Low Gmat but strong application otherwise

Question

I have a Gmat Score of ONLY 610..
However, I have 5 + years of University level teaching behind me. and my overall GPA's are very strong..

Do u think its good enough for a phd at a top 50 B school ?!?

i am thinking of resitting the Gmat though ..

kissthegmat · Answer

tanz welcome to the gmatclub.

I think 610 is bit on the lower side but everything depends on your apps ans your choice of schools.
Also have a look at should-i-retake-gmat-thread-retaking-gmat-strategies-83339.html if you are planing for retake.

tanz · Answer

Thanks !

the fact is I studied for a month before gmat.. and the various scores from my practice tests were:
princeton review : 620
kaplan : 550 and 550 
powerprep 650 and 670
I thought i was comfortable with verbal but got only 30. i dont know where i went wrong.
Quant, i scored a 44 and i know i messed the last few questions.

so, suppose i will give again. during my practice sessions, i used to brush through questions fast and finish 10 minutes before the scheduled time. In the real gmat, I took time to make sure i dont do silly mistakes, but i suppose it didnt work well.. ??

do we get the answers to questions besides the test scores after 20 days ? and how important is the essay section ?

Dawgie · Answer

GMAT is weighed heavily for PHDs, no you do not get answers unfortunately

shaselai · Answer

nope. only thing you get is your past and current scores (within 5 years?) and their Q/V breakdown. THATS IT. not even specific section breakdown...

gregc1213 · Answer

610 is a huge hurdle to overcome and likely wouldn't make first cut at most top-50 schools.

u0422811 · Answer

610 is definitely enough to get into a top 50 school. You will be hard pressed with top 25 but by focusing on top 50 you have a huge selection.

dokiyoki · Answer

GMAT 610 is low for most of the competitive & top ranking B Schools. But if you are fine with schools ranking between 20-50, i think it should be fine. I would still suggest you to Retake the GMAT and then apply.

tanz · Answer

Thank all. I took it again and its 700 this time.

risys82 · Answer

Congratulations on your new score! A 700 will vastly improve your chances on admissions. I was going to respond on your 610, since a lot of other posters seem to have a false sense that a low 600 score will make you competitive for a top 50 program (it most likely won't).. These posters are either thinking you're applying to an MBA, or they are not aware that admission into a PhD program is far more competitive than admission into an MBA program. With a 700, the top 50 (for the top 20, generally the scores need to be even higher, perhaps 730-750 range) should be more readily open to you, as long as the rest of your application is good. I would say that a 700 is probably generally considered the bare minimum in making yourself fairly competitive for the top 50, although school websites may list lower figure.

I would hesitate to mention teaching experience as good work experience, especially for applying to the top schools, as I think that generally teaching work experience is not very valued. In fact, be very careful about emphasizing your teaching in general because, believe it or not, that can get you automatically removed from consideration at good PhD programs. Work experience in general is heavily discounted in the PhD application process (although great industry experience can work in your favor).

There are other factors in getting accepted, such as your chosen discipline. If you were interested in a PhD in finance for example, even with a 700, I would question whether your application might be competitive for the top 50. If you'd like us to provide a more complete evaluation, you could give us some more information, such as your GPA, what did you get your BS/MS in, what discipline you are interested in, why you want to pursue a PhD, whether you will be able to get strong letters of recommendation from research active faculty, your age, what math courses you have completed, what your verbal/quant breakout is, etc..

tanz · Answer

Hey risys82,

thanks for writing back. 
Details of my app is as follows: Undergrad : Business : First class (we dont have GPA in India : Division system with first div above 60%) : 73%
Masters: Commerce: key subjects: Organization theory and behaviorr , Quantitative techniques, Statistics (not very strong though), Economics, Business Laws
first class: 66%.
University topper Bachelors n commerce.
Master of philosophy: Org Behavior : 73%
Work ex: 6 years : Assistant Professor, presently HOD of Dept.
Strong recos from Professors available. 
Gmat : 700 (Q:49, V:36)
Extra curricular: Set up 2 NGO's for animal rights, fund raising for them for 6 years, Presently working with a 3rd one.

Applied so far: INSEAD and HBS ( too ambious maybe ?)
appeared for phone interview at Insead but dont know what to expect. wasnt on expected lines..
No reply from HBS so far.

Planning: PHD in Strategy with specialization in Business Ethics, CSR, CG ...stream
Career Plans: International Academia with Consultancy 
So, now.. where to go and I suppose, I will have to apply again next year. so advice/ opinions welcome!

risys82 · Answer

I would say that you have a fairly average profile that will probably be competitive within the top 50, but probably unlikely to be competitive for the very top schools. I don't know much about the competition to get into INSEAD but accepted applicants at Harvard are generally superb. So if I were you, I would go do some research on many of the schools, find out which schools have faculty that are interested in the same type of research you are interested in, and apply to several schools in the top 10 or top 20 (i.e. reach schools), apply to several in the top 50 (i.e. target schools), and maybe a few "safeties" outside of the top 50. I don't know if you only applied to INSEAD and Harvard this round, but you are probably going to want to apply to at least 10-15 schools, and if not, you are going to want to apply mainly to less competitive schools where you have a better shot.

silentfire2100 · Answer

Definitely retake it. Probably could get in to a 20 - 50 ranked school without much issue, but I'm sure you can get a better score if you work at. And...you did. Good work.

Low Gmat but strong application otherwise

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