GMAT 600 - Should I even bother to apply?

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GMAT 600 - Should I even bother to apply?

by yoovi4u » Sat Nov 22, 2014 3:42 am
Hello Guys,

I was imagining to write a write a success story of ace'ing the GMAT but now I am writing a totally different story. There wasn't much time to prepare. I studied for almost a month, but very sincerely only for the past 10 days. I took only the two practice exams that came with GMAT Prep.

Prep1 - 580,
Prep2 - 640

There was some kind of improvement and I was confident that there will be more improvement when I take the final exam. But it ended up a disappointment. I have got just 600 (Q - 44, V-28) in the final one.

Now, I want to apply to R2 for the year 2015. I know its very tough and I am from a place where you'll see more people with similar background but better marks. I am thinking about applying for 2 or 3 programs this year and I need some help to decide whether its a total waste of money or whether I have a tiny possibility.

Here's my profile:
  • Male from India
    Age 25
    Working as a Technical Analyst in a Software company
    Total Experience - 5 years
    UG GPA - 82 %
    Extra Curricular Activities - Yes
    Awards and Recognition - Many
    GMAT - 600
I want to apply for the below 3 programs,
  • Texas A & M - Its a dream,
    Michigan State University - Level 2 Dream
    University of Virginia - Its practically Inception.
P.S: I can take GMAT and score better marks (My confidence is unscathed given the fact that I didn't prepare more) but if I want to retake, I can do it only next year.
Last edited by yoovi4u on Sat Nov 22, 2014 7:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Cheers,
Yuvaraj S

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by [email protected] » Sat Nov 22, 2014 5:59 am
Firstly congratulations on scoring 600 . Your score is descent . I do not think in India you will find any problem unless you are targeting at IIMs . Well in colleges abroad it would definitely raise the flags and a lot of eye brows ( if you are targeting at Ivy League Colleges ) . If you can get that GMAT score up to the 650-700, then that could make a significant difference. I say this because , as you can see these days higher number of students in India and China have started giving GMAT and GRE . Moreover Asia-Pacific students have shown a mastery in the quantitative portion . This new development has skewed mean test scores upward, and vexed U.S. students, whose results are looking increasingly poor in comparison to Indians & Chinese causing a big problem for America's prospective M.B.A.s who are "banging their heads against the wall,". In response to this new development , admissions officers at U.S. schools are seeking new ways of measurement, to make U.S. students look better. To address these concerns, admissions officers have started to compare applicants on the basis of world region, country, gender and college grade-point average. Therefore it becomes imperative for you to be in between that 650-700 figure to remain in consideration .

However since you have asked suggestions on colleges you have mentioned above Well! then simplest recommendation you'd get is that you should contact these colleges you've mentioned for admission process . You should send an email to all the above colleges with your profile summary including these points :-

1.Updated CV
2.Statement of Purpose SOP
3.Work experience
4.Academics/Extra Curricular
5.Post MBA plans

The other option (This might be more obvious!) would be to consider working with a credible MBA admissions consultant to develop and execute the best possible application strategy, given your current your gmat score I reckon you will land in good college .

Best Of Luck bud!

Regards

ANUJ SINGH

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by yoovi4u » Sat Nov 22, 2014 7:23 pm
Hey Anuj,

Thanks a lot for taking time and writing a reply. Those are some very kind words. The ones that I wanted to hear at this time :)

I'll follow your advice and write an email to those colleges. But will the AdCom reply me back on my chances of success without asking me to apply in the first place?
Cheers,
Yuvaraj S

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by Personal MBA Coach » Sat Nov 22, 2014 11:55 pm
At this point your chances are not very good at getting into the programs you listed above. That said, what university did you go to? This will determine your success as well.

Since you are so confident you can raise your GMAT score, why have you not considered taking it again this year and still applying to schools? The timing is tight, but it is possible. (Some of my current clients are applying now while studying for GMAT, so it can be done). Unless you are interested in doing that, I would recommend waiting until next year to apply if you want a good shot at getting into MBA programs in the US.

While you have good work experience, there are things you could do to improve your profile career-wise (get a promotion / raise to separate yourself from your peers) and improve your GMAT score. At age 25 you don't have to worry about being too old / having too much experience so I would rather see you wait a year and have much better success.

That said, if you could improve your GMAT this year, you could make this work. If you want to discuss in more detail how to do so, feel free to reach out.

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by Vanessa Clemens » Mon Nov 24, 2014 3:08 am
Since admissions happen almost twice every year in U.S based Colleges that is in fall and spring you could definitely give the GMAT another shot and not waste much time thinking on decisions. You would have to wait 6 more months rather than a year as you say.

If you have been able to make 600 with only one month preparation then no doubt you could score 700 with more days in hand. If you feel you're not sure about your score expectation next time and feel like going with 600 to apply to B-Schools well it's dicey. Consider asking and consulting experts in the field. General Education and GMATClub are best if you are looking for an advice. You could also try this form for evaluation your chances to B-School - https://www.genedmba.com/evaluate-your-c ... b-schools/

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by CriticalSquareMBA » Mon Nov 24, 2014 10:01 am
Hey there - definitely retake that GMAT - as an Indian male, your GMAT will never be a differentiator, but it definitely needs to be on par otherwise that's an almost automatic ding!

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by Michelle@ARINGO » Thu Nov 27, 2014 8:01 am
Hi yoovi4u,
As far as I know, the average GMAT of admits at Texas A & M is 648 and at Michigan State 660, so you are not that far.
If you can improve your score to around 630-640 you will have a decent chance, and even if you can't you should probably apply and see what happens.
If it helps, we've seen many cases of applicants getting admitted with low GMAT scores, as you can see here: https://www.aringo.com/Aringo_TOP_MBA_GMAT_Results.htm

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by Gowri@CrackVerbal » Thu Dec 04, 2014 5:22 am
yoovi4u wrote:Hello Guys,

I was imagining to write a write a success story of ace'ing the GMAT but now I am writing a totally different story. There wasn't much time to prepare. I studied for almost a month, but very sincerely only for the past 10 days. I took only the two practice exams that came with GMAT Prep.

Prep1 - 580,
Prep2 - 640

There was some kind of improvement and I was confident that there will be more improvement when I take the final exam. But it ended up a disappointment. I have got just 600 (Q - 44, V-28) in the final one.

Now, I want to apply to R2 for the year 2015. I know its very tough and I am from a place where you'll see more people with similar background but better marks. I am thinking about applying for 2 or 3 programs this year and I need some help to decide whether its a total waste of money or whether I have a tiny possibility.

Here's my profile:
  • Male from India
    Age 25
    Working as a Technical Analyst in a Software company
    Total Experience - 5 years
    UG GPA - 82 %
    Extra Curricular Activities - Yes
    Awards and Recognition - Many
    GMAT - 600
I want to apply for the below 3 programs,
  • Texas A & M - Its a dream,
    Michigan State University - Level 2 Dream
    University of Virginia - Its practically Inception.
P.S: I can take GMAT and score better marks (My confidence is unscathed given the fact that I didn't prepare more) but if I want to retake, I can do it only next year.
Yuvaraj,
To be brutally honest, I think your chances at these schools with your current score & profile are not great. The perils of being an Indian IT Male engineer!

If you really care about getting into at least one of these, I would recommend that you retake the test to get at least 680 (so that you are ahead of the average) before applying.

If you apply this year but get dinged, trying as a re-applicant next year will be tougher.

Regs
Gowri
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by manyaabroadtpr » Thu Dec 11, 2014 7:28 pm
yoovi4u wrote:Hello Guys,

I was imagining to write a write a success story of ace'ing the GMAT but now I am writing a totally different story. There wasn't much time to prepare. I studied for almost a month, but very sincerely only for the past 10 days. I took only the two practice exams that came with GMAT Prep.

Prep1 - 580,
Prep2 - 640

There was some kind of improvement and I was confident that there will be more improvement when I take the final exam. But it ended up a disappointment. I have got just 600 (Q - 44, V-28) in the final one.

Now, I want to apply to R2 for the year 2015. I know its very tough and I am from a place where you'll see more people with similar background but better marks. I am thinking about applying for 2 or 3 programs this year and I need some help to decide whether its a total waste of money or whether I have a tiny possibility.

Here's my profile:
  • Male from India
    Age 25
    Working as a Technical Analyst in a Software company
    Total Experience - 5 years
    UG GPA - 82 %
    Extra Curricular Activities - Yes
    Awards and Recognition - Many
    GMAT - 600
I want to apply for the below 3 programs,
  • Texas A & M - Its a dream,
    Michigan State University - Level 2 Dream
    University of Virginia - Its practically Inception.
P.S: I can take GMAT and score better marks (My confidence is unscathed given the fact that I didn't prepare more) but if I want to retake, I can do it only next year.
Hi Yuvaraj,

At the cost of sounding discouraging I really feel you should consider retaking your GMAT(with careful thinking and lot of efforts) in order to have better chances at the universities mentioned above. While preparing for the GMAT you can also try to diversify your profile(as you said coming from a common background) by taking on initiatives/leadership roles etc.

Hope this helps. Let us know if you would have any other specific question about GMAT preparation and we would be happy to guide.
www.manyagroup.com

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by Michael@VeritasPrep » Sat Nov 14, 2015 7:32 pm
Would you be willing to add other schools to your list? I don't think 600 is a deal breaker, but you'll have to be very smart about what schools you apply to. Also, you'll have to make sure every other area of your application is top notch. Great, well written essays, a strong resume and really good reccomenders. Good luck to you, you should still apply, what do you have to lose?