GMAT score 680(v49, q35)-- suggestions required

Hi All, I gave my GMAT exam yestrday and got a lousy 680… though i took exam only with 9 days of prep but i was doing better in mocks… I am more dissapointed with my quants i never scored below 50 in tests. Anywys… i m not plannig to …

Hi All,

I gave my GMAT exam yestrday and got a lousy 680.. though i took exam only with 9 days of prep but i was doing better in mocks.. I am more dissapointed with my quants i never scored below 50 in tests.

Anywys.. i m not plannig to tk GMAT again as I am planning to take an admit for 2010 jan sessions. I m interested only for one year programes.

I will brief my profile:

1. GMAT: 680 (v35, q49)
2. 4 years work ex ( as on nov'09). For last one year i am officially leading a team of 6 members. All this time i have been with one of the Top Indian IT comapnies.
3. B.Tech from a reputed college - 68 %
4. 7 months onsite exp
5. I have received two awards at project for good perfromance.
6. Had good extra curriculars till college.

Here is long list of questions.....

1. Do you think whole profile, including my poor GMAT score, is good enough for top 5-6 colleges offering 1 year MBA?
2. I read in blogs that being a girl candidate helps to a extent... is that true?
3. My percentage is 68%, when converting to GPA comes out to 1.9, which is extremely poor. However, highest in our class was 72% and my rank was within 6-7. Is there any work around possible to this problem?
4. I knw lil bit of German. Will mentioning dat in CV and taking some german classes for next 2-3 months ( thats when interviews will be ) is advisible? Specially bcoz i m looking forward for European colleges.
5. I can arrange for recos from my client managers. Does it do any value-add?
6. Till when is experience counted- date of admit of date of application?
7. Can anyone suggest some colleges which i can hope to get into with this kind of profile...


The most important question is about finance. Any rough idea hw much should i be having in hand.

I know starting a new thread for this might not be correct.. I struggled couple of hours but didnt get any thread for below 700 :(

Thanks alot in advance!!

your profile is similar to mine(except that Im a male candidate). my $.02...

1. GMAT is pretty important(esp when it comes to scholarship decisions. Being a lady candidate might help you a little, but remember that 680 is below the average IIM(IIF in your case) score.
2. That said 680 is pretty competitive esp for European schools provided your profile is stellar.
3. Your GPA is low. But you can use your essays to explain your case(highlight your rank vis-a-vis your competitors)
4. Any additional languages will help, esp if it is relevant to your place of study(eg: french in case of ESCP).
5. Recos are as important as your profile(esp for some of the colleges that I thought of applying)

Few things to consider before starting the app process.

1. What is the specialization that you are looking for. Shortlist colleges based on that. Being in IT, if you are planning to move out of technology to a different specialization, check if the schools that you target have a good track record for career changers.
2. You mentioned a 1 year MBA. Think over it, as I do not see the US/European economy recovering anytime soon. Uk has some great 1 year MBA progs, but given the mess it currently is in, the opportunities post-MBA might be very poor.
3. Take GMAT again if you think you can boost your score to something between 720-750. Even though it might not affect your chances of an interview call greatly, it will sure help offset an average GPA in school/college and might be important during scholarship decisions.

More importantly, try enhancing your profile. Try to highlight your leadership skills through experiences from work and outside of work.

Reg finances, zero in on the schools that interest you. FT/ BW rankings can be a good place to start with to understand how schools are roughly placed in the global scheme of things. Finances will greatly depend on the country you study, duration of the program, school and the scholarship $$.

ps: I'm a fellow applicant, currently waiting for the economy to improve. All points stated above may have factual errors resulting out of ignorance. Read them at your own risk. Read through similar posts and go through profiles of people who have got admits which will give you a fair bit of understanding of what it takes to be a successful MBA applicant(not necessarily a successful leader :-P )

Thanks hprasanna !!
Thats sound piece of advice.

Hi,

1. Your GMAT scores are decent. Depending on which college you want to go to, your score's competency can range from average to competent.

2. Your overall work ex. is good. Again, you haven't described the things you have done, leadership, awards etc. in detail so I cannot comment in detail. But you would be a typical Indian candidate as you are an engineer and then worked at an IT company, even if it is one of the top. This MIGHT work a little against you, but you should be able to balance this with solid workplace examples.

3. Being a girl does help as schools like to have a gender balance. However, if your overall profile is not good enough, this will not help. It will help when a decision is to be made between you and a guy who has a similar profile.

4. Your GPA is NOT low. The concept of GPA is misunderstood in India. According to WES, a leading credential evaluator for foreign degrees, a first class degree (above 60% in most universities) is equivalent to grade A. According to LSAC (The agency that conducts the LSAT like GMAC for GMAT) has a conversion table, which says that on a scale of 4, if you have grade A, your GPA is 4.0

If you are above 60, you would be looked at as a good candidate. Of course 70% would be better than 60%. but the GPA you mentioned is ridiculous and it would never be evaluated at that level. Do mention your class rank informally, as universities abroad want to have evidence of a ranking sytem in college if you explicitely mention it. We don't think MBA schools use grade equivalency tables. A lot of Indians go for MBA abroad, and the admissions committee will know a lot about the Indian education system, and if you went to a good college, they would know about it as well.

5. Your fluency in German will be a positive. You should go forward with this.

6. The date with respect to experience is generally mentioned in the application form. It will vary for schools. But if you already have 4 years, a few months wouldn't make too much of a difference.

7. You haven't given a detailed profile. You need to explain each aspect in detail and then look at what kind of courses you want to do, what country you want to go to etc. Approaching MBA admissions with the view that you would go to any college you get into is not a good thought process. You should shortlist colleges, and work towards fitting them rather the other way round.

Regards,
Ankit

Hi,

1. Your GMAT scores are decent. Depending on which college you want to go to, your score's competency can range from average to competent.

2. Your overall work ex. is good. Again, you haven't described the things you have done, leadership, awards etc. in detail so I cannot comment in detail. But you would be a typical Indian candidate as you are an engineer and then worked at an IT company, even if it is one of the top. This MIGHT work a little against you, but you should be able to balance this with solid workplace examples.

3. Being a girl does help as schools like to have a gender balance. However, if your overall profile is not good enough, this will not help. It will help when a decision is to be made between you and a guy who has a similar profile.

4. Your GPA is NOT low. The concept of GPA is misunderstood in India. According to WES, a leading credential evaluator for foreign degrees, a first class degree (above 60% in most universities) is equivalent to grade A. According to LSAC (The agency that conducts the LSAT like GMAC for GMAT) has a conversion table, which says that on a scale of 4, if you have grade A, your GPA is 4.0

If you are above 60, you would be looked at as a good candidate. Of course 70% would be better than 60%. but the GPA you mentioned is ridiculous and it would never be evaluated at that level. Do mention your class rank informally, as universities abroad want to have evidence of a ranking sytem in college if you explicitely mention it. We don't think MBA schools use grade equivalency tables. A lot of Indians go for MBA abroad, and the admissions committee will know a lot about the Indian education system, and if you went to a good college, they would know about it as well.

5. Your fluency in German will be a positive. You should go forward with this.

6. The date with respect to experience is generally mentioned in the application form. It will vary for schools. But if you already have 4 years, a few months wouldn't make too much of a difference.

7. You haven't given a detailed profile. You need to explain each aspect in detail and then look at what kind of courses you want to do, what country you want to go to etc. Approaching MBA admissions with the view that you would go to any college you get into is not a good thought process. You should shortlist colleges, and work towards fitting them rather the other way round.

Regards,
Ankit


Thanks for ur inputs Ankit!!

I will mention about my career progression.
Initial stages are common for all. s/w trainee->s/w eng -> sse -> team lead.
I got a lead role officially at 2.5 years whereas even in service based comapnies normally people get it at 4+
I was rewarded first for solving some client issues which no one else could and client was very happy. Second one was also on similar grounds.
I still have good repo with client. I can get recommendation from my client ( european ) as well.

As far as extra curriculars are concerned.. I have been involved in more than 10-11 different kind of activities. So i feel that should be good. I have worked with an NGO as well. I take free Yoga classes with a nation wide known group :)

I am mainly targetting to go for european schools and some of canadian colleges. The reason being some of them have 12 to 15 months programme.

After my MBA i am not planning to switch industry. My purpose of MBA is to speed up my career progression within IT industry itself. So, I would prefer colleges that have good electives in IT and that concentrates more on marketing side.

Till now i have finalized HEC paris to apply to. How do you think Ankit my chances are?

Hi,
Your score is pretty decent for Europe. Your peofile also looks good. HEC Paris is good. Do you want to try in the UK?

Hi,
Your score is pretty decent for Europe. Your peofile also looks good. HEC Paris is good. Do you want to try in the UK?


Thanks for your response Kosha!

I m not very sure but i have heard that work regulations of UK are not very favourable. If you do not get a job while you r pursuing MBA, you cant stay thr and hunt a job later. If you have any idea lemme know

Hi,

Took GMAT on Aug 22, 2011 and scored 680(v33, q49). Speaking of my profile, have a 26 months of IT experience. Have 2 initiatives at project level (read at a good high level) under my belt to show off for my leadership skills, though its decent at academics and school level.

I'm confused if I could get some good US B-schools (considering few non-US colleges also). Kindly provide some suggestions for my concerns. Also, when should i plan to give TOEFL?

In order to get an accurate conversion of your percentages, use world education services website. They are accepted by many business schools and they charge 5-10 $ if your want to calculate on your own or 25$ if they calculate.

I think your percentage will translate to 3.2 or higher GPA.

I am not representing or involved with the education services.

hi all,

I gave my GMAT recently and got a 680 (q-47,v-36).I have about currently 26 months of experience in SAP Labs,Bangalore. I have a lot of exposure to mobile application development especially on iOS,Business Intelligence and customer interactions with our BI customers.During this time i was also recognized as a High Potential employee putting me in the top 7.5% of all the employees in SAP.
I have consitently been rated as a high performer at work.
I have also been a part of various NGO's and done a bit of community service.
I got 89.4% in my X th and 92.25% in XII th.
I have done my BE in IT from Manipal Institute of Technology.
I got a 8.03 CGPA.
I have asked for the GMAT score to be sent to the following 5 colleges :-
1)INSEAD
2)ISB
3)Rotman School of Business
4)Richard Ivey School of business
5)NUS

What are my chances of getting in these colleges..??

And if you can suggest any good colleges based on my profile ...that would be great...

And what are my chances of getting a scholarship at this score..??

Can you please guide me with 1 year mba colleges with GMAT score 680?