First, no one can ever "expect" an admit from the top ten schools. They all have many more qualified applicants than they can accept and they regularly turn down outstanding candidates.

You will be part of a large and very compeititive pool of applicants from India with technical degrees. That lowers your chances. Nevertheless, your stats are good and your experience is stronger than that of many applicants. Your patents will also be a help. You are the type of candidate who should be looking at the top-ranked schools. However, if you are determined to go to school next fall you should definitely consider schools that accept a slightly higher proportion of their applicants. You should look at schools with strong technology programs such as Carnegie Mellon. They will value your experience and your patents.

Unless you have identified a factor keeping your verbal score down and have corrected it, you will probably see no increase and very likely a decrease from retaking the test. You would be better off at this point to focus on putting together a sparkling application that will make you stand out from the competition. A seasoned admissions consultant would be of great help in telling your best story.

Good luck,

Tani Wolff - Kaplan wrote:First, no one can ever "expect" an admit from the top ten schools. They all have many more qualified applicants than they can accept and they regularly turn down outstanding candidates.

You will be part of a large and very compeititive pool of applicants from India with technical degrees. That lowers your chances. Nevertheless, your stats are good and your experience is stronger than that of many applicants. Your patents will also be a help. You are the type of candidate who should be looking at the top-ranked schools. However, if you are determined to go to school next fall you should definitely consider schools that accept a slightly higher proportion of their applicants. You should look at schools with strong technology programs such as Carnegie Mellon. They will value your experience and your patents.

Unless you have identified a factor keeping your verbal score down and have corrected it, you will probably see no increase and very likely a decrease from retaking the test. You would be better off at this point to focus on putting together a sparkling application that will make you stand out from the competition. A seasoned admissions consultant would be of great help in telling your best story.

Good luck,

Thanks Tani for the valuable inputs. I know where all i made mistakes in verbal, and I am hopeful of increasing my score by 30-40 points. If I am able to improve my verbal score, will it increase my chances of admission in top colleges. I want to do my best and then leave things on almighty. According to you, what all I should include/take-care in my application to have better chances of admit.
Thanks a lot.

As always, there are no guarantees. However, you should be sure to emphasize the quality of your work experience, particularly any management aspects. Leadership and responsibility for the work of others will be very important in distinguishing yourself form other highly-qualified applicants.