I just Beat The GMAT!

Hello,

Gave my GMAT yesterday. 710. Q45(68%ile), V41(93%ile).

Profile as under:
-India, male, 20.
-In my final year of Bachelor of Business Administration.
-College score till now: 70%
-Worked part time through college with family owned business:
1.*Travel Agency: Represented company at travel exhibitions internationally.
2.*Business Consultancy Company: B2B meeting and organising exhibitions.
-Team Leader for a United Nations program (Supervised 20 people)
-Interned with a consultancy and a hotel chain.
-Worked with several startups, ranging from e-commerce and social networks to event management firms.
-Been an active member of several Youth Organisations(AIESEC, MAD).
-Involved in community service since the last 4 years.
-Currently teaching in a NGO for 5 hours/week since July 2012 (Not paid)
-Organised a 3 day developmental camp for children from the same NGO.
-Cleared the IQ exam and got selected for MENSA.
-Basketball team captain in school and college.
-Done basic courses in Chinese (Mandarin) and French. Hindi and English are first languages.
-Gym enthusiast(run my own fitness blog), Marathon runner and Adventure junkie.
-Goal after MBA is to open my own travel channel which explores underdeveloped/undiscovered travel destinations.


I was keen on applying to IESE's YTP program. Will have to apply in the last round (June 15). Could you please evaluate my chances for the program. Is there something I can do to improve my profile in the time left?

Thanks ))

Oh, and my Mock scores leading to the exam were:

GMAT Prep: 660 (Q42, V40)
MGMAT 1: 640 (Q44, V33)
MGMAT 2: 610 (Q44, V31)
MGMAT 3: 620 (Q41, V34)
GMAT Prep: 680 (Q46, V38)

Exam Day Tip: Use earplugs. They really help concentrate.

-My IR was not very good. Time management was poor. I was glad verbal was the last section, all my nervousness had ebbed down till then and concentration was at its peak. Quant anyways isn't strong, at max was expecting 46-48. CR was the strongest in Verbal.

Hey BlubberFishSwims --

You have some interesting work experience and that would have a decent shot at IESE YTP, but it's really going to come down to your essays and why you want the MBA, and what your plans are to utilize the YTP opportunity. We don't really know what you mean by a "travel channel" - do you mean on TV or something? If so, that's VERY ambitious, and we'd caution against it. Also for YTP you would want to explain what you'll do at each step. Are you planning on going for this entrepreneurial thing right away? Or what are your plans for this summer when you graduate from your bachelor's? These are the factors that will matter the most for IESE.

The one glitch, as you probably know, is that quant score on the GMAT is a little low. IESE may be OK with it for YTP but it's not something that they would be thrilled about. If we were talking about any other school, or even the regular MBA at IESE, we'd be much more worried about it. If you're up for it and you would be able to put in the work in studying to boost the score, then we do suggest that you re-take the test.

Or, you can try for YTP with this score, and if it doesn't work out, you'll have gained from the experience and will be better equipped to try for a regular full-time MBA later on - you would just want to retake the GMAT again before you do.

Hope this helps - good luck with everything!
EssaySnark

Oh yeah - you may want to see our EssaySnark blahg post from yesterday about GMAT score and age: https://essaysnark.com/2013/03/why-do-gm ... pulations/

This is another reason why you should strongly consider retesting; many of your peers will be showing better scores that you have.

Ah Snarkies. Thanks for your awesome as usual advice. I've already been through the blaaahg post. True that, I do have a low score compared to my peers. Especially the Indian ones, we are supposed to be good at Quant. The problem is I'm going to Russia for an exhibition, so might not get time for the test before the college deadlines. I'll still try.

Yups, a travel channel sort of thing. Exploring undiscovered/underdeveloped places and bringing them on travelers' radar. It is just an idea now, and I though it might be different from the usual stuff schools get. Plan was to work in a media agency for few years, learn the ins and outs, go to business school, graduate, work for a few more years in the media field if needed, and then combine my travel-industry knowledge with the media knowledge and open my own venture. An MBA would help provide me with the ability to manage this all.

I think I will apply to IESE. Tried writing essays once, they really make you think. Original plan was to apply for HBS 2+2, but the low GMAT doesn't improve my chances there. Still, is it worth the shot?

First up, we'd caution about the idea of trying to be different in your goals. If it's really truly your plan to do this travel channel thing - and if you've been putting the foundations in place already - then maybe it will fly. The schools don't want to see something exotic in the goals, they want to see something attainable. See here https://essaysnark.com/2012/01/beware-th ... der-at-it/ and here https://essaysnark.com/2012/08/so-you-wa ... siness-eh/ for more.

As to 2+2, as you noted, your basic stats of GMAT and GPA seem to be below the averages of accepted students there; those numbers are off the charts, even compared to the stratospheric averages of the "typical" HBS student. GMAT/GPA count for more for a 2+2 candidate because that's the main way a current college student can prove s/he's a superstar. If you don't have that, you'd better have a lot more awesome in your profile to show why you deserve a spot there. Nobody could (ethically) say one way or another, that you do or you don't, based on just a brief description in a forum post. So all that we will offer is the fact that they look at the apps holistically, and you have stuff that seems interesting, and you only get to try for it once so why not?

Good luck with it Brave Supplicant!
EssaySnark

The foundations are laid to some extent. It gels my goals of travelling, doing something for the society and doing what I enjoy. And no, I am not going to stick to the traditional lines. Better being a original misfit. Motivated by the awesome-est guy evaaaar:

"Those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."

And you guys just made my day. True, Why not? I don't want to look back and think "What if".

I'm applying to 2+2 and YTP, will keep you guys updated.

Zanks!

Awesome to hear - best of luck on them!!!