Profile Evaluation

[KwakuA962]

Hi,

I'm preparing my B school applications now and would love some feedback on my profile!

I'm submitting a December application to Columbia ; in R2 I plan to apply to Duke, Ross, Fuqua and maybe one more school. I realize my GMAT verbal score is a bit low. (I have taken it five times with a tutor but cant seem to get the verbal beyond 28).

I'm hoping that my track record maths undergraduate degree and communications class (I took this during my gap year) plus my thorough banking experience at an African and a US Bank will make up for it.

Work experience: >4 years with various departments in bank. (my first job was a family-owned bank in Africa selected for a leadership development program, and rotated through various parts of the bank).
At my current job I currently co-lead all projects in Americas region . Long-term goal is to go back to the family-bank thus I need the MBA (general management) to transition.

Extracurriculars: soccer post-university; co-founder of a non-profit business advisory firm; business advisor to local companies in NYC, Maths-tutor for immigrants in Brooklyn and I co-founded my own logistics company.

Undergrad school/major: Major in Mathematics from England; twice received a scholarship for academic excellence.

GMAT Score: 610. 28V/46Q split.

Undergrad GPA: Second-Class (Upper) honors. for my other transcript (classes I took during my gap year), Coursework grades: Business Communication (A) and all other verbal courses (A).

What are my chances and your thoughts?

Thank you.

[mbamissionjenK]

Hi there,

So it does sound like you've got some solid experience, and the startups are interesting as well as international experience.... as you describe, the GMAT is likely your biggest challenge, and at a 610 the schools you've mentioned are going to be quite a reach as you hopefully realistically know.... even though you have other strong components, it's just SO competitive at these programs, and they get so many strong applicants who also have higher scores, and you are 80-100 points or so below the average at the schools listed.... have you tried the GRE at all to see if you fare any better?? Also GRE scores are less published, sometimes the average GRE score at a top school is not quite that of the GMAT.... you could take a free GRE practice test (you can search and find them online) and make sure you don't do better at that or feel better with that... additionally you should likely include a school or two where you are closer to their average scores, if you'd like better chances. You may already know all of that.... keep us posted on how we can help and good luck!

[KwakuA962]

Thanks for your response. What schools do you consider as safety?

[mbamissionjenK]

You're going to have better chances at schools with a GMAT average of say 650 and lower, so those would be 'safer' in general.. you can also look at the selectivity % to get a feel.... have a scan down the US News rankings to identify schools in that rough area that you'd also be interested in, in terms of geographic location, overall brand etc for an idea of potential options for 'safer' schools. Keep us posted! And feel free to sign up for a free 30 minute consultation at any point if interested, at www.mbamission.com/consult.