Profile evaluation for LBS or INSEAD

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nacerix: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 2; Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 3:24 am; Location: Madagascar; GMAT Score:660

by nacerix » Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:02 am

Hi,
I am looking for advices regarding my project to attend INSEAD or London Business School MBA programme. Here is my profile:
- 33 years old with 9.5 years of work experience in three countries in Africa with 3.5 years in a managerial position (current position).
- IELTS: 7.5
- GMAT 660
- Master of Engineering in Computer Science and an online Master of Business Administration both with 65% score.
- Target schools: INSEAD, London Business School
Do you think I really have a chance to be accepted for any of these two programmes?
Thanks in advance for your feedbacks.[/list]

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant | Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:02 am

Edison@VeritasPrep: MBA Admissions Consultant; Posts: 171; Joined: Thu Jan 28, 2016 3:09 pmFollowed by: 3 members; Thanked: 21 times

by Edison@VeritasPrep » Tue Apr 05, 2016 6:17 am

Thanks for sharing your profile.

From what you have posted, you would need to demonstrate strong leadership experiences, whether at work or with extracurricular activities as your GMAT score is at the lower range, and your age is at the upper range. Demonstrating quant-related or analytical accomplishments at work, and strong academics should help address concerns about academic capability. Showing leadership and international experiences can help show that you would enrich the experiences of your peers. It will also be important to show clear and focused post-MBA goals that would leverage your background.

Coming from Africa can help you stand out by bringing an element of your diversity and contributing your knowledge and network to the INSEAD or LBS student/alumni community.

Wish you all the best!

Veritas Prep | Veritas Prep Admissions Consultant

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VantagePointMBA: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 38; Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2016 12:31 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 5 times

by VantagePointMBA » Tue Apr 05, 2016 6:49 pm

Hi there, thanks for sharing your profile! Since your stats and your age are outside the averages for LBS and INSEAD, a successful application strategy for you could really focus on the diversity element that you would bring to the class and your rich leadership experience / maturity. You'll need to present an air-tight story on why you're pursuing an MBA now and how it will help you achieve your goals at this point in your career. If you think you can retake the GMAT and score closer to 700, I would advise you to do so to help improve your candidacy.

You're certainly an interesting candidate for LBS and INSEAD and with the right emphasis on your application strengths, it's certainly worth a shot. If you're committed to attending business school next year, I would suggest that you also consider some slightly less competitive programs that still have a global reputation - IE Business School or Cambridge, for example. Have you also considered American schools?

Happy to chat more if you'd like. Best of luck with your decision!

Best,
Melody

Vantage Point MBA Admissions Consulting

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Jon@Admissionado: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 3135; Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 8:55 amFollowed by: 332 members; Location: Everywhere; Thanked: 589 times

by Jon@Admissionado » Wed Apr 06, 2016 6:25 pm

nacerix wrote:Hi,
I am looking for advices regarding my project to attend INSEAD or London Business School MBA programme. Here is my profile:
- 33 years old with 9.5 years of work experience in three countries in Africa with 3.5 years in a managerial position (current position).
- IELTS: 7.5
- GMAT 660
- Master of Engineering in Computer Science and an online Master of Business Administration both with 65% score.
- Target schools: INSEAD, London Business School
Do you think I really have a chance to be accepted for any of these two programmes?
Thanks in advance for your feedbacks.[/list]

The short of it is that your GMAT is not high enough. INSEAD is more flexible than LBS, but a 720+ would help for either.

So your new mission now is to boost that GMAT by June.
Do that, and doors will open for you,
Best,

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mcbMcK: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 308; Joined: Sat Nov 13, 2010 8:29 pmFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 43 times

by mcbMcK » Wed Apr 06, 2016 11:23 pm

A few more thoughts for you to ponder on nacerix:

Usually, I would have flat out said that there is no chance with the current profile. But I am not saying that cause we've ourselves helped an African candidate get into a top European school with less than 600 GMAT. That is however an exceptional case - whether you qualify for it, depends on the nature of your experience. Not pandering to the stereotypes here, so can't really assume just because you are from Africa, you would have faced hardship.
The other thing to understand is your relative performance. Is 65% great? Or is that just about average? The onus of explaining that to the adcom is on you - so make sure you do.
Finally, I'd agree that you shouldn't put the proverbial eggs in just two baskets. Aim wider. If you have some social angle to the story, you can even explore options such as the Skoll foundation at Oxford.

Hope this helps some

Cheers,

MG (Manish Gupta)|The MBA Crystal Ball Team

Website: https://www.mbacrystalball.com
Email: mcb at mbacrystalball dot com

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nacerix: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 2; Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 3:24 am; Location: Madagascar; GMAT Score:660

by nacerix » Thu Apr 07, 2016 1:29 am

mcbMcK wrote:A few more thoughts for you to ponder on nacerix:

Usually, I would have flat out said that there is no chance with the current profile. But I am not saying that cause we've ourselves helped an African candidate get into a top European school with less than 600 GMAT. That is however an exceptional case - whether you qualify for it, depends on the nature of your experience. Not pandering to the stereotypes here, so can't really assume just because you are from Africa, you would have faced hardship.

The other thing to understand is your relative performance. Is 65% great? Or is that just about average? The onus of explaining that to the adcom is on you - so make sure you do.

Finally, I'd agree that you shouldn't put the proverbial eggs in just two baskets. Aim wider. If you have some social angle to the story, you can even explore options such as the Skoll foundation at Oxford.

Hope this helps some

Cheers,

Thank you all for your feedbacks and advices.
My goal is to significantly boost my international career in a different industry, consulting. At school, my strategy was more on acquiring knowledge and skills than improving my marks and now I am paying back for that. But on the other side, it is because of that strategy that I have also had such an interesting career.
In my circumstances, it is not easy at all to prepare for the GMAT: very busy at work and struggling to manage 3 young kids at home. For my previous exam, I started preparing only a month before the exam and really focused on that than 6 days before the exam.

I want to apply anyway for LBS (last round of September 16 intake) and try the GMAT again next month. I hope I would score much more better.

Thank you so much once more for all your contributions. You helped me so much.

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