Top European B-schools - how do I fare?

[Freya B]

Thanks to the mbaMission Consultant and other members for your input and advice on the below:

I plan to apply to a few of the top business schools in Europe for Fall 2013 entrance. My first choice would be HEC Paris, followed by Insead, Bocconi, Cambridge, Oxford. I would appreciate your advice and guidance on the strength of my candidacy to these schools.
My profile:
I am a 28 year old American female with 6 years of international work experience, between the US, Europe and India. I graduated from the University of Florida in 2006 with a degree in finance (3.94 GPA).
My first job out of college was with General Electric Capital in NYC as part of GE's prestigious two year financial management training program (FMP). After completing the FMP program at GE I moved to Lehman Brothers in 2008 (great year to go to Lehman to work as an investment banking recruiter.

In 2009 I moved to bella Roma, Italia and began working for a small management consulting firm. I spent 2 years in Rome and then moved with the firm to Brussels, Belgium until I finished the job at the end of 2011.
I am currently working for a business intelligence KPO (knowledge process outsourcing) firm based in Mumbai, India. I am leading the firm's business development team, focusing on strategy in the US and Europe.

Languages: I speak Italian fluently and a beginner level of French & Gujarati (an Indian language)

Extracurricular: I hold a TEFL certification (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and have tutored English language students in the US & in Italy. I have been a dancer my whole life and am starting volunteer work with a famous Bollywood choreographer to teach dance classes to underprivileged kids in Bombay. I am a marathon runner, an avid photographer and traveler (I've visited 21 countries in Europe and am now exploring India!)

Recommendations: My supervisor, who is the CEO of my current firm, is an HEC Alumnus, so I should be able to get a rec from him for HEC (my top choice school)

GMAT: last but unfortunately not least, the GMAT. G-Day came and went this week (on May 8th) and I scored a 650 (Q42, V37). I was disappointed with my score as I was hoping to be in the 680-690 range. I had stronger scores on a few of the practice exams.

Anyhow my big question now is if I need to retake the GMAT in order to be competitive for the top European b-schools? Most of the schools median scores are between 690-710. So my score is at the lowest end of the spectrum. But I am hoping other parts of my profile may overshadow the low GMAT score?

I'd appreciate guidance on how important it really is for me to retake the test to try to bump up to 690 range, or if I am ok with the 650?

Many thanks for your time and advice!
Best, Freya

[mbaMissionSusanK]

Hi, Freya,

Thanks for your post. You certainly have an interesting background. You don't mention your future career goals, but make sure that there is a flow from your short term to your long term goals and that you demonstrate your strong foundation of skills/experiences to date. It seems that you should have some good examples to tell a compelling story. It is also great that you are actively involved in a variety of community service in a meaningful way. Be sure to get that across on your resume and pull some accomplishments into your essays as appropriate. In terms of your GMAT score, that is a bit of a judgment call. Your score is on the lower range for most of the programs. Getting a score higher on that range could help your chances. Your GPA does balance it a bit. Do you feel that you could do better if you take the exam again? If not, you could also take a quantitative class and do very well in it. That could be another data point for the admissions committee to evaluate your academic abilities.

Good luck,
Susan Kaplan
Senior Consultant
mbaMission
646-485-8844

Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
mbaMission Insiders Guides: www.mbamission.com/guides.php?category=insiders
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php

[Freya B]

Many thanks for your guidance Susan. I appreciate your feedback and will be sure to follow your advice.

Regarding my future career goals: I would like to gain a few years of consulting experience working within a global firm based in Europe (specifically France, Italy or the UK). Thus I am interested specifically in the European b-schools as I'd like to grow my network in Europe and hopefully be recruited into a top firm. I would eventually like to create my own business focused on human capital consulting linking Europe, the US, and India. Hence I am trying to build an international profile to augment an international career.

Based on your advice I do think it is important to retake the GMAT to improve my quant score. I think I could improve with additional study, so I will give it my best shot.

I plan to schedule a 30 minute consult with mbaMission and will request to speak with you if you are available.

Thanks again for your time and feedback; I truly appreciate your advice.
Best, Freya

[mbaMissionSusanK]

That sounds great, Freya. I look forward to speaking with you further.

Susan