Dear sogmat,

Stanford, Columbia and Stern are highly selective, so you need to give them many reasons to accept and no reasons to pass on your application. Use the essays, recommendations and interview to your advantage to make your case for admission and stand out from the competition. If the only potential weakness is the GMAT, then you might be able to overcome it with an otherwise stellar application package. Having said that though, I do think you should retake the GMAT and try to get your score up. A 650 is most likely outside the mid-50% range for these schools which will put you at a disadvantage as an international applicant. I also encourage you to add some schools to your mix that are not as selective, but that offer a curriculum and resources you seek in a business program.

Good luck,
Lisa