How competitive am with GMAT: 690 & GPA:9.54/10

[aksr]

I gave my GMAT today and scored a 690(q-86%,V-68%). I have a GPA of 9.54/10 in Biomedical Instrumentation Technology. I will have 4 years of experience in IT consulting in Application & Infrastructure Management, with almost all of it international project experience with a leading Investment Bank in domain of Logistics, SAP and Wealth Management. I was awarded a gold medal for my academics in my engineering and always have been a good student. I am an Indian by nationality.

I am targeting schools good in general management. Please guide me that whether my conclusion that I should invest my energy on other aspect of my application rather than worry about my GMAT score unnecessarily is a right one. Will I be competitive enough with this score? ( I mean will this score will not become a limiting factor in my application with my target schools).

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear aksr,

The applicant evaluation process is holistic, meaning all applications components are taken together as a whole versus one being more important than another. While it is possible an outstanding set of essays and recommendations, plus a great interview, might result in a positive decision for you, it is also possible that your GMAT being below average for your target schools might result in you not receiving an interview invitation. As an international applicant to a top MBA program, you are competing for a small number of seats. In your case, many of the other international applicants will appear very similar to you on paper in terms of education and experience. Thus you have to find a way through your resume, essays and recommendations to stand out and make these schools want to learn more about you. If you feel you can do that, then I would keep some of these schools on your list. However, I would encourage you to broaden your list to some schools outside the top 15 where your GMAT is above average and the selectivity is a bit higher. You might be surprised at how many options you will find that meet your criteria and who welcome your application.

Good luck,
Lisa

[aksr]

Thanks Lisa for a prompt reply! Well I am pretty passionate about most of the schools I mentioned in my last post, so I feel that I will stick with the above list. Meanwhile I will be interested to know about schools which you think I have a very good chance getting into. I want my ideal school to have an excellent general management curriculum along with case study or experiential teaching methodology with strong team work culture, and this list I came out after some 1-2 year research on lots of business school. Please do suggest which schools you meant by next to top 15 in your earlier post, to re-explore such programs!

Thanks again for your help!

[brentwood]

hi stacy,

I have a similar score 690
i just wanted to clarify the "as an international applicant... competing for a small number of seats"...

are international applicants allocated a smaller number of seats in the class?

my stats:


would my 690 hurt me?

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear brentwood,

If you hold US citizenship, even as a dual citizen, then you are considered a domestic applicant not an international applicant. Schools do not have a quota on international students, but they do try to keep the percentage of international students in the class within a certain range. Based on the limited information in your post, I do not think your 690 is a negative at all--it is a competitive GMAT for these schools. It is slightly below the average, so you will need to mitigate that with other application components. You have an above average GPA, and you have your essays and recommendations to highlight your accomplishments and skills. If you feel your other components will be strong, then your 690 is probably a solid score for you.

Good luck,
Lisa