630!A good enough score for a good bschool if backed by app?

[shailigupta1386]

Hi,

I gave my GMAT today and came out disappointed again with a score of 630 (42 Q; 33 V).

Please let me know if it makes sense to apply any of the Top 20 USA b-schools with the current score backed with a good application.

To give an idea about my profile-
Nationality: Indian
Gender: Female
Undergrad: National Institute of Fashion Technology
GPA: 3.0 (stood 3rd overall in the batch)
Work ex: 4yrs (till now)
Designation: Area Sales Manager
Company: Top India based company, listed on NSE
Extra-curricular:
- Social involvement: Educated an underprivileged child for 5 years; twice he obtained rank #1 in his class
- Sports: Selected to represent the state in swimming and roller skating
- Dance: Learned Indian classical dance for 8 years, followed by a year each of freestyle, bollywood and salsa.
Performed at the Annual Bangalore International Salsa congress, 2010
- Singing: Cleared with distinction grades a 2 year classical singing course

Thanks!

[mili]

Sorry to hear about the GMAT score. Keep in mind that the scores reported by the schools are median or average scores, meaning that half the class scored lower than what they report. Also, the GMAT is not the only dimension they look at when evaluating your candidacy. We’ve had clients compensate for lower scores by demonstrating stellar leadership qualities through their professional, personal, community and extracurricular activities. So, there’s still hope! Here’s what I suggest:

1. If you do not have time (or energy) to retake the GMAT or do not think that you would really improve your score, consider enrolling in a statistics, accounting, economics or finance course at an accredited local university. If you can score an A grade in that type of course, you can help the adcom see that you are a) dedicated to the process and b) analytically capable.
2. Seems like you have a strong suite of current extracurricular activities that demonstrate your leadership abilities - between the national level swimming and skating, the dance and the tutoring, you should have strong stories.
3. It’s hard for me to say based on your professional experience how well you’ll be able to demonstrate leadership. That’s the key thing - the fashion industry experience is great, and the fact that you work in sales is fine, but really need to be able to show/tell strong leadership stories from your work experience. If you have management responsibility, that could help.

With all this in mind, I think a top 5 will be too far of a stretch, but that you might have a chance at schools like UVA, UCLA, etc. If you’re interested in continuing in the fashion industry, you might try for NYU, though they are quite competitive. I would also consider schools one tier lower such as UNC, Georgetown, Cornell, etc.

Hope this helps!
Mili


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[shailigupta1386]

Hi Mili,

Thanks a lot for your reply. This is really helping me in sorting out my thoughts.

Thanks again,
Shaili

[mili]

Glad to hear that! Good luck!

Mili