Profile Evaluation -- Science Background, 690 GMAT

[thaovi.nguyen]

Hello,

Thank you in advance for evaluating my profile! I am planning to apply to B-school this upcoming fall and wanted to take this opportunity to take a quick assessment of myself prior to getting ready for the application process.

I have three primary questions:
1) Would you recommend that I retake my GMAT?
2) Given my profile, is my list of target schools realistic? My target schools are Wharton, Kellogg, Columbia, Fuqua/Duke, Haas and Stanford.

GMAT Score: 690 - Quant 37, Verbal 46, AWA: 4.5

GPA: 3.4 from the University of California San Diego
Majors: Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Minor in Economics

Work Experience:
- 1.5 years working in a laboratory research setting at a major Biotechnology firm
- 1.5 years working as a healthcare research analyst at a primary research company (promoted early, youngest person in my firm at my level, have managees)
- Consistently received above average evaluations, year-end ratings and raises
- Plan to go into pharmaceutical/biotechnology management (marketing)

Extracurriculars:
- Community mentor for literacy program
- Riordan Fellow with UCLA Anderson

Becuase I am planning on applying Fall 2010, I want to take advantage of the summer time to get geared up for the application season. This includes possibly re-taking the GMAT if I find that it would be tremendously benificial for me to do so. With a 690 on my first shot, my score was extremely lopsided with a near perfect score in Verbal and a below-average score in the Quant section. My concern is that in my UG career, I did not do very well in calculus as well. To rid the adcomm on any concerns, I am currently taking a calculus core through the UCBerkeley extension program and expect to do well. Do you think it would also be worthwhile for me to re-study the GMAT and to take the test again? I originally took the test in 2008, so I would essentially need to re-study all the material to bring myself up to speed.

Based on my profile, please advise if you would reccomend re-taking the GMAT. Also, given my profile, do you think that I am setting realistic targets regarding the schools I want to apply to? Again they are Wharton, Kellogg, Columbia, Fuqua/Duke, Haas and Stanford. Given my interest in healthcare, are there other schools that I should also be considering?

I'd appreciate any thoughts you may have or any overall advice regarding my application. Look forward to hearing your input!!

[mbamission]

Hi, and thanks for your inquiry.

When you say you did "below average" on the Quant score, what exactly do you mean? How far below average? If you could provide a % breakdown of V/Q that would be helpful. But that being said, the schools you list ideally look for a 700 breakdown with at least at 80% in each area. If your quant score is significantly below the 80% then yes, I think it would be a good idea to take it again. The calculus class you're taking is also a very good step, but with your solid GPA in a rigorous field, I don't think the committee will be concerned about your academic abilities.

The only other potential weakness in your application is the community activity - "youth mentor" can mean anything from clocking an hour every couple of months to being deeply enmeshed with your mentee, so if it's the former, you should probably use the next few months to beef up that section of your profile.

That being said, I think your school list is reasonable. You're applying to Wharton's HCM I assume? That and Duke are very good choices for you, as are Kellogg and Columbia. Haas and Stanford are more stretch schools - they both have such a low % of acceptances that they'd be stretch for anyone. But overall you have a good profile and a solid list of schools - if you can pull that GMAT Quant score up!

Best of luck,

Jessica Shklar
mbaMission