Need Help:(

[hgupta0]

Hi -

Hope all is well. I recently gave my GMAT again and scored a dismal 660. However, my quant scores were pretty good (48), i failed at verbal (33). The first time around (640) my quant scores were bad and my verbal was good. I am usually good with verbal - read a fair amount and I thought i was good at CR. But I guess that's life.

Having said that, here is a brief overview:

Indian/28/Male. I started off with IT Engineering but turned myself into a full blown strategy consultant (because this is where my true passion lies). Was working at the top consulting firms in US at a post-MBA level when the financial crisis got the better off me and i got laid off. Bumming around these days, taking my GMAT and trying to make it to R2.

I did my undergrad from a top university in Australia (GPA: 3.3 or so). I did my Masters in CS from a top 20 US university. During my masters i decided that i had to get out of CS and pursue my dreams. Been an uphill battle but i managed to do well.

My theme really is that i was able to really go after what i wanted and have strong reasons to pursue an MBA. I have strong recommendations. For my extra-curriculars, I have been obsessed with the world of finance for the past 2 years and have been consulting mainly financial service institutions (wrong time to pick this industry). I had to learn a lot about finance (capital markers, banking and securities) after work and I was successful at it.

Have great leadership experience. Was able to propose a Knowledge Management culture and drafted recommendations for one of the firms I worked for. Took lots of initiatives at work which really defines who I am.

Given that I have never worked in India, I am going to India in Jan next year and will be applying for a few jobs there to get exposure to the markets there. I plan to return to India after my b-school to help develop the wealth management industry there (long term goals). For my short term goals, I'd like to work in McKinsey/Booz in the corporate finance/M&A group (this ties in very well with my past).

Cutting this short, Stacy, here is my question for you:

1) Given that my dream school were LBS/Wharton/Insead, it seems that my GMAT score may be a limiting factor. Also, given the volume of applications that the top B-schools are receiving, I have decided to apply to Sloan, Darden, LBS. I have no interest in going to schools beyond top 15.

Should i retake my GMAT next month before the r2 deadlines and hope that I am able to pull of the verbal? I am kinda burnt out:(

Please respond at your convenience.

Best

- H

[hgupta0]

anybody?

Any advice would be welcome.

[MBAApply]

If you're extremely confident you can score 700+ on a retake without much effort, then go for it. Otherwise, you should just focus on the written applications and hope for the best - that's all you can do.

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com