Ask Stacy Blackman

Dear Stacy,

To start with, let me give you my background.

I have a bachelor's degree from India. my GPA was 3.2 on a scale of 4 in my undergradute studies.

Thereafter I did Join in an MBA program which I only attaended for an year and had to discontinue due to family problems.

I have 5+ years of experience.Most of that (around 3 years) has been in Commodity trading and Supply Chain Manangement.

I also ran my own company for an year after my undergradute studies.

I have worked with 2 of the best companies in the commodity trading Business and was last looking after a commodity's entire supply chain in a particular region.

I have also been promoted thrice in my stints with organizations and believe I have a good qualitative experience in the Area of trading and Supply Chain.

I have also been fortunate to work in three continents in my work life.I have had stints in Europe, Africa and Asia.

As For my Co-Curriculars, I have been an active sportsman and captained College and School teams in Cricket and Badminton.I have been an active Quizzer all my life and have won lots of awards for winning Quizzes. I have also been actively Involved in organizing various events in College.

I took the GMAT last year with little preparation and scored a meagre 590.I did however apply to MSU-broad and was waitlisted initially but was denied in the final round.

My scores in the practise tests have so far been hovering in the 660-680 region (Manhattan and GMATPrep) and I think I might realistically be able to achieve 680 on the GMAT.

I have currently shortlisted the following Schools to apply to:

1) MSU-Broad
2) Indiana-Kelley
3) Rice
4) Ohio-Fisher

As for the 5th School, I am undecided about whether to apply to a higher ranked school or hedge my bets and apply to a lower ranked one.

I have 2 questions for you:

1) Should I take a risk and choose to send my scores to a higher ranked college?? If yes, can you suggest a good college for supply chain and trading other than the ones I have already mentioned??

2) Are 1 year programs considered at Par with 2 year Ones?? If yes, then are there any 1 year programs focussed on Supply Chain and trading in the U.S??


Thanks a lot in Advance for your help

Regards
Ashish

Hi ashish.mahendra,

University of Michigan might be a good option for you as a stretch school, depending on how the GMAT works out.

The one year program in the US is not incredibly common, generally we have two year programs with a summer for an internship unless someone opts to go for an accelerated program with no internship (such as Columbia's January intake). Internationally the one year program is far more common, and I think equivalent to the 2 year programs.

Good luck!

Amy

Dear Stacy,

I just got done with my GMAT and scored a 640 (Q37 V41)

I am planning to apply to MSU, Rice, Kelley and Ohio State.

I am still thinking whether I should retake the GMAT.

Is 640 a good score for these colleges.

I have a decent work history and have been good at extracurriculars throughout my life.

Should I retake the GMAT or just go ahead with my Apps???

I need to decide quickly enough........Kinda disappointed with my Scores.

Ashish

Hi ashish.mahendra,

I think it's worth applying to your list of schools, although if you improve your GMAT score that never hurts. Taking it twice is completely reasonable.

Good luck!

Amy

Thanks for your feedback Stacy,

I have a question though.

The deadlines for most schools that I am applying to is around the 15th of November.

However, the earliest I can now take the test is the 19th of November.

I was wondering if I did retake the test and at the same time got all my app stuff in by the first deadline, would my application be considered in the first round itself or the second round.

Since I would be retaking the GMAT after the first deadline is over, how would they evaluate my application??

Also, should I mention it in my application that i am retaking the test????


Ashish

Hi ashish.mahendra,

If you have submitted your R1 application, in general, you should be able to take the GMAT again a few days after the deadline and still have the scores considered for RI.

However, every school has their own specific policy. The best way to know for sure is to call the school directly. The admissions office will be more than happy to help with this sort of question, and will give you very good school specific advice.

Good luck!

Amy