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Advice on B-Schools List

by Raghu547 » Thu Jul 08, 2010 9:34 am
Hi
I scored 640 in gmat (q50,v26). Please help me out with the b-schools that i can apply to.
Here is my profile

Nationality : Indian
Graduation : ECE 80% Osmania University ( Ranked 2nd in class of 60 students)
12th - 91 %
10- 91%

Scored 100% in quant consistently through out my career excluding 12th ...


Experience : 2 years in IT in a MNC- Banking Product ; Will be 3 by the time i join.

Extracurricular activities :
Won a Paper presentation and Robotic tech event at national level.
In the organizing committee for all 4 yrs of graduation.Headed the committee in final yr.
Represented my state in an international IEEE student congress.
Coll and company level cricket player.
Published a paper at my company.
In Editorial team for a magazine in my company.


Voluntary Service :
Part of few social services clubs at office and also been indulging with a orphanage since engg.
I am also a certified Disaster Recovery Representative.

Looking to work in Finance or consulting after my MBA. So planning to do MBA - Finance.


I have selected the following b-schools as of now. But do need your suggestion to go forward.

Wisconson,Madison
Rutgers
Michigan State Univesity
Ohio State university - Fisher
Univesity of pittsburg - katz
NYU
Carnegie Mellon
UNC - Chappel Hill
University of toronto

Please comment on my chances to get into these schools/provide me a few schools which are good at MBA Finance and are affordable/provide good aids.

Thanks.
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by essaysnark » Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:06 am
EssaySnark says, you got a 50 on your GMAT quant score?!?

EssaySnark STRONGLY encourages you to focus on the Verbal side and re-take the GMAT. THIS WILL OPEN DOORS FOR YOU. You will then be qualified to apply to pretty much any school that matches your interest and goals.

To be clear, a better verbal score on the GMAT (a high overall score) will not guarantee that you will be admitted. But it puts you in the running. Many schools care more about the quant side of the GMAT, and your strong showing there will be impressive if it's combined with clear career goals and lots of evidence of achievement in your career to date.

With the current GMAT score, EssaySnark feels that schools like Carnegie-Mellon (Tepper) and UNC would be happy to have you, though neither of these schools are the strongest for finance. NYU is strong for finance but they may have trouble with the low verbal score (or maybe not, EssaySnark doesn't know - that high quant could trump the low verbal, possibly). Many other schools on your list like Rutgers would probably accept you with this score, too, but EssaySnark feels you could qualify for a higher-ranked program and you should aim higher.

The schools that are best-known for finance typically include Wharton, Columbia, NYU, Chicago, MIT, and LBS (LBS would probably be ruled out for you because they prefer more work experience). You would definitely need to raise the overall GMAT score but these are great schools that might be interested in you if you develop clear career goals to match that impressive quant score. The fact that you've been working in a bank, even though in an IT function, is going to help you transition to finance, too.

EssaySnark does not want to mislead everyone to think that the quant GMAT score is all that matters, but it really can help. You have options with that -- provided you get decent verbal score too (probably a 35 score would be a minimum for you). Then it comes down to presentation in the rest of the app.

As to the "affordable" question, all MBA programs are expensive. Columbia is known to be the most expensive. Generally loans are available including for international applicants, and there are scholarships available at most schools, too, some need-based, some merit-based. The MBA is seen as having great ROI -- if you're going into finance, you should be able to make a good salary in the future -- so EssaySnark recommends not focusing so much on which school is cheaper than another, and instead look to get into the very best school that will accept you. It will pay off in tangible and non-tangible ways for the rest of your life.

Good luck with it!
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by Raghu547 » Fri Jul 09, 2010 6:01 am
Hi Snark.. Thank you for your much elaborated reply ... But out of the entire prep time 90% was given to verbal as i am pretty confident about quant but the result was pretty bad , i am sure i cant improve it :-( ...
I am counting on my extra curriculars,work ex and my strong quant. Please let me know considering these grounds and with my present score what b- schools i can apply for and what i can leave from the list :

Wisconson,Madison
Rutgers
Michigan State Univesity
Ohio State university - Fisher
Univesity of pittsburg - katz
NYU
Carnegie Mellon
UNC - Chappel Hill
University of toronto
UIUC

Thanks
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by essaysnark » Fri Jul 09, 2010 1:17 pm
EssaySnark feels this is sort of a tough call. NYU, which is the best-ranked program on this list, might be willing to overlook that unfortunate verbal score. That's really the biggest question-mark here. EssaySnark would generally be discouraging a candidate with a 640 to even attempt NYU, however if you are strong in the rest of your profile (with really good essays!), you could find success even there. The rest of the schools on your list have 80% ranges that dip down towards the 640 level, so they all should be happy to see an app from you. Some of the lower-tier schools especially (e.g., Rutgers) should have no problem saying yes to you. EssaySnark feels you have a chance at a better school though. Perhaps not top 5, but possibly top 20 (so, UNC, Tepper, et al.) You could always try for NYU and maybe even another (MIT is still suggesting itself to EssaySnark) to see how things go.

You probably know that usually people have the exact-opposite problem -- they struggle with the quant side and do relatively fine on verbal. So this is an unusual profile, for sure, and the schools might not worry as much about the 640 as they would for a candidate with the reverse weighting.

Good luck with it!
EssaySnark has MBA application guides for HBS, Stanford, Booth, Wharton, NYU and pretty much any other school you can name - including a fully revised and expanded 2015 Columbia essay guide!
https://essaysnark.com/bookstore/
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by Raghu547 » Fri Jul 09, 2010 6:42 pm
Hi Snark,
Thank you for filling in positive vibes :-) ... I have a small doubt.. "can we actually mail the adcom of the top b-schools like - tepper,nyu,UNC asking if we can apply by sending out our profile ?"
Does this this give any bad signs ?
Now the big thing starts i need to cut down this b- school list to 6 :-) ...
Regards,
Raghu
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by essaysnark » Sat Jul 10, 2010 12:41 pm
EssaySnark says, the adcoms will pretty much never tell you whether or not to apply. They get that question all the time. The standard response from them is, "These are our GMAT/GPA ranges, but we don't have a minimum GMAT or GPA, we evaluate the whole candidate, so submit your application and we'll see!" They pretty much always encourage you to apply but they won't be able to tell you "what are my chances" if you try to walk them through your profile. Rarely do they tip their cards in advance. They might say "that GMAT is a little low for us" but they won't say if it's "too low."

In fact, see this video from the Darden dir of admissions on this very subject: https://www.youtube.com/user/DardenMBA#p ... vpY6GIDW_o

HOWEVER: Some European bschools actually do offer this to an extent. IESE has an "information interview" https://www.iese.edu/aplicaciones/mba/in ... sp?lang=en EssaySnark believes that IE might do this too. These schools have different evaluation processes than American schools, so IESE saying your GMAT is good enough doesn't translate to other schools. EssaySnark's point is, some schools do offer pre-app input into a profile, but the best US schools, not so much.

EssaySnark suggests trying for the highest-ranked schools on your list for Round 1, and if you don't get in there, go for the next tier for Round 2. (NYU's R1 date is so late that you wouldn't get a final answer from them before other schools' R2 deadlines, however you'd at least have interview status, probably). Your profile likely could get in even as late as Round 3 for a school like Rutgers, so EssaySnark feels you could safely target that tier of school later. Do the highest-ranked schools in R1 if you can.

PS: That Darden video's got really good points on the "how do I differentiate myself" question, too.
EssaySnark has MBA application guides for HBS, Stanford, Booth, Wharton, NYU and pretty much any other school you can name - including a fully revised and expanded 2015 Columbia essay guide!
https://essaysnark.com/bookstore/
* * * * * * *
The Indians' Guide to Getting In maps out everything you need to evaluate your own profile and select your schools. https://essaysnark.com/ssguide/quicksnar ... ans-guide/
* * * * * * *
MILITARY CANDIDATES! We've got some pro bono offers just for you: https://essaysnark.com/military-mba/
* * * * * * *
Follow EssaySnark on Twitter!
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by Raghu547 » Sat Jul 10, 2010 6:25 pm
essaysnark wrote:EssaySnark says, the adcoms will pretty much never tell you whether or not to apply. They get that question all the time. The standard response from them is, "These are our GMAT/GPA ranges, but we don't have a minimum GMAT or GPA, we evaluate the whole candidate, so submit your application and we'll see!" They pretty much always encourage you to apply but they won't be able to tell you "what are my chances" if you try to walk them through your profile. Rarely do they tip their cards in advance. They might say "that GMAT is a little low for us" but they won't say if it's "too low."

In fact, see this video from the Darden dir of admissions on this very subject: https://www.youtube.com/user/DardenMBA#p ... vpY6GIDW_o

HOWEVER: Some European bschools actually do offer this to an extent. IESE has an "information interview" https://www.iese.edu/aplicaciones/mba/in ... sp?lang=en EssaySnark believes that IE might do this too. These schools have different evaluation processes than American schools, so IESE saying your GMAT is good enough doesn't translate to other schools. EssaySnark's point is, some schools do offer pre-app input into a profile, but the best US schools, not so much.

EssaySnark suggests trying for the highest-ranked schools on your list for Round 1, and if you don't get in there, go for the next tier for Round 2. (NYU's R1 date is so late that you wouldn't get a final answer from them before other schools' R2 deadlines, however you'd at least have interview status, probably). Your profile likely could get in even as late as Round 3 for a school like Rutgers, so EssaySnark feels you could safely target that tier of school later. Do the highest-ranked schools in R1 if you can.

PS: That Darden video's got really good points on the "how do I differentiate myself" question, too.
Wow thats quite an explanation snark. Thanks a lot. :-) ..
Regards,
Raghu
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