Profile Evaluation - GMAT 590

[stuti.narang]

Hi

I am Stuti from Bangalore, India. I am interested in applying for MBA programs starting in 2014. Below is my profile:

Professional Experience:
Working in Accenture, India, as Business and Quality Analyst from August 2008-Present.
Worked in global projects focusing in industries such as Marketing, Consulting, Human Resources and IT within Accenture's internal organization.
Received 25 performance awards till date.

Academics:
Bachelor of Engineering in Biotechnology from Sir MVIT, Visveswaraiah Technological University (VTU) Bangalore, with First Class, 67% (2004-2008)

Extra-curricular activities:
Active member of Accenture Event Management Team.
Participated in and organized many cultural fests and workshops during undergraduate course.
Volunteered for a non-profit organization focusing in the field of education for a month.
Planning to work full time in the non profit sector from October 2013.
Fluent in written and spoken English and Hindi.

Scores:
GMAT - 590 (Q-44/ V27) - 4th attempt (given my best shot, will not be able to write GMAT again)
Toefl - 102

Target Universities:
Krannert school of amangement
Pennsylvania State University - Smeal College of Business
Indiana’s Kelley School of Business
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Ohio State University - Fisher College of Business

Short term/Long term goals : switch to Strategy/Consulting and later work in the non-profit sector.

I would be grateful to you if you could evaluate my profile and suggest schools where I can get in with my profile.

I had applied in 2011 to few B-schools for full time MBA program(FT ranking of 30-40)but was not accepted in any.

Thanks in advance.

[mbamissionjenK]

Hi Stuti,

Thanks for sharing your information and profile. It sounds like you have strong work experience to bring to an MBA program, but your GMAT is a drawback since it's well below the average at programs in the top 60 or so MBA programs (on US News & World Report rankings that is). But certainly those are averages and some applicants are accepted with lower scores, and I understand being finished with taking it after 4 attempts, certainly. Have you ever tried the GRE by chance? Occasionally some students do better on one exam vs the other, and more and more MBA programs are also accepting the GRE, just a thought.

But generally what this all means is that it is up to you within the application and specifically the essays to convince the admissions committees that you have a lot to contribute to a b-school class; that you need the MBA to pursue your long-term career goals; and that their program is the best one for you. You'll need to work really hard on brainstorming for and actually preparing these essays. My overall thought is that it will be fairly difficult, though not impossible, to get into the schools you mentioned, and the better you do with your essays and creating a cohesive 'story' of who you are and why you need the MBA, the better your chances are.

In terms of suggesting additional schools, it really depends on what you are looking for in a school... there are so many factors to consider and I don't want to arbitrarily pick some. But in terms of your competitiveness, for better chances look more at programs with average GMAT scores around 600 or less-- the closer to yours, the better. Or have a look at those ranked 55-75 in the US News listings. Think about geographic region, class size, specializations, teaching philosophy, hiring profiles, etc.

Let us know if we can be of further help and good luck in the process!

Jen Kedrowski
mbaMission
www.mbamission.com

[stuti.narang]

Hi Jen

Thank you for your valuable inputs. I shall have a look at the universities ranked 55-75 in the US News listings.

Regards
Stuti

[mbamissionjenK]

No problem, keep us posted on how everything is going!

Best,
Jen