GMAT - 650 (Q46,V34, AWA- 5.0) - need advice

Dear Maddy_Kaps,

Thanks for your post! Please see my general thoughts below:

1) Assuming you can maintain your strong grades in your master's program, I think that your educational profile will likely be sufficient. Of course, some of this depends on where the 72% placed you (ranking-wise)in your ugrad class and where you went to school (one of the IITs?).

2) As to the GMAT, while a 650 might be close to the average for many of the schools on your list, it's well below average at INSEAD and ISB - and likely below average at some of the other programs (Oxford and Cambridge) when you look at Indian IT professionals who get into these schools (keep in mind that you fall into an 'over-subscribed' portion of the applicant pool as an Indian, male, engineer working in IT).

3) Beyond the fact that your GMAT is a bit low, you have a lot of time before applying this fall to take it a second time and improve. In fact, most programs might wonder why you haven't bothered to retake if you apply with this score (since many applicants sit the exam multiple times and the schools take the best score).

4) One final benefit of scoring better on the exam is that you may open up some doors that would likely be closed at present (INSEAD, ISB, Columbia's J-Term, LBS's fast-tracked option, etc).

5) Obviously, there are some grey areas here, such as the specifics surrounding your present work experience and XCs (leadership opportunities, teamwork exposure, etc). For a more in-depth assessment, send along your resume to our [email protected] line.

Best of luck,

Graham