apply for round 3 or wait another year?

Monika,

You have a phenomenal story. Quite simply - wait. Let me explain why I say this.

You have a great demographic, you are a woman who has 8 years of work experience. Already, you are distinguishing yourself from the pack, because of your gender and the more than average 5 years work experience. To make the situation better for you, is that you are a techie - undergrad, top 10 engineering school. What goes more in your favor is that you did a Master - PT while working full-time, shows drive and balance, especially if you did well in your Masters program. Your objective after B-School of business strategy and business development in technology is good and in alignment with your past endeavors as well as your engineering experience.

With that being said, you are COMMON to any school in the bay area. However, you are a rare find schools East of Silicon Valley - schools just like people, value the exotic, the foreign, the far away. Do not underestimate yourself or your capability. I have helped a woman similar demographics, without a grad degree, and with a 480 GMAT get into Chicago, Northwestern and Duke. Your age, gender, education and professional experience ARE ALL Strengths.

Be rigorous and get your GMAT as high as possible, but also keep in mind that your non-quantitative attributes such as leadership, volunteering, charisma and initiative will further distinguish your candidacy.

While the schools that you mention are good schools, unless you are really married to them, may I propose a few other names as I truly believe you have a chance at the them: Booth, Harvard, Kellogg, Sloan, Wharton and London Business School.

I would recommend waiting, as although you have a great demographic, background and skill set, top MBA programs have already seen several women with your background. If you were the 1st package that they had seen in round 1, you definitely would have gotten in; however, right now, they have already accepted 10 women ahead of you fitting this background.

Do well on the GMAT and apply next year after round 3 is over. You will have a better application as a result and will hopefully feel less stressed about applying.

Good luck.

Thanks a lot Nick. I really appreciate your detailed reply. However, you may not have the complete picture.

I am an Indian citizen and therefore belong to an over-represented group.
The reason I was not aiming schools in the top 10 is because although I did go to a top 10 engineering school - Cornell, my undergraduate GPA is just a 2.9. I didn't do well while in school.
I completed a part-time master's while working full-time in a local university and I have a 3.7 graduate GPA. However, I took classes as and when I could so the work load was manageable. I took 5 years part-time to finish the degree.

The above factors with the fact that I am an older applicant is my reason for choosing schools such as Kelley etc.
Do you think this changes your response?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Hi Nick,

I would like to add that I don't think getting a 700+ on the GMAT for me is a stretch. I am pretty serious about getting a 700+ on my GMAT.

Regards,
Monika