Ask Stacy Blackman

Hi Stacy

I'm debating whether I should apply this year in round 2 or wait off til next year to improve my GMAT. What do you suggest?

Education:
Top 20 liberal arts college, B.S. in Biology
3.45 GPA
Took GMAT a few times, 660 GMAT 5.5 AWA (88% Verbal, 68% Quant)

Career:
3 years in a large indian IT firm. I'm not indian but was one of the few Americans hired by this company out of college. Kind of a reverse outsourcing =)
2 years in an American consulting firm.
Started a small consulting firms with several partners half year ago. Still small and only one client but hoping it will grow. Not sure if I should even include this since its less than a year old.
Had supervisory experience. ie managed an offshore team while dealing with clients onsite but I don't have the official title of project manager.

Extracurricular:
Most of my volunteer work has been during college rather than during my career because of extensive traveling. During college, I started a tutoring program for somali refugees, organized multicollege film festival for asian american cinema, and was president of 3 clubs.

Post MBA Goal:
Work for multinational firm in Asia either India or China doing product development. Therefore I'm looking for programs with a diverse intnl student population, abroad programs and Intnl career placements.
My target schools are UNC, Duke, Yale, UCLA, and Haas.

Thanks Stacy for the suggestion.

I've taken the GMAT 3 times. First time was 650, second time I cancelled, 3rd time was the 660. I usually score around 700 during practice runs but during the actual exam, i tense up on the quants and it ruins my timing.

I've already started some essays for my target schools and wasn't sure if I should juggle GMAT, work, and Apps in a 2 month window. I think I should put all my effort on my essays and apps and look past the GMAT but its definitly a weakness that has been bugging me.