bsmgs wrote:Hi!

Any advice offered is greatly appreciated!

I would like to go back to school for my MBA.

My current profile is as follows:
-3.76 GPA in Finance, minor in Accounting. (Dean's list every semester, A+ or As on all quant classes)
- 620 GMAT (43Q 33V...retaking on August 4th)
-36 months experience in the finance industry (3 promotions since I've been hired. Currently a manager of two departments and oversee 6 people.)
-Extracurriculars include a LOT of volunteer work (Habitat, food bank, special olympics, etc). About 20 hours a month.

My target schools for a FT MBA are: -UT Austin -Vanderbilt -U Michigan (stretch school) -Duke (stretch school) -Indiana (my number 1).
I will be applying round 1 for all schools.

Due to my low GMAT however, I feel as though all of the above schools are "stretch" schools. Do you think great essays and a high gpa are enough to counteract? Even though I am retaking in August, I don't expect to my score to be much better (I work 60-70 hour weeks). If not, are there other schools I should target?

Goals are to partner up with my relative (who owns his own accounting and finance firm) to begin consulting for small businesses. His current business files taxes and offers accounting advise for about 25-30 companies.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

THank you!

Here's how it rolls.

Having serviceable essays + strong GMAT will put you in a better position than exceptional essays + below average GMAT. I'm sure there will be some consultants out there that will disagree and will wax poetic about how magical essays are the golden ticket - but they are one aspect of the application. Yes, essays are important, but they are not so important that they trump everything else.

Note I say "serviceable" - of course if your essays are horrible, that will be a huge handicap, but as long as your essays don't suck, you'll still have a better chance than a low GMAT (especially for schools outside the top 16, who care a lot about GMAT scores because their movement in the rankings in many publications are more sensitive to changes in GMAT than top schools, while also having a wider range of GMAT scores than applicants to say the top 8 schools where the GMAT ranges are narrowing).

What I strongly suggest is that you focus on nothing but the GMAT prep. Based on your post, it seems like you're a decent enough writer that I don't think your essays will be an issue if you put some effort into it (and have others review it - whether it's colleagues, friends, relatives/partners, or even consultants). Furthermore, you have a strong GPA, you have solid work experience, and bona fide extracurriculars that are not resume builders (i.e. you're involved enough that it doesn't seem like window dressing). But the biggest thing holding you back is the GMAT. If you can score a 660, any of the schools on your list you'll be competitive for. And if you score a 700+, the top 16 schools like Duke and Ross will be sweet spots (with top 8 schools like Kellogg, Booth, Tuck, etc being stretches but where you have enough of a shot that they may be worth applying). That's how much the GMAT makes a difference in your case.

Good luck