Profile Evaluation - GMAT -720, Work Ex - Consultant

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Thanks in advance for reading this!

Background: 24 year old male from India.

GMAT: 720 (Q51,V36). Gave it recently so still waiting for the AWA+IR scores.

College: Bachelor of Engineering(Electronics and Telecommunications) from University of Pune, India. Graduated in 2010 with an aggregate of 66.8%(Distinction in my university). This may seem low but considering our university gives a distinction at 66% (as compared to 75% in other Indian universities) it is a decent score.

Work Experience: 26 months as on today. Working as a Consultant in one of the Big 4 professional services firms. My work is mostly related to Identity and Access management. We assess and implement Identity Management solutions. In my two years, I have worked on Fortune 500 clients from the US. My projects have been a mix of both technical and strategy work. My current project is a project on the strategy side and I am currently leading a team of 2 people(both Consultants themselves) on my project.

Extracurricular
1. I have a real passion for football. I have pursued the same throughout school, college and now in my current firm. Represent the firm in tournaments and am the captain of the branch I'm in. (Around 7000 people in my firm)
2. I have participated in quite a few extra curricular events in college related to Debates, Improv and Quiz.
3. In charge of managing the inter - college sports fest for 2 years.
4. Have been involved in a community initiative for 6 months regarding computer literacy of underprivileged children.


Target Schools: ISB(Hyderabad, India), Booth, Tuck, Kellogg, National University of Singapore

Post MBA Goal: After an MBA I want to get into strategy consulting. Hopefully something to do with the sports industry.

Now to the questions I have:
1. I've heard that their is a typical Indian Male IT professional stereotype which inhibits my chances at all top colleges. I want to know with my work ex and slightly average score am I being realistic in my schools. Also, please suggest any other schools that I can aim for.

2. Is it true that maximum scholarships are awarded in the first round of applications. Also I have heard that their is a higher chance of rejections in the later rounds.

3. Lastly, and this has been eating away at me for the past few days- Should I retake the GMAT? I feel I can do better in English but realistically I think I could at max get a 740-750. Is it worth it?

Your help would truly truly be appreciated!!
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by Heidi Granner » Wed Oct 03, 2012 8:34 am
Hello angadgrewal,

Thanks for your post.

To answer your questions:

1. If you are viewing an MBA as a 'must-have' this year, then I recommend expanding your school list. Applying this year, you will be on the lower end of the years of work experience and age for your target schools, as you mention, which generally means that you need to be higher than the average for the school in other areas. Given that your academics and extracurricular activities would likely be viewed as average for the incoming class for your target schools, gaining acceptance will be more challenging. I believe your application would be strongest next year (provided you are able to show a promotion and increased work responsibility). If you apply this year, I recommend applying to 1-2 from the list you mention and then 2-3 schools such as Duke, U of Michigan, U of Virginia, UCLA, Cornell, U of Texas, Carnegie Mellon, and UNC.

2. Scholarships are generally awarded in Round 1 and Round 2. It is true that many schools do not have scholarship money left in their third round and also that the acceptance rate is much lower (as most of the spots in the class are offered in Round 1 and Round 2).

3. Increasing your GMAT score 20 points will not strongly impact your application. Getting it up to 750 could help, but unless you feel strongly that there will be a big improvement (for example, you did not take a GMAT preparation course last time and plan to do so this time) then we generally don't see a big difference and recommend keeping your current score.

Also, regarding your career goals. I recommend researching further the consulting + sports path. I have not heard of consulting firms doing work in sports, so you might be better off just focusing on sports management. Some MBA programs are starting to focus in this area (by offering sports management conferences, courses, recruiting events). A couple schools that come to mind are UCLA and Northwestern.

Hope that helps!

Best,
Heidi
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