Hi - I am a 28-year-old female and want to apply round 1 to several top 20 programs for Fall 09. My dream would be Stanford, although I would be thrilled to go to Berkeley, UCLA, NYU, Yale, UNC, or a number of others.
I just took the GMAT for the second time and scored the following: 700 - Q 66%, V 95% (the first time was 640 - Q 63%, V 82%). I am concerned about my low quant score as I don't have a lot of math background - I took one college calculus class and got a B+. I'm not willing to take the GMAT again as I don't know that I can improve any more. I would take a math class but my job has long hours that would not allow me to put in the time I would need to do well. So basically, at this point I'm not going to be able to do anything to show stronger quant skills before it is time to apply. However I do not consider myself to have poor math skills, I think the timed aspect of the GMAT just gets to me. I have great verbal skills and although math just does not come as naturally to me, I feel very strongly that I would be successful in whatever quant challenges the MBA program throws at me. I am willing to leave my job a couple months early before classes begin to take classes in stats, accounting, etc, but I can't leave my job before I know I am accepted obviously.
So, my questions are: will my quant GMAT score be a big red flag for these programs? Are my target schools realistic given this score? Should I address this in an optional essay? Here is some additional info about me:
Undergrad: 3.38 GPA from UCLA, degree in English.
Work experience: I have worked for 6 years in online/e-commerce marketing. Started at a specialized travel website (the largest in the niche) for 4 years, and in that time I had several major accomplishments: I was promoted twice (once to a manager position where I had two direct reports), launched a major initiative for the company's global headquarters which involved a lot of international work/travel, had excellent reviews and a 60% base salary growth (overall earnings growth including bonuses was about 150%), etc. Currently I have been at my job with a major telecom for 2 years, have been promoted twice during this time, have had excellent reviews as well as a 30% salary growth. My current position involves solely overseeing one of my company's major online marketing channels.
Extracurriculars: In college was heavily involved in music, a member of four performing groups including leadership roles, which totaled about 30 hours/week. Also participated in intramural sports in college. Post-college, I have been very involved in intramural sports, started one team and was captain for a charity league, took part in a community music group, and have also been an active participant in my school's local alumni club.
Goals: I aspire towards senior marketing management at a major e-commerce company, or else starting my own online business. Need the actual MBA degree and management skills to help with the former (most of my superiors have MBAs), and the fundamentals and contacts that will come along with the program for the latter.
I would appreciate any advice you could give me, thanks!
I just took the GMAT for the second time and scored the following: 700 - Q 66%, V 95% (the first time was 640 - Q 63%, V 82%). I am concerned about my low quant score as I don't have a lot of math background - I took one college calculus class and got a B+. I'm not willing to take the GMAT again as I don't know that I can improve any more. I would take a math class but my job has long hours that would not allow me to put in the time I would need to do well. So basically, at this point I'm not going to be able to do anything to show stronger quant skills before it is time to apply. However I do not consider myself to have poor math skills, I think the timed aspect of the GMAT just gets to me. I have great verbal skills and although math just does not come as naturally to me, I feel very strongly that I would be successful in whatever quant challenges the MBA program throws at me. I am willing to leave my job a couple months early before classes begin to take classes in stats, accounting, etc, but I can't leave my job before I know I am accepted obviously.
So, my questions are: will my quant GMAT score be a big red flag for these programs? Are my target schools realistic given this score? Should I address this in an optional essay? Here is some additional info about me:
Undergrad: 3.38 GPA from UCLA, degree in English.
Work experience: I have worked for 6 years in online/e-commerce marketing. Started at a specialized travel website (the largest in the niche) for 4 years, and in that time I had several major accomplishments: I was promoted twice (once to a manager position where I had two direct reports), launched a major initiative for the company's global headquarters which involved a lot of international work/travel, had excellent reviews and a 60% base salary growth (overall earnings growth including bonuses was about 150%), etc. Currently I have been at my job with a major telecom for 2 years, have been promoted twice during this time, have had excellent reviews as well as a 30% salary growth. My current position involves solely overseeing one of my company's major online marketing channels.
Extracurriculars: In college was heavily involved in music, a member of four performing groups including leadership roles, which totaled about 30 hours/week. Also participated in intramural sports in college. Post-college, I have been very involved in intramural sports, started one team and was captain for a charity league, took part in a community music group, and have also been an active participant in my school's local alumni club.
Goals: I aspire towards senior marketing management at a major e-commerce company, or else starting my own online business. Need the actual MBA degree and management skills to help with the former (most of my superiors have MBAs), and the fundamentals and contacts that will come along with the program for the latter.
I would appreciate any advice you could give me, thanks!
