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Profile assessment please --- retake GMAT?

This topic has 2 expert replies and 2 member replies
jamesdyoon Just gettin' started! Default Avatar
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Profile assessment please --- retake GMAT? Post Mon Apr 09, 2012 5:48 am
Hi I'm an Asian American male, born and raised in the US. Please advise on my profile.

-3.5 GPA from Cornell (Operations Research and Engineering; 730 GMAT (49Q/41V)
-worked for IBM for 2.5 years out of school in an IT consulting gig for a Pharma client; as a result, I have some experience programming and working with large data warehouses
-moved onto a marketing/media mix firm, consulting two of the largest CPG corporations in the world; applied statistical regression toward recommendations on budget optimization and overall strategy; position was very Excel and SPSS driven
-after 1.5 years (including a promotion after year 1) at the marketing mix firm, I took on a managerial role (~4 subordinates) at a WPP media agency in the Digital Analytics group; became interested in the digital media space at my previous post and was tapped on the shoulder for this position; i'm applying more rigorous statistical analysis focused in digital

why mba: the digital media space is constantly evolving, and i've realized that there exists a gap between the heavy quant types and the people who make the "big" business decisions; in the short term, given my extensive quant background, I'd like to fill that gap through an MBA

in the long term... the digital media space is so scattered right now that efficiencies are lost. Potentially, I'd like to start a firm that not only delivers the media creative (ad content) and planning/buying of ad space, but also provides the analytics/insight behind the media

what are my chances at Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Berkeley, and Columbia?

also, I had been practicing at the 750/760 level and somewhat "choked" on test day. Would it be worth taking it over for the extra 20-30 points?

thanks in advance!

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jamesdyoon Just gettin' started! Default Avatar
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Post Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:25 pm
can anyone give some advice?

Post Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:34 am
Hey James,
From what you have written you seem like you can take your shot at the list of schools you mentioned. Your GMAT and GPA are good. You seem to have solid work experience. And going in with management experience is VERY helpful. However, you will need to find one or more things that really push you over the top. Right now the numbers certainly confirm you as a possibility at those schools, but besides that you need to show them who you are and what you have done (I'm wondering about community service, extra currics etc.) H/S/W love to see candidates who have always been at the top of the heap, and have done a million things from semi-pro sports to school government etc. etc. so if you have those things they can become game changers, if not, then you have to work to give them the most excited and unique application you can.

As for the GMAT, you have the time, so you could retake before essay questions are released. A 730 is strong enough for you to apply ANYWHERE, but if you can get higher and have the time to try, why not?

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jamesdyoon Just gettin' started! Default Avatar
Joined
10 Mar 2012
Posted:
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Post Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:46 am
PrecisionEssay wrote:
Hey James,
From what you have written you seem like you can take your shot at the list of schools you mentioned. Your GMAT and GPA are good. You seem to have solid work experience. And going in with management experience is VERY helpful. However, you will need to find one or more things that really push you over the top. Right now the numbers certainly confirm you as a possibility at those schools, but besides that you need to show them who you are and what you have done (I'm wondering about community service, extra currics etc.) H/S/W love to see candidates who have always been at the top of the heap, and have done a million things from semi-pro sports to school government etc. etc. so if you have those things they can become game changers, if not, then you have to work to give them the most excited and unique application you can.

As for the GMAT, you have the time, so you could retake before essay questions are released. A 730 is strong enough for you to apply ANYWHERE, but if you can get higher and have the time to try, why not?
Thanks for the reply, Jon. As a follow up -- I have read on some threads that a marginal increase in GMAT (<=20-30 points) may in fact reflect poorly on my personality and priorities (better that my time is spent on extra currics, community service, career, and essays). Would this hold true if I were to make it over the 98%tile hump? If I have less than stellar, but solid recs and extra currics, would that 750/760 make a difference on admission?

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Post Wed Apr 18, 2012 6:52 am
Well I would say that is only true when you get the 20 points extra at the expense of other very important parts of your application/profile. But the reason for schools liking high GMATs is that higher GMAt averages tend to translate into higher rankings, so I doubt a higher GMAT could ever figure negatively. It's too much in their interests. But, it's true that it is not the MOST important thing at this point (leadership volunteerwork, etc. would have more impact)

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Harvard MBA, 2005
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