Hello, long time reader, first time writer.
The whole b-school process is really daunting to me and it's hard to find which schools are good for which specializations, and even if I can get into them. I'd be very grateful if someone could help answer some of my questions.
I took the GMAT twice this summer, first time was a 700 with 41 Q, 44 V. Terrible Q, but my IR score was a 7. Second time, I brought my Q up to a 43 and kept the 7 in IR, but verbal dropped so the overall composite was 670. I cancelled that score, but under the new GMAT system, I guess I can restore it within 60 days if I want. I'm thinking about retaking in a month to try and bring some balance to the Q and V, but I've been studying for the GMAT for probably 8 months now and I'm getting really burnt out.
GPA is 3.5 from U Mich in Political Science, completed the Honors program (about 10 of us in the Polisci program who did this) and wrote a senior thesis. After school I got an internship with a US owned manufacturer/exporter in China. I rose to a senior manager with 4 direct reports in account management, 12 indirect reports in engineering, and I can speak/read/write Chinese.
So some questions now:
1) I'm interested in strategy/mgmt consulting. What are the good programs for this that are in my range? Schools don't tend to advertise "we focus on consulting" so it's hard to know what's out there.
2) Would taking an online college math course help compensate for the poor quant? I do accounting and ROI spreadsheets every day at work so I am comfortable with numbers, but having trouble beating the GMAT. I don't know if it's a better use of time to practice more data sufficiency problems, or sign up for a stats/calc course. I'm confident I could do well on the math course, if it came to that.
3) My super duper dream school is Columbia, closely followed by Ross. Am I a contender at these schools with a low quant but somewhat unique background including management exp overseas?
In any case I will either retake the GMAT or take an online math course, but it would help to know what I qualify for today and what I could possibly qualify for with a few extra quant points or a college calculus course under my belt.
Thank you for your assistance! This forum has helped me a lot already!
The whole b-school process is really daunting to me and it's hard to find which schools are good for which specializations, and even if I can get into them. I'd be very grateful if someone could help answer some of my questions.
I took the GMAT twice this summer, first time was a 700 with 41 Q, 44 V. Terrible Q, but my IR score was a 7. Second time, I brought my Q up to a 43 and kept the 7 in IR, but verbal dropped so the overall composite was 670. I cancelled that score, but under the new GMAT system, I guess I can restore it within 60 days if I want. I'm thinking about retaking in a month to try and bring some balance to the Q and V, but I've been studying for the GMAT for probably 8 months now and I'm getting really burnt out.
GPA is 3.5 from U Mich in Political Science, completed the Honors program (about 10 of us in the Polisci program who did this) and wrote a senior thesis. After school I got an internship with a US owned manufacturer/exporter in China. I rose to a senior manager with 4 direct reports in account management, 12 indirect reports in engineering, and I can speak/read/write Chinese.
So some questions now:
1) I'm interested in strategy/mgmt consulting. What are the good programs for this that are in my range? Schools don't tend to advertise "we focus on consulting" so it's hard to know what's out there.
2) Would taking an online college math course help compensate for the poor quant? I do accounting and ROI spreadsheets every day at work so I am comfortable with numbers, but having trouble beating the GMAT. I don't know if it's a better use of time to practice more data sufficiency problems, or sign up for a stats/calc course. I'm confident I could do well on the math course, if it came to that.
3) My super duper dream school is Columbia, closely followed by Ross. Am I a contender at these schools with a low quant but somewhat unique background including management exp overseas?
In any case I will either retake the GMAT or take an online math course, but it would help to know what I qualify for today and what I could possibly qualify for with a few extra quant points or a college calculus course under my belt.
Thank you for your assistance! This forum has helped me a lot already!
? One way to check the school selection is to look at the placements scene at schools. The ones with a vibrant consulting club and good placements are likely to be places where you will have good opportunities to groom yourself.
