710/8 years/30 y.o

[igordudchenko]

Could you please help gauge my chances and recommend schools that will fit them?
==
I am a 30 y.o Ukrainian man. I work in Istanbul, Turkey for a large international shipping company

Undergrad 1: MA in Mechanical Engineering, Ukraine's leading tech university, GPA ~3.85
Undergrad 2: 2-year correspondence education in the company's inhouse managerial academy; Top-15% of the class.

Work Experience: 8 years as of June 2011:
- worked in 4 different countries (Denmark, the Netherlands, Ukraine, and Turkey)
- various professional experience from a customer service rep to a commercial dept manager

Extra-Curricular:
not that much to share coz I was travelling a lot, yet I have a couple of volunteer projects (2-3 years old) to mention. Shall I?

GMAT: 710 (Q49, V38), AWA 6.0 + I will take the test for the 3rd time
===
Target: UOM Ross, MIT (dream), Ivey (canada)
General management or Supply-Chain programs

[mbamission]

Hi igordudchenko,

Thanks for writing in. Your GMAT score seems in range for the schools you list, and I'm not sure how much another attempt will benefit you unless you are confident in a 730+. Your international experience should work well with the adcom also, since you've worked in countries that typically don't have a large MBA presence in the top schools.

Rather than taking the GMAT again, I suggest spending the time focusing on your "Why MBA?" story and researching your target schools to help build your case. As an older applicant, the schools will be particularly interested why you've decided to get the degree now.

In regards to your extracurriculars, if you think your volunteer projects show a different side of you that you want the schools to know about, then I think you should most likely list them.

Best of luck!
Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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