Any advice will be greatly appreciated

[TWA]

Just wanted to know my chances at a top school.
30 year old Indian Male
University of Chicago BA in Economics 3.7/4.0 GPA (I transferred in)
GMAT 620/800
Quant 47
Verbal 28
IR 7/8
AWA 6/6
Work Experience is 6 years as an Interest Rates Trader in BB Investment Bank
Ran a team of 4 people generating Profits for the bank. Pretty significant pnl actually. Honestly have had some pretty good years. The whole reason for doing the MBA is to learn the valuation side of the business. I trade macro but I want to learn to trade bottoms up. Its hard to put the message across to adcoms I think. I need to learn valuation skills in distressed assets, special situations and combine it with my risk taking background. I reall want to do this and then eventually move back to India.

Extracurricular while working has been sponsoring a small school in rural India
While in college I was president of a club, Treasurer of my Fraternity and ran a small student business.

Problems I see are
1. The super low verbal score. English is practically my first language. I was a debating champion in high school and grew up in London/Bombay. I just bombed the verbal section. If they interviewed me they would know its not an issue.

2. My salary at the moment is much higher than a post MBA salary out of a top school. I am not trying to come across as arrogant, just that I had good years at work. But now at 30 I realized I do not have a set of skills I need. I am willing to give up time/money to acquire them....

What you guys think?

[mariamathew]

Hello,

I really appreciate your decision to do an MBA from a top B School. I would not say that your chances are very high, however there is a good possibility to make the cut considering your profile and experience. The low GMAT score can be a problem, but strong essays and application content should do the trick for you. Concentrate on the school selection and application essays.

Hope this helps.
Maria

Just wanted to know my chances at a top school.
30 year old Indian Male
University of Chicago BA in Economics 3.7/4.0 GPA (I transferred in)
GMAT 620/800
Quant 47
Verbal 28
IR 7/8
AWA 6/6
Work Experience is 6 years as an Interest Rates Trader in BB Investment Bank
Ran a team of 4 people generating Profits for the bank. Pretty significant pnl actually. Honestly have had some pretty good years. The whole reason for doing the MBA is to learn the valuation side of the business. I trade macro but I want to learn to trade bottoms up. Its hard to put the message across to adcoms I think. I need to learn valuation skills in distressed assets, special situations and combine it with my risk taking background. I reall want to do this and then eventually move back to India.

Extracurricular while working has been sponsoring a small school in rural India
While in college I was president of a club, Treasurer of my Fraternity and ran a small student business.

Problems I see are
1. The super low verbal score. English is practically my first language. I was a debating champion in high school and grew up in London/Bombay. I just bombed the verbal section. If they interviewed me they would know its not an issue.

2. My salary at the moment is much higher than a post MBA salary out of a top school. I am not trying to come across as arrogant, just that I had good years at work. But now at 30 I realized I do not have a set of skills I need. I am willing to give up time/money to acquire them....

What you guys think?

[Kevin89]

A low GMAT score can be a problem, but it's not necessarily the end of the road nowadays! I've found that a lot of the top business schools out there look more for things like work experience, career goals, solid references and other things in addition to GMAT scores and a high GPA.

If at first you don't get in, there's no shame in trying again. There are a lot of good resources I found online like https://www.gradschools.com/article-deta ... ected-1862 that offer nice tips and pointers. Good luck!