Dear Pavithra,

Unfortunately, your gap in employment will affect your chances of admission as it will affect your ability to secure employment upon graduation. Due to your situation, it is understandable why you have a gap as you could not work based on your visa status. While increasing your GMAT score might help in some regard, it will not mitigate the concern about your gap in employment. If you have only taken the test once, I think it might be worth taking it again to try and increase your score. I would also advise you to be direct on your applications in addressing your gap in employment, conveying that you understand it could pose a problem for placement and what your plan is to overcome this hurdle when looking for a job after business school.

Best of luck,
Lisa