Hi Paul,

Thanks for your post. I agree, you do have a bit of a unique background with your international educational experience combining nicely with your nonprofit experience.

You may wish to give your goals some additional thought. While it's fine you share with me your uncertainty around your post MBA goals, you will want to have a bit more clarity in your essays and interviews. Essentially you need to pick a path and stick with it. You can certainly do whatever you wish after you graduate, but you need to have a compelling story in order to get in.

In regard to your GMAT, you may very well want to retake it. Your quant score could raise a red flag as well as potential concerns about your ability to handle the quantitative curriculum in bschool. Since you majored in politics in undergrad I'm guessing you may not have a lot of quant courses in your transcript. If this is the case, combined with your non-quant career thus far there isn't much to give the adcom to prove your ability to handle the curriculum. Retaking the GMAT might be the best way to mitigate this potential concern. Your other option is to take some quant classes (such as accounting and statistics), however this will take more time and you likely won't have the courses completed before your application deadlines.

With an improved GMAT score you certainly can be competitive for admission at these programs. Try to get the quant to 80% and you'll be in good shape.

Please feel free to send me your resume ([email protected]) for a detailed assessment.

Best,

Stacey