Need profile evaluation! Please advise

[shilpaurs]

Hi,

I took GMAT for the first time past weekend and scored a 680.
This is my best score so far, because I barely touched 650-660 during my practice tests.

I plan for another attempt within the next two months because I think there are certain areas I can do better in. I will be applying at some of the colleges mentioned below. However, I wanted someone to evaluate my profile and comment if I really stand a chance. Below are my details:


Gender: Female
Years of experience: 7years 6months
Qualification: Engineering - Information Technology
Domain background: Worked extensively in CPG and Retail domain with some of the fortune 100 companies (Kraft Foods, PepsiCo US, Supervalu, Walmart Inc, Gap Inc). Working at various client locations in US for the past 5 years.
Areas worked: ECommerce, B2B, Supply chain, Inventory and procurement
Position: Lead. Depending on the project, there could be 5-15 people working with me.
I also assist the presales team. Travel to various client locations to bring further business. My responsibilities include understanding their IT landscape, dependencies of the various applications, providing estimates, sharing success stories from similar projects done elsewhere, giving demos etc (basically share the technical aspects)

Extra curricular: Involved in few clubs within my organization. Apart from regular work, I also volunteer and take up additional responsibilities at my track/account level.
Good at Charcoal painting and sketching and I still practice. Also learning 'Kinnala' which is an an ancient art form from Mysore (Karnataka, India)
Amateur theatre hobbyist. Trained by professionals during my college days. I still do take part in organization level cultural activities whenever possible.
Social causes: Work with some of the NGOs in Bangalore. Closely associated with a school for Blind children. Used to take weekend classes for class 10th and 12th students and also organized scribes for students during exams. Now that I am in US, I help in organizing funds from here.

School and Engg Scores:
Class 10th: 89%
Class 12th: 87%
Engineering: 70%
(I am not from top tier schools/colleges in India)

Planning to apply for full-time MBA at:
Haas school of business, Berkeley - I am very inclined towards Haas for a lot of reasons. I would love to study here and it is my first choice.
Johnson Cornell University
UCLA Anderson
And a few others from a lower tier.

Most of my friends are recommending that 680 is decent enough with my profile and I should apply during first round because I stand a better chance if I apply in first round. Is that true?

Or should I wait another month and apply during the second round once I have better scores (Which I hope, I will!)

Reason for my dilemma: I fall into that typical profile from India. Engg. background, 6-7 years of work ex, worked outside the country and various client locations. I have seen such profiles with scores 740+ getting rejected. Will my score stand strong enough?

Please advise!

Thanks!

[mili]

Hello,

Thanks for submitting your profile. There is an important difference between your profile and the standard Indian IT applicant: you are female! This can be a big advantage.

However, I would recommend waiting to see if you can get a higher GMAT score before applying. The admittance rates between R1 and R2 are not materially different, and I think if you have a stronger GMAT (>700), it will really help your chances.

You've got a shot at Berkeley, (it's a reach, but possible), and I think the others are good targets. I'd add some safety schools to your list as well just in case.

Good luck,
Mili

Mili Mittal
Senior Consultant
http://www.mbamission.com

Read the mbaMission Insider's Guides (16 individual school titles)

Download mbaMission’s Free Personal Statement Guide

Visit the mbaMission Blog

Follow mbaMission on Twitter