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bngo1
Underclassman
USA
2 Posts |
 Posted - 06/20/2005 : 09:53:45
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Hi David,
I just took the GMAT's for the first time this past weekend and scored a 700 overall. I scored in the 93rd percentile in verbal, but only in the 73rd percentile in quant. Basically, I took the math section for granted and didn't review enough of the math as I probably should have (e.g., geometry, formulas, etc...) prior to taking the test. I'll give you a basic background: I'm a 27 yr old male. I've spent that past 5 years as a software engineer working in the finance and accounting departments developing financial programs and databases for our finance folks; we are a financial consulting firm in Boston. I went to a small engineering college (Worcester Polytechnic Insitute) just outside of Boston and had a 3.8 GPA, double majoring in computer science and Management Information Systems. I actively took part in many student organizations in college and held several leadership positions. My salary has steadily progressed over the past several years but I don't have anywhere to grow since I report directly to the corporate controller. In addition to what I've learned at work, I've taken a grad course in Finance this past spring and really enjoyed it. I have also taken tax courses with and worked part-time on weekends at HR Block the past 2 years in an effort to expand my horizons further into finance/accounting/taxes. I've learned a lot about finance and accounting and want to go back to Bschool to concentrate in and eventually move into this field. I volunteer as an adult reading tutor at the public library and have just been promoted to become their new manager of web development. I also do volunteer work for 2 other organizations outside of work. Given my background, is it realistic to apply to schools like UMich, Dartmouth, MIT, or Chicago? I'm also worried about my quant score. Given that I want to concentrate in Finance and Accounting, will my 73rd percentile quant score hurt me? And should I retake the GMAT to try to bolster my quant score?
Thank you for your help,
Brandon |
Edited by - bngo1 on 06/20/2005 11:25:22 |
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AdmissionsConsultants
Admissions Expert
USA
2119 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2005 : 12:56:43
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Hi Brandon and thanks for your inquiry.
Hi David,
I just took the GMAT's for the first time this past weekend and scored a 700 overall. I scored in the 93rd percentile in verbal, but only in the 73rd percentile in quant. Basically, I took the math section for granted and didn't review enough of the math as I probably should have (e.g., geometry, formulas, etc...) prior to taking the test. I'll give you a basic background: I've spent that past 5 years as a software engineer working in the finance and accounting departments developing financial programs and databases for our finance folks; we are a financial consulting firm in Boston. I went to a small engineering college (Worcester Polytechnic Insitute) just outside of Boston and had a 3.8 GPA, double majoring in computer science and Management Information Systems. I actively took part in many student organizations in college and held several leadership positions. My salary has steadily progressed over the past several years but I don't have anywhere to grow since I report directly to the corporate controller. In addition to what I've learned at work, I've taken a grad course in Finance this past spring and really enjoyed it. I have also taken tax courses with and worked at HR Block the past 2 years in an effort to expand my horizons further into finance/accounting/taxes. I've learned a lot about finance and accounting and want to go back to Bschool to concentrate in and eventually move into this field. I volunteer as an adult reading tutor at the public library and have just been promoted to become their new manager of web development. I also do volunteer work for 2 other organizations outside of work. Given my background, is it realistic to apply to schools like UMich, Dartmouth, MIT, or Chicago? I'm also worried about my quant score. Given that I want to concentrate in Finance and Accounting, will my 73rd percentile quant score hurt me? And should I retake the GMAT to try to bolster my quant score?
It looks like you are going to have to really spin your work experience in terms of professional development and career progression to be competitive at the top 10 schools. If you are confident you can raise your GMAT by at least 30 points, go for it. Otherwise, you will still have a chance with your current quant score.
Thank you for your help,
Brandon
Best of luck with your applications!
Sincerely,
David Petersam
President
AdmissionsConsultants, Inc.
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com
AdmissionsConsultants
703.242.5885 |
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JarvisD28
Underclassman
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2005 : 13:09:54
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Hi David,
I did much worse on the GMAT then I had planned (540 after getting 640 on the practice). I had heard that if you retake the GMAT schools take both scores, combine them, and average them. And now I hear that some of them take the highest score. Which is true? Or does it vary by school?
Also, do you have any tips on what a good recommendation letter should have or shouldn't have?
If any of these questions have been asked already I apologize, I just didn't feel like going through 59 pages of questions. Thanks in advance |
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AdmissionsConsultants
Admissions Expert
USA
2119 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2005 : 20:30:30
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Hi and thanks for your inquiry.
Hi David,
I did much worse on the GMAT then I had planned (540 after getting 640 on the practice). I had heard that if you retake the GMAT schools take both scores, combine them, and average them. And now I hear that some of them take the highest score. Which is true? Or does it vary by school?
If you feel confident you can improve upon your score, you should definitely retake the GMAT. The details of the various schools' GMAT policies are a bit beyond the scope of this thread. Besides, they are subject to change every year and we are waiting to hear what a few schools are planning to do this fall. Anything I stated here could be soon obsolete anyway.
Also, do you have any tips on what a good recommendation letter should have or shouldn't have?
There are a number of dos and don'ts. For starters, your recommendations should support your particular story.
While most applicants think their letters of reference help them, they are actually wrong. Well over 90% of recommendations say very glowing things about the applicants (which they should since they're self selecting) and, hence, they cancel each other out. This is one more reason why we are a comprehensive admissions consultancy and don't focus solely on editing essays for grammar.
If any of these questions have been asked already I apologize, I just didn't feel like going through 59 pages of questions. Thanks in advance
Best of luck with your applications!
Sincerely,
David Petersam
President
AdmissionsConsultants, Inc.
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com
AdmissionsConsultants
703.242.5885 |
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Asheimjr
Underclassman
4 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2005 : 01:04:16
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Hi,
First I want to say thank you for all the fantastic information you guys provide on this site. This is my first post and I hope that you can help me.
Second, this is a long e-mail and I appologize if there is too much here.
I am an interational student from Norway studying in Canada. My main concern when it comes to applying for an MBA, (and I would very much like to attend one of the top 10 like everyone else) is my age and my lack of accomplishments to this date. I am currently 26 years old and still an undergraduate for several reasons and my past academic achievements are poor. I started studying in Canada in 2001. Before I came here, I started a small business with 7 employees that I ran over two summer vacations. In 2002 I left with a 65% gpa and I went back home where I worked for 4 months as a financial advisor. Because of great results I was offered to manage one of their offices but turned it down because I wanted to start my own company. I was involved in starting an outsourcing company (a small but profitable one), but after we got accepted to an incubator, I wanted to further my education and I returned to Canada. My first semester I failed two courses and got around a my overall gpa was probably a D. To add to the "messyness" of my past, I have studied at three different universities back home in Norway taking various courses here and there.
Things have started to turn around and for my last semester I have an A average, I am currently president of an on-campus entrepreneur group and I plan to keep my achievement up. However, because I am 26 and I will probably not have my degree until I am 28 years old, I am wondering if it is already to late and if I should graduate with a three-year degree and give my hopes of gaining my MBA up.
To summarize (and again, I appologize for this long e-mail):
I know that I want to be an entrepreneur (and mabye I am already but I have not done anything of great importance yet) and I know that I would like to have an MBA from one of the top 10 schools. My past is very messy and I am getting older by the minute. I have started to turn things around, but I am wondering if it is all worth it. My current options are to either finish my degree and spend one year or two extra to show that I can in fact maintain a stellar gpa, to finish this degree and then go for a second degree (start over if possible), or just cut my losses short and go work.
With me having 3 years of experience, it would make me 31+ before I could even apply and in competition with people who graduated when they were 22 with 9 years experience....
Do you have any advice for me?
Sincerely
John |
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bmw
Underclassman
3 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2005 : 09:08:22
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Hi
I have a very low GMAT score, 640 (81% quant, 67 verb).....I am targeting Insead and Columbia january intakes.
I think overal I have a good profile, 3 years in top strat consulting, sponsored from my firm, international working experience, master degree in economics with laude, mix of cultures....
Am I out of the games with this score? I think I could score more but I will not be able to retake the GMAT before closure of applications.
If I apply know and not accepted do you think a could reapply for the september 06 intake hopefully with a higher GMAT? could my first application have a negative impact on my second one?
My reasoning is that if they reject me because of my GMAT they should let me re-apply. If on the other hand they reject me because they think that my profile is not good enough even re-taking the gmat would not help....Does this make sense?
Thanks!
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AdmissionsConsultants
Admissions Expert
USA
2119 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2005 : 16:48:33
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Hi John and thanks for your inquiry.
Hi,
First I want to say thank you for all the fantastic information you guys provide on this site. This is my first post and I hope that you can help me.
Second, this is a long e-mail and I appologize if there is too much here.
I am an interational student from Norway studying in Canada. My main concern when it comes to applying for an MBA, (and I would very much like to attend one of the top 10 like everyone else) is my age and my lack of accomplishments to this date. I am currently 26 years old and still an undergraduate for several reasons and my past academic achievements are poor. I started studying in Canada in 2001. Before I came here, I started a small business with 7 employees that I ran over two summer vacations. In 2002 I left with a 65% gpa and I went back home where I worked for 4 months as a financial advisor. Because of great results I was offered to manage one of their offices but turned it down because I wanted to start my own company. I was involved in starting an outsourcing company (a small but profitable one), but after we got accepted to an incubator, I wanted to further my education and I returned to Canada. My first semester I failed two courses and got around a my overall gpa was probably a D. To add to the "messyness" of my past, I have studied at three different universities back home in Norway taking various courses here and there.
Things have started to turn around and for my last semester I have an A average, I am currently president of an on-campus entrepreneur group and I plan to keep my achievement up. However, because I am 26 and I will probably not have my degree until I am 28 years old, I am wondering if it is already to late and if I should graduate with a three-year degree and give my hopes of gaining my MBA up.
To summarize (and again, I appologize for this long e-mail):
I know that I want to be an entrepreneur (and mabye I am already but I have not done anything of great importance yet) and I know that I would like to have an MBA from one of the top 10 schools. My past is very messy and I am getting older by the minute. I have started to turn things around, but I am wondering if it is all worth it. My current options are to either finish my degree and spend one year or two extra to show that I can in fact maintain a stellar gpa, to finish this degree and then go for a second degree (start over if possible), or just cut my losses short and go work.
With me having 3 years of experience, it would make me 31+ before I could even apply and in competition with people who graduated when they were 22 with 9 years experience....
Do you have any advice for me?
With a strong finishing trend, your GPA can be largely mitigated. Obviously, acing the GMAT would greatly help ease any concerns about your academic qualifications.
I wouldn't worry about age too much. With the proper spin, you can be highly competitive at 31 with the 3 years of post-undergrad full-time work experience.
Sincerely
John
Best of luck with your applications!
Sincerely,
David Petersam
President
AdmissionsConsultants, Inc.
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com
AdmissionsConsultants
703.242.5885 |
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AdmissionsConsultants
Admissions Expert
USA
2119 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2005 : 18:03:34
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Hi and thanks for your inquiry.
Hi
I have a very low GMAT score, 640 (81% quant, 67 verb).....I am targeting Insead and Columbia january intakes.
I think overal I have a good profile, 3 years in top strat consulting, sponsored from my firm, international working experience, master degree in economics with laude, mix of cultures....
Am I out of the games with this score? I think I could score more but I will not be able to retake the GMAT before closure of applications.
You are not going to be dinged exclusively as a result of this GMAT score, but you will need to be even stronger than the other competitive applicants in terms of work experience, extracurriculars, etc.
If I apply know and not accepted do you think a could reapply for the september 06 intake hopefully with a higher GMAT? could my first application have a negative impact on my second one?
If you are dinged, you could re-apply for admission in the following admission season. Unless you raise some 'red flags' in your application, a future re-application would not be adversely affected.
My reasoning is that if they reject me because of my GMAT they should let me re-apply. If on the other hand they reject me because they think that my profile is not good enough even re-taking the gmat would not help....Does this make sense?
You will find students at these schools with GMAT scores south of 640. If you were to be rejected on the basis of something other than your GMAT, it still wouldn't mean you couldn't be a successful reapplicant as long as you improved upon that particular area of your MBA candidacy.
Thanks!
Best of luck with your applications!
Sincerely,
David Petersam
President
AdmissionsConsultants, Inc.
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com
AdmissionsConsultants
703.242.5885 |
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RobHH
Underclassman
6 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2005 : 22:30:40
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Dear David,
What undegraduate courses would increase my chances of getting accepted to a business school? Should I take as many Finance, Accounting, Statistics electives as possible, or is one course in each of these subjects sufficient? |
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ghkcooper
Underclassman
3 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2005 : 14:21:55
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quote:
Originally posted by ghkcooper
I am considering starting the MBA application process, but I have been out of college for a few years now, and my major was not in a business related field. My work experience since college has also not been in a business related field. From what I have heard and learned to this point, without relevant work experience in a closely related field, an applicant does not stand a chance at all at being accepted into a top MBA program.
In order to be considered a very strong, competitive candidate for admission at a school like Wharton or Stanford, how many years minimum of work experience should an applicant have? Also, what type of work experience is best? Concerning admission to these schools, how much importance is placed on involvement in community activities after an applicant has earned a bachelor's degree?
Thank you for your response!
Thanks for the response to my earlier post. I have decided that because it has been 3 years since I graduated from college and because my post college work experience is not really that substantive, I am going to try to get some work experience in a field that would be more applicable to my decision to apply to MBA programs and future career goals. I just have a strong feeling that more applicable work experience would be the single best thing I could do to eventually improve an MBA application.
That being said, I am particularly interested in investment banking and consulting. However, I'm curious how someone like myself who has been out of school for a few years and doesn't have a degree in a business discipline stands a chance at getting their feet wet/getting any sort of work experience in these areas. What would you recommend as a good place to start, or is this a fruitless pursuit?
Thanks again!
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aol503
Underclassman
3 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2005 : 15:43:39
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Dear David,
I have three questions:
-Is my low quantitative score a concern if I have just problems test taking?
-Does the GMAT score matter as much for part-time programs at top schools?
-Does the MBA from a part-time program carry less weight than an MBA from a full-time program? Is the actual degree the same?
I just completed my GMAT today and while my overall score of 670 is decent but not stellar, there is a HUGE disparity between the verbal and quantitative. (57 vs 96 percentile).
While I do feel confident in my ability to perform computations correctly, I am just not fast enough and end up guessing too much to make up for lost time. I may retake the test but am not sure this would make a huge difference.
Other vital stats:
I am currently a senior business analyst and software engineer at a financial exchange and plan to apply to part-time programs at Northwestern and University of Chicago, since my employer will pay for an MBA. I also plan to apply to out of state full-time programs at Michigan, Stanford, and Wharton. I am interested in schools with strong managment programs.
I did most of my undergrad at UC Berkeley (~90 hours), worked in IT for several years, then completed my degree in Economics at Northwestern with a 3.7 GPA. The gap in my education is due to financial complications surrounding a terminal illness in the family. I am a 31 year old Afr.Am. female.
Any advice you can give would be highly appreciated.
Thanks!!
Anita |
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RobHH
Underclassman
6 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2005 : 22:05:45
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While I do feel confident in my ability to perform computations correctly, I am just not fast enough and end up guessing too much to make up for lost time.
aol503, Same problem here. I believe part of the idea of these standardized tests is to determine whether the student has the ability to perform the computations correctly. The other part is to determine whether the student has the capacity to think quickly. If given enough time, most applicants could probably answer all the questions correctly. Practice is all you need. |
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argillo2002
Underclassman
1 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2005 : 09:44:56
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I am 43 years old and have no undergrad qualification. I studied electrical engineering in the UK but did not finish the course - due to my lack of maturity at that stage of my life. I live in Singapore at this time and I am about to embark on an EMBA course (maybe the International or Global EMBA variant) and I have the full support of my employer. I have already been accepted by a few of the better UK MBA courses but one of the more prestigious American EMBA courses is appealing to me. I am at Director level, I have 12 years of business management experience with a well known top notch company and I am currently responsible for US$200 Million worth of business.
Give me your gut feel of my chances of gaining acceptance into the better EMBA schools: Duke Fuqua, TRIUM, Krannert, Wharton, Chicago, Michigan, Stern. The UCLA element of the UCLA-NUS EMBA has already indicated their lack of interest - solely based on my lack of undergrad qualification.
Gillipop |
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AdmissionsConsultants
Admissions Expert
USA
2119 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2005 : 18:09:01
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Hi and thanks for your inquiry.
Dear David,
What undegraduate courses would increase my chances of getting accepted to a business school? Should I take as many Finance, Accounting, Statistics electives as possible, or is one course in each of these subjects sufficient?
This is the type of question which can't be fully discussed in this medium as the answer will depend upon a lot of different criteria. The "short" answer is that you should take the courses you will need to succeed in your immediate and intermediate career endeavors. This fall, when classes are back in session, you will be able to visit any b-school campus and find many students who did not take any business classes in undergrad. (Better yet, you can look at the list of undergraduate schools represented by the student bodies and you'll find several that don’t offer business classes.)
Best of luck with your applications!
Sincerely,
David Petersam
President
AdmissionsConsultants, Inc.
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com
AdmissionsConsultants
703.242.5885 |
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AdmissionsConsultants
Admissions Expert
USA
2119 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2005 : 18:13:54
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Hi and thanks for your inquiry.
Thanks for the response to my earlier post. I have decided that because it has been 3 years since I graduated from college and because my post college work experience is not really that substantive, I am going to try to get some work experience in a field that would be more applicable to my decision to apply to MBA programs and future career goals. I just have a strong feeling that more applicable work experience would be the single best thing I could do to eventually improve an MBA application.
That being said, I am particularly interested in investment banking and consulting. However, I'm curious how someone like myself who has been out of school for a few years and doesn't have a degree in a business discipline stands a chance at getting their feet wet/getting any sort of work experience in these areas. What would you recommend as a good place to start, or is this a fruitless pursuit?
Thanks again!
Both of these industries frequently hire liberal arts graduates for entry-level analyst positions and there are several "feeder" jobs that the companies in these industries prefer when they come to campus for MBA recruiting. If you have a strong resume, there is no reason why you can't get hired into one of these industries with proper career planning.
Best of luck with your applications!
Sincerely,
David Petersam
President
AdmissionsConsultants, Inc.
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com
AdmissionsConsultants
703.242.5885 |
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