Admissions Advice

[tejbir1]

Hi Stacy,

I am an international student from India. I am planning to apply for an MBA to the best possible schools that I can get into.

I completed my undergraduate studies from Washington University, St. Louis with a triple major (finance, economics, management) in honors magna **** laude. Subsequently, I returned to India and now have an 8 year entrepreneurial work experience. I scored a 660 on the GMAT. Please advise if I should sit for the GMAT again and whether the schools approve of candidates who appear for the GMAT more than once?

Please advise the best MBA programs that I could get into with this profile and also schools where I could have reasonable chances of getting a scholarship.

I would really be indebted to you for your invaluable advice.
Thanks so very much

[AleksandrM]

I recently visited one of the schools to which I plan to apply. I asked them about taking the GMAT again. While my score is pretty competitive given their averages, I wanted to shoot for scholarship zone. The two ladies I met with told me that if I take the GMAT again - even if I get the same score, which is exactly what happened - the adcoms will view this positively and believe that I am serious about my wish to attend grad school. In other words, they will see that you view every part of the application seriously and did not take the test just to get rid of a detail that stands between you and your potential wish to attend business school.

Having said that, I do not think that they will view negatively a candidate that took the test once, unless the person scored way below the schools average. Adcoms like fighters, they want to see a person who desires to persevere.

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear tejbir1,

AleksandrM is correct here--I think you need to retake the exam and do your best in terms of preparation to get a higher score. It is not a negative to take the test multiple times and can still reflect positively on you if you score the same (per AleksandrM's post). You appear to have a strong transcript and interesting work experience, so you should be able to present a strong package of essays, resume, recommendations and interview.

In terms of schools, I encourage you to visit our sticky on school selection and start researching schools that will best prepare you for your desired post-MBA career path. If scholarship funds are extremely important, then you will want to look at schools with GMAT averages below your score for the best chance at an award. However, you should note that scholarship awards are highly competitive and generally will only cover a percentage of tuition (usually 5-50%).

Good luck,
Lisa