Please evaluate my profile

[dairymilk]

Hi,

I took GMAT yesterday and scored 710(Should I retake?). This was my second attempt. In the first attempt I had scored 690(I was working late in office and hence was not able to sleep for 48 hours before giving the tests).

A look at my profile :

I am an Indian IT female. I have completed my Bachelors in Technology from a reputed institute in India with an average GPA of 4.3/5 ( 86 percent in terms of total marks).
I have 3+ years of work experience in the best (US) Products Developing company(if not the best then one of the best). I have cleared french DELF examinations and couple of stock markets examinations. I am actively involved in social work and work regularly for an NGO for Teaching in India. Also I work part time for AIDS and Leprosy awareness campaigns. I am the member of the creative community from our office and part of the core team for many organizational events. I am a free lancer writer and have my personal blog(which I am maintaining from past 4 years). I have won writing contests and I also write for social causes.

Apart from this I am a fitness and Yoga fanatic and deeply involved in Art of living work across India.
Professionally I have received 5-6 awards during my tenure at the company and currently lead a vendor team of 3 people.

Please evaluate my profile.

Thanks for the help.

[mbaMissionBrianE]

Hello dairymilk, thanks for your question.

Your overall GMAT score should be fine. What were you verbal and quantitative scores? Programs usually look for at least 80% on both. If you have that, I wouldn't worry too much about retaking the GMAT unless you are confident you could raise your overall score by, say, 30 points. Otherwise, focus your efforts on the essays.

Academically, your GPA is solid.

I'd love to hear more about your work experience. Brands do matter, but as important is the quality of your experience at your company. How have you led, taken the initiative, driven results? I'm sure you've done this, having won 5-6 awards at your company. You will need to elaborate on your leadership in your essays.

It seems like you have some great extracurricular/volunteer experience. This could be another area in which to demonstrate your leadership. Moreover, your writing/blog work sounds interesting.

You haven't mentioned your post-MBA goals - what are they? The more cohesive a story you can tell that ties together your future with your past and present, the more compelling your candidacy will be.

Assuming you've cleared 80% on both your verbal and quantitative scores, I think you could be competitive at top US programs. I'd love to know more about your post-MBA goals.

Best of luck!
Brian

[dairymilk]

Hi Brian,

Apologies for the delay in my response. I was onsite and hence I could not reply. I have decided not to take the GMAT again Smile and continue with my application process. I have one question that I wanted to discuss: As of now my profile is very IT oriented but post MBA I want to pursue a career in marketing. Can you suggest which short term courses I can take and some books on the subject to gain a knowledge on marketing since I am a novice to the actual work in the field.

Another thing is I have a good Quantitative score(50) but a low Verbal score(35). Considering the fact that I am involved in a number of writing and English Improvement clubs, I am not sure about the impression this score will make on Adcom. Could you suggest me some ways I can improve this area without a retake of GMAT. Can a high score in TOEFL help me with this?

Thanks

[mbaMissionBrianE]

Hello dairymilk, thanks for your question.

To your first question, I don't think it's crucial that you have marketing experience to want to go into marketing. If you're a career changer, taking a class will not move the needle too much. However, I do think when you discuss your future career in marketing, there should be a strong connection between your goals and your past. That is, the onus is on you to paint a cohesive career arc that ties in your past, present, and future. If the admissions committee has a hard time understanding your desire, motivation, or passion for marketing, then that is a tougher sell.

Your verbal score is still over the 70% percentile, so while it is not your stronger suit, I do not go as far as to call it an insurmountable obstacle. The admissions committees just want to know that you can communicate well and handle the workload. I don't think 73% would make them worry that much. In fact, calling too much attention to it, might give them reason to doubt. And, I do think a high TOEFL could mitigate it. I would not take the GMAT again!

Best of luck!
Brian