Profile Evaluation.

[Roshan2611]

Hi,

I am an Engineering graduate in Electronics and Communications from a mid level Institution in India. I graduated with 59%, which is very low. My GMAT score is 650 (V 34 / 68% Q 46 / 76% 650 / 79% AWA5.0 / 56%).

I will be completing 4 yrs of work experience this June ( in the same company) and am planning on applying for R1 admissions for next yr.
I have strong recommendations from my US manager and US Director. I have traveled to the US for a 3 month period. I am responsible for the production support team in India (not officially, but i am the primary for any escalations/issues). I also exclusively own an application and am the sole person responsible for it from the India Team.

I am currently trying to move into a Business Analyst role within my current organization.

I have played sports for school and college and have also participated in colleges fests and the theater group.

I am planning on learning Spanish.

I applied to the following schools for 2010 admit but got rejected by all.

Kelley School of business
UNC
UCLA
USC
Simon school of business : Interviewed.
Washington Olin
Emory
Smith School of business

Please could you evaluate my profile and advice me on whether i should re-take the GMAT and also which schools i should be looking at. Also, could you advice me on how to improve my profile.

Thank you so much for having read this far. Eagerly await your response on the same.

Thanks and Regards,
Roshan Picardo

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear Roshan,

Most of the schools you applied to should be able to give you feedback on your application so you will know what areas you need to strengthen for next year--especially if you wish to reapply to any of these schools. Many schools will not give the feedback until after June 1 though, so just contact the school to inquire about feedback if you have not received information on how to obtain feedback. Based on the limited information you posted, I would guess that your GMAT did play a role in your admission decisions this year. I highly encourage you retake the GMAT prior to the next admissions cycle to increase your score at least 40 points. As an engineer from India, you are in an over-represented subset of the global MBA applicant pool. This subset is relatively strong and your GMAT is low for that group. I think it is also possible your essays and resume might not have been as compelling as needed to help distinguish you from the large number of other Indian engineers. You might consider working with a consultant or a trusted friend/colleague who has been successfully admitted to a US business school. Likewise, you indicate some extracurriculars while in college, but what about since you graduated from college? You need to have outside interests from work and activities you are involved in to complement your professional experience and help distinguish you from the competition. Finally, your school list is full of great programs, but they are all quite selective and there are no reasonable or safety options on your list. Be sure to have a mix of schools for your profile next year to increase your chances of being admitted to business school for fall 2011 entry.

Good luck,
Lisa