Ask Stacy Blackman

Dear Shawn,

Based on the amount of experience you have and what you have recently been doing in your career, I think an executive MBA is probably a more appropriate choice for you. You did not indicate your rationale for going to business school or your career goals; however, if you plan to continue growing your own business(es), then I think you will find an EMBA to provide what you are seeking in a program. I highly encourage you to speak with the admissions folks at the schools you are considering to gain insight into the programs and determine whether they are a match for you.

Good luck,
Lisa

Dear mohitsharda,

You have the GMAT and GPA for a competitive application. Now, you need to have quality work experience demonstrating progression and accomplishments. It is also imperative you have a way to distinguish yourself from similar applicants. Many applicants do this through extracurricular or community activities and/or unique personal stories. Start thinking about how you can stand out in the applicant pool and gaining quality experience over the next year.

Good luck,
Lisa

Dear jessicsd,

Your GMAT and GPA are competitive for a top 10 program. While your entrepreneurial venture did not succeed, it is what you learned in the process and how that experience has shaped your perspective that is important. Likewise, the quality of your resume, essays, recommendations and interview will be instrumental in your evaluation for business school.

Good luck,
Lisa

Dear mp2437,

B-schools evaluate your GMAT from all angles and in relation to your transcript. So, since you are an engineer, it is not surprising you did well on the quant and there will probably be little concern on your ability to handle the quantitative/analytical nature of the business school curriculum. While your verbal is a little on the low side, your total score of 700 is strong and your essays and interview will be other data points for your verbal skills. I don't know that it is necessary to retake at this point in the game (especially if you are trying to hit R2 deadlines), but a higher score is not going to hurt you. Multiple GMAT attempts is not a negative, but GMAT test designers do note a point of diminishing returns for most folks, meaning at around the 3rd or 4th attempt you will not really alter your score significantly on subsequent attempts.

Based on the minimal information you posted, I would say you have the GPA/GMAT/Yrs experience that is right in the mix for both Columbia and NYU. If you believe you can put together a great set of essays and recommendations, then you would have a chance to stand out from similar applicants. Schools don't usually favor graduates from their undergraduate programs unless they don't see many of them in the applicant pool. So, I would not count on that being either a positive or negative for you.

You absolutely want your recommendations to be from your professional work experience. Academic recommendations are not seen as valuable to business school admissions folks. Business school is a professional program and as such, you are being evaluated as a professional. I think the two folks you noted in your post sound like a great idea.

Best of luck,
Lisa
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Dear Harsha,

As an international applicant, many schools have a cutoff of R2. So you need to verify that policy with the schools you are targeting, especially any in the USA. Generally speaking, you want to be in R2. You are from an overrepresented profile--Indian software engineer with ~4 yrs experience, 680-730 GMAT. As such, you have to find a way to distinguish yourself from the competition and you need to use the probabilities to work in your favor in terms of the number of seats available. By R3, there are so few seats and many schools will have already extended most of their international admissions offers. Now, if you are looking at schools in India, then things might be different. I think you have two options: 1) apply R2 with a 680 to schools with GMAT averages in the 650-680 range or 2) retake and apply next year in R1.

Good luck,
Lisa

Dear mp2437,

You should apply when you feel you are ready. However, you do not want to rush your application or apply in R3. If you feel you will gain some quality work experience, then it might also be worth waiting another year. Only you can know when you are ready.

Regards,
Lisa