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Indian Female 27yrs

Education: 5 yr Btech+ Mtech from Indian Institute of Technology. GPA: 3.5
Have also completed all 3 levels of CFA Program (from CFA Institute, USA)

Work Exp: 4.5 yrs work exp. 1 yr in consulting (analytics) and 3.5 yrs in financial services (analytics for one of the largest US banks)

International exposure: 1 month in US and 1 month in Japan

GMAT is 680 (QA 49, VA 34, AWA 5). This was 2nd attempt. 1st attempt was 640 (QA 51, VA 27, AWA 4). 2nd attempt was basically to improve English.

My current list:
Tough: Kellogg, Stern, Booth
Medium probability: Columbia, Tuck, Haas
Safer: Tepper, Ross, Anderson
Non US: INSEAD, ISB

Please suggest changes in the list. Is it even worth considering HBS, Wharton? Also please suggest if I should consider other Non-US schools.
PS: I am not very keen on Johnson and Fuqua

Thanks.
D

Hi dayatic --

Nice job on improving the GMAT score! A lot of people actually go DOWN on their second test, so congrats on that very healthy boost. A 680 score is within the range of most any top program, and your GPA is strong - plus, the CFA adds value too. So now it will come down to your goals and your background story.

Based on this brief sketch, we do not see reason to rule out any particular school yet - though as you know, Wharton and Harvard are toughies!! You are, however, fully qualified to try for even that topmost level. As you surely know, the vast majority of applicants to these schools are also qualified, so all this means is you have a ticket to play the game. How the adcoms respond to your pitch is totally dependent on the career goals (some schools care about this more than anything - Kellogg, Stern, and Booth all care a lot about goals) and just as important, leadership experience and contribution.

We actually think that you would have an easier time at Booth or Kellogg than you would at Columbia, Tuck, or Haas - your list is flipped from how we'd rate it. And, Ross and Anderson would be in the "medium" categori, with maybe Tepper being alone on the "safer" list. This is just based on our knowledge of how competitive these schools are, and how many candidates with basic 'stats' similar to yours applying.

This isn't meant to discourage you! Yes, these schools are hard to crack, but good candidates get offers at all of them all the time, it all depends on what you bring to the table.

We can't really offer any commentary on whether any of these schools would be a good fit for you since we don't know what you want to do in the future. It's a very random collection, frankly -- it seems that maybe you've just gone down the ratings lists rather than choosing schools based on their own qualities and characteristics. (No offense meant by that - it's the first step for many people and you gotta start somewhere, right?!)

Both ISB and INSEAD are likely just as tough to get into as Columbia, Haas, Kellogg, etc. If you're an NRI then you may have more luck at ISB, but the GMAT score is low for ISB. It's a little low for these other schools too but there's a chance that it could work, based on the other (as yet unknown) elements of your profile.

If you want to follow up with additional questions, feel free!
EssaySnark