business transition process

Consulting
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* Team member during vendor software piloting in mobile network
* Enhanced performance monitoring process in several European mobile networks
* Organized seminars, training and workshops for telecom equipment vendors

List of MBA programs of choice
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 1) LBS 
 2) MIT Sloan
 3) IMD
 4) INSEAD
 5) IESE

List of strengths based on self-evaluation
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 * fast career progression 
 * significant international exposure 
 * strong academic performance 
 * high TOEFL iBT score
 * good references 
 * experienced in working in/leading/coaching teams

List of weaknesses based on self-evaluation
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 * average GMAT score (680)
 * majority of my career in relatively small company
 * did not study at renowned university

AlexMBAApply · Answer

IESE you should be competitive for.

The rest of the schools will be stretches - you may want to consider re-taking the GMAT if you are confident you can score above 700 on the retake -- which will then at least help your competitiveness for the other schools. That's really the biggest hurdle more than anything.

As for being unemployed, I really hope you didn't quit your job just to work on MBA applications? That's a bit too much in my view - working on the essays 8 hrs/day isn't really going to do much more for you than working 1-2hrs/day a few times a week over 1-2 months. There's a law of diminishing returns at work.

krzysztof · Answer

Thanks a lot for the prompt response!

I didn't express myself clearly enough: I resigned from my recent job to prepare for TOEFL and GMAT so that it was possible for me to even apply to LBS. My long working days didn't allow me for the right focus so 3 months before LBS application deadline I decided to quit the job to improve my chances of getting high enough scores. Do you think that if I put it like this, it also sounds that bad in my application?

Do you think that GMAT score is the biggest problem in my application? Is it better to stay unemployed & focus on re-taking the GMAT or find a job so that my resume looks better? On the other hand, I'm without job for 3 months, it's not that long.

AlexMBAApply · Answer

99.9% of the applicants out there are prepping for the GMAT all while holding down demanding day jobs, some have families, and/or active lives outside of work. Investment bankers work 80-100 hours a week, and still manage to do the GMAT. As do management consultants who are on the road all the time. Or the hordes of engineers and corporate professionals who have crazy unpredictable hours, yet still manage to prep for the GMAT on top of having some personal life. Or the military officers who are putting their lives on the line serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The fact that you are trying to study the GMAT without a job won't show that you're focused - instead, the adcom will believe that you are far less capable than the other applicants out there because you don't have the ability to have a professional career at the same time (no matter how demanding your job may be).

Putting together MBA applications (including the GMAT) is a significant time commitment, but not to the point where it's necessary or wise to quit a full-time job to do so.

To be blunt, quitting your job to study full-time for the GMAT and TOEFL the first time was a very bad idea. Don't do it again.

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