640 GMAT - Advice Please!

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640 GMAT - Advice Please!

by charlie08 » Fri Dec 03, 2010 4:35 am
hello,

i just took the gmat recently and scored a 640. i thought i did well, but obviously i did not. i don't want to take the gmat again as it is a big hassle (there are no gmat testing centers in the country i currently live in).

Can someone please help evaluate my profile for a top 10 bschool and give some advice?

Gender: F
Age:25
GPA: 3.9 in finance, at great undergraduate US bschool - graduated at age of 20
Ethnicity: Other Asian - definitely a minority, doesn't show up in the lists (does this matter?)
WE: 4.5 years
-Over 1 year at a top-tier investment bank, over 1 year boutique bank, a ton of international experience, tons of responsibility as deal teams were small, ranked at the top of the class, always youngest at the firms
-2 years in a third-world country as the head/coordinator of a business school (promoted to this after 4 months, probably youngest ever to hold this position) - really unique experience, taught finance-related classes, revamped the curriculum, social entrepreneurship projects - have accomplished a lot for the college
-Part-time external financial consultant (financial modeling work) for international energy company in asia backed by huge PE firm
EC: i never joined any clubs in my two years at university (as i thought they were dumb), but i worked 20 hours per week - tutoring, various finance jobs, teaching business in remote town internationally after graduating (before working at ibank).

Obviously after bschool i would like to focus on combining my finance/business skills within the educational sector. my profile is unique, but my gmat looks funny in the mix - i don't know what happened, really. suggestions?
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by karanrulz4ever » Fri Dec 03, 2010 8:52 am
WOW...u do have an awesome and an unique profile. The chances now are as good as they would have been with a 700. The difference factor would be the essays and ur application. Do invest energy in those. Best of luck...

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by aslan » Fri Dec 03, 2010 1:35 pm
nice one....and a fine score in my opinion.

Its just my idea, whether you bother to take it or leave it.What I have believed in is that if you apply to B-schools after maybe four or five years experience, you will not only be a viable candidate (with experience, posts held etc) but you will also enjoy the MBA experience much much more.

I used to remember my brother who went into MBA after just two years of jr. post job, and for him, reading those case studies were pure hell...he could not relate to them with any diverse experiences of his own.If he had gone into it after doing some time, he might have enjoyed/participated in the studies much more, instead of taking it all just as a pure academic pursuit.

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by charlie08 » Fri Dec 03, 2010 7:08 pm
Thanks for the words of encouragement! Do you think I need to bring this up in my essay? i studied for three-ish weeks, but essentially at the same time as having three jobs - running the department, teaching two finance courses I recreated, and financial modeling work externally. I will constantly be busy. I obviously had to focus a lot more on my work, than this test.....

but i obviously can do better, however, it will cost me over close to another grand to leave the country to take it again...is it worth it?

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by odannyboi » Fri Dec 03, 2010 7:41 pm
charlie08 wrote:Thanks for the words of encouragement! Do you think I need to bring this up in my essay? i studied for three-ish weeks, but essentially at the same time as having three jobs - running the department, teaching two finance courses I recreated, and financial modeling work externally. I will constantly be busy. I obviously had to focus a lot more on my work, than this test.....

but i obviously can do better, however, it will cost me over close to another grand to leave the country to take it again...is it worth it?
Heres the thing.. you are an ethnic minority female and top 10 bschools love diversity. Look up gmat ranges for all top schools, if you are in the range you have a shot. Harvard may have a 720 average but the range of admitted may be 640-780.

Your GPA is insane, your experience is awesome, you are younger than the class average yet you have the same amount of WE and you add diversity to the cohort.

If you can put together a great essay with recommendations then you have a very good shot despite your gmat score (which is good enough to get into most schools).

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by jaymw » Fri Dec 03, 2010 8:17 pm
Hey!

I definitely agree with what the others said about your profile! I think it is pretty much guaranteed that if you apply for all 10 top bschools, you will at least get into 1 or 2.

And although a 640 sounds 'low', it still is in the high 70s percentilewise. It is not like you screwed up completely! If I were you, I'd definitely try to put together some great essays and apply for the schools you have in mind!

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by aslan » Sat Dec 04, 2010 3:57 am
@charlie08:

Some great advice going around here Charlie..

Since a lot of youngsters are on this platform, I wold encourage all to look beyond a little bit the numbers here.It may be that they are more interested in your 'self' then your GMAT....so no need to excuse as well when you ever write an essay for this score, just make the attitude that you have to offer a lot lot more on the plate, and have gone way ahead from mere numbers game.

Good luck! :)

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by gsbjake » Tue Dec 07, 2010 8:51 pm
I agree with the people above. You will certainly have a good chance at a top 10 school despite getting a 640. You just have to decide whether you'd wanna take another shot at it or focus on the apps at this point.

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by charlie08 » Fri Feb 04, 2011 4:52 am
okay, i just took it again and got a 670. I am aiming for just HBS in the third round. any thoughts?