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Hi

I would really appreciate any feedback on my chances. I am planning to apply to INSEAD (first choice) for the Sept 2010 intake.

I have bachelors degrees in Law and Arts from the University of Sydney. Usyd is one of the top law schools in the country and difficult to get into, however my academic record once there was not outstanding. I had an average mark of 75%. I'm not sure how that would convert to GPA, but it put me in about the 60th percentile of my class

I graduated in 2006 and was admitted to prtactice law in 2007. I practiced as a lawyer for about 18 months before making a switch to management consulting. By the time I go (in Sept 2010) I will have a little over 2 years management consulting experience (at a good firm, but not Mckinsey, BCG, Bain)

I haven't taken the GMAT yet, but based on a few practice ones I think I can score 720+ with a very good verbal score and a slightly weaker quant score.

In terms of the international experience that INSEAD say they look for I've lived (as a kid) in Germany, London, Melbourne and Sydney, and spent 6 months as a volunteer in Peru.

My main concern is that my academic record at university will preclude me, especially as international schools probably won't have much feel for the quality of Australian universities

I would appreciate any feedback

M

Dear Maxfwa,

Thanks for your post!

I have the following thoughts on your situation:

1) You are correct in identifying the GPA as an issue - especially if a 75% at USyd only translates to a 60th percentile in terms of class rank.

2) I should note that as a lawyer-turned-consultant, you will fall into a portion of the applicant pool that undergoes intense scrutiny for evidence of the needed quantitative skills to tackle courses in statistics, accounting, finance, operations, economics, etc in business school.

3) At this point, there are three things you could do to address your academic profile: a) hit a homerun on the GMAT exam by scoring north of 720, b) pursue one or two outside courses in quantitative subjects (calculus, statistics, accounting, economics) and earn very high marks, c) draft an optional essay to explain your performance in ugrad - perhaps you worked part-time throughout, went through a difficult period in life, lacked maturity, etc.

4) Beyond putting your best efforts into addressing the academic profile issues, you can earn points by showcasing above-average performance in other areas (like your work experience and outside activities/hobbies). In short, you should think of the admissions package as a mult-variable equation - such that if you are weak in one variable (ugrad performance) you can perhaps gain some of it back in others (GMAT score, work experience, outside activities, solid essays and recommendations, strong interviews, etc).

5) I am a bit concerned that you won't have a ton of consulting experience at the time of application -- but I'd need to know more about what you have accomplished professionally before offering further thoughts in this regard.

Feel free to reach out to Clear Admit directly if you'd like to spend 30 minutes on the phone to discuss your background and overall strategy for application to INSEAD. This is a free service and you merely need to send your resume to [email protected] to avail yourself of it.

Best of luck,

Graham

thanks for your response - i really appreciate it

Do you think if I am able to get 730 or 740 on the GMAT that would be enough to overcome the ugrad? I don't want to spend three months studying and completing an application if I'm never going to be in the running because of ugrad scores I can't change