Profile Assessment: 690 GMAT / 4.0 GPA. Help appreciated!

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Hello,

Thank you in advance for the help.

My basics: I'm a 25 year old White American Male interested in applying to business school this year (by round 2 deadlines).

My Academic background: I went to a well known state school in the NYC area, and graduated with a BS in Finance and Economics with a 4.0 GPA. I recently took the GMAT and scored a 690 (Quant 71%tile, Verbal 82%tile, 7 IR)...I was hoping for ~700-720 so a little disappointed.

Work Experience: I worked for two years at one the Big Banks in a Strategy role (GS / MS / JPM) and by next year will have worked two years at one of the largest Asset Managers (think BLK / FIDELITY / etc). So I have 4 years of work experience.

I have also been involved in things outside of work (Politics) so I do think my application is solid, outside of the GMAT score which I am proud of but recognize is below average...

I am applying to the following five schools, could you please comment on what you think my chance may be?

Wharton
Columbia
NYU
UVA
Duke

I would love to go to NYU and Columbia; Wharton would be my dream school but I recognize it is probably a reach.

Thank you so much! Appreciate it.

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by MargaretStrother » Thu Dec 29, 2016 8:42 am
Hi -- I realize this advice is probably getting to you a bit late for the second round deadlines, but here are my thoughts in a nutshell: It's actually really simple -- retake the GMAT! Your profile is excellent but also quite common, and while some applicants fear not differentiating enough, the biggest challenge first is to get your GMAT up to the level of your competition, i.e. other 25 year old white male bankers.That level is, in my experience, around 720-730.

Top MBA programs accept a lot of people with your general profile, and you have the edge on GPA and work experience for your age. If your community leadership (politics) is also strong, that means the only thing standing between you and your goal schools is that GMAT. Are you going to let the rest of your life be dictated by that one aggravating test?

I wish I could say test scores don't matter, but that's not what I'm seeing this year.

One other point: you probably want to allow more time for your applications. Creating really competitive applications can take 6 - 8 months of groundwork, research, school visits, relationship-building etc. If you invest the time you need to invest here, you should be a strong contender.

Good luck,
Margaret Strother
Margaret Strother
Senior Consultant
Stacy Blackman Consulting

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