Ask Stacy Blackman

Hi,

I wanted to have your take if i should be retaking the GMAT .

My profile in brief looks like

Profile
Age/GMAT/nationality - 24/M/Indian
10th - 85%
12 - 64%
Graduation(GPA) - Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (6.91/10)
GMAT -720( V37 :Q 50)
Work ex/Company/Team - 2 years,Amdocs , Monitoring Solutions
Extra Curriculars :
1)Revived Annual Cultural Festival which was lying defunct due to lack of funds
2)Led Marketing Teams for 2 years running for the Annual Cultural Festival. Raised funds to the tune of 3Million INR for the festivals
3)Led Infrastructure/operations Team for the Annual Tech Festival
4)Active in Literary and other clubs in College
5)Was the first member in my team in India. Helped establish the team and expand it
5)Awarded Recognition Awards twice in the Current Company . Once for successfully building the team and mentoring freshers and second for overseeing a monitoring setup end to end for two projects

My Target Schools are : (I wud really prefer johnson,stern,Columbia because i want to be in vicinity of new york )
1)Stern
2)Duke
3)Columbia
4)Tuck
5)Tepper
6)Johnson
7)Anderson


What prompts me to think about retaking
1)Being in the competitive Segment of Indian IT
2)GMAT Prep1 Score -770 , GMAT prep2 -760. Did 4 other tests from Kaplan Softwares - Got in the range of 660-720
3)A little imbalance in the GMAT score with V:37 and Q:50
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Hi Lisa,

Much thanks for your input.
Would taking some of the pre-mba courses like "The Business Essentials" certificate course offered by UNC help strengthen the application. That course is built up of six modules that demand approx 10 hours each. I think i can devote that much time alongside my apps as i am on vacation from full time work for the next full month. Also, if instead of a complete certificate course , you have any recommendation for some individual courses that are valuable ?

Modules of UNC Business essentials

Introduction to Business
Financial Accounting
Economics and Finance
Marketing
Business Operations
Business Communication

Regards,
Sohrab Kalra

Lisa,

Appreciate your responsiveness and insightful comments ! I would like to ask you one last question to sum up this discussion.

I am already two weeks into my GMAT prep again so i definitely intend to give it again by Mid-August.
However i went back to the drawing board and analysed my transcripts and overall profile. Here are my observations and a Question Arising out of it . I have attached my Transcript just in case you would like to have a look at it.

Pro's
1)Demonstrated Leadership Qualities During UnderGraduate Coursework
2)Decent GMAT score (Which i hope to improve further)
3)Team Building during the employment period of 2 years and Team work throughout
4)Good Grades in The Management/Business related Electives i had During UnderGraduate Coursework

a)Organisational Behaviour- A
b)Human Resources Devolpment - B
c)Human Values, Ethics and IPR- B
d)Comunication skills - B
e)Engineering Economics - B
f)Total Quality Management - B

Grading System
A - Excellent - 10 Gradepoints
B - Good -8
C - Average -6
D - Marginal -4
E - Exposed -2
F - Poor -0


Cons
1)Average Grades in almost all Mathematics Related Courses in Undergraduate Coursework[Which were out of sheer Ignorance and disinterest as i ended up in a school that was a misfit for me and the low grades are the primary reason for the GPA taking a hit]

a)Maths 1- C
b)Maths 2 - C
c)optimization Techniques - D
d)Numerical and Statistical Methods - C

2)Lack of significant Exposure to the business side of work during employment.Something that an Analyst/Advisory Guy would have.

So now if i can

Question
1) Would you recommend going in for some coursework,apart from the business related courses,in statistics and calculus or other mathematical subjects to cover up the low grades in Mathematics in Undergraduate Degree or The GMAT Quant Score sufficiently Covers it up?

2) Can you recommend Some of the Business Related Modules i should look to take courses on and if you can, some certificate program !

Much Thanks,
Sohrab