You pose a good question regarding minority applicants. Due to the small percentage of under-represented minorities (hispanic, african-american, and native american) and women in the business school population as a whole, most schools aggressively seek outstanding candidates and have efforts to attract women and under-represented minorities to business school. While being a woman or minority candidate alone will not guarantee you admission, it will get you a thorough review at most schools IF you also present a strong application. As such, I would not let the 650 score discourage you from applying to top programs but I would encourage you to consider retaking the GMAT to try and increase your score. Please note: many of the same parts of the application the admissions committee considers in deciding to admit a candidate are also used to determine whether the candidate receives a scholarship award.
