Ask Veritas Prep Admissions Consulting

GMAT: 660/5.5
GPA: 4.0/4.0 from Rutgers, School of Engineering

Publications: 4 Research Papers published in IEEE Conferences
Talks: 2 Talks in IEEE Conferences

Experience:
- Will have 4 Years of experience in a Global Consulting Firm at the start of school year
- Significant Experience with working with and leading Global Teams

Schools I am targeting:
- Duke
- Carnegie Mellon
- Cornell
- NYU
- MIT (might be out of reach but still would like to try)
- Darden
- UNC

What are the chances at the schools listed above?

First of all, congratulations on a fantastic GPA! That will go a long way in mitigating other "weaknesses" (like a slightly lower GMAT). I haven't seen your resume, but, with strong essays and LORs, I think you have a decent shot at the schools you are targeting.

Good luck!!

Thanks Jessica.

Yes, I am hoping that the GPA helps me mitigate the lower GMAT score.

I do plan to put in significant amount of effort on the essays and LORs. Top choice is NYU. Let's see where this takes me.

Jessica,

I have taken the GMAT twice. Should I risk a third try?

Your opinion would be greatly appreciated.

Schools only consider your top score (in theory at least) and you can always take the test but not have the score reported (until you find out what it is and then you could report it if it is your best score). So, there really isn't a "risk" to taking the test again. But, it is time consuming and I can appreciate that it may not be the best use of your time. If you feel that you were well prepared and if this score is comparable to the scores you received on other standardized tests then I might suggest you put your efforts elsewhere (work, essays, LORs). However, if you feel you weren't well prepared then I would suggest you take a course or get some private tutoring and try again. If you were able to break 700, you would have a much better shot at your target schools.

Jessica