Please evaluate my profile!!

[nikita1305]

Hi!

Could you please evaluate my profile?

Brief stats:
Nationality:Indian female
Age: 26 at matriculation (fall 2011)
GMAT: 700 (Q46/V39/AWA 5.5)
GPA: Undergraduate GPA - 3.7 from a top 10 Indian school (Bachelor of Pharmacy)
Graduate GPA - 3.45 from a mid-tier US univ (M.S. Biotechnology)
Work experience: 2.5 years as a Research Associate/ Scientist in a mid-sized Biotechnology company + 1 year as a research assistant in an academic research lab.

Extracurriculars : Substantial - both during undergrad and post - grad.

Post-MBA choice: Management Consulting or Business development in the health-care/biotech space

I am targeting the following schools: Wharton (dream school), Booth, Kellogg, Haas, NYU, Tuck

Concerns:
1) Do you think I stand a chance at these schools? I know that most of them are reach schools for someone with my profile.
2) Is my GMAT too low? Should I retake the gmat ?
3) Are there a lot of applicant's with my profile to the schools that I have listed above?

Thanks for your help.

[mbamission]

Hi Nikita,

Thanks for writing in, let's jump right into your questions.

1) I think you have a fair grasp of your profile. The schools you listed would likely fall under "reach" or "near-reach" in my estimates, Haas and NYU might be your more competitive choices in that list.

2) Your GMAT is high enough to get consideration at those schools, though could be viewed as a weaker point by Wharton and Kellogg (maybe Booth too?). If your practice exams make your confident you can get another 30 points or so, it could be worth retaking the exam, but if that is not the case then your time may be better spent on essays.

3) While there are certainly a lot of Indian candidates with science/tech backgrounds, you may have a unique case since you worked in medical research, and want to turn that experience into biotech consulting. I would make sure to explain this part clearly in your essays, as well as share what motivates you to make that change, and why you are seeking a secondary graduate degree.

Good luck!
Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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[nikita1305]

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for your prompt response to my earlier post. I have been contemplating about re-taking the gmat for a while now! You made my decision much easier!

Do you think, I would be more competitive at my target schools namely - Wharton/Booth/Kellogg/Tuck if I were to score about 30-40 points higher than my present score (730-740)?

Thanks again for your help.

[mbamission]

Hi again,

Certainly a higher GMAT score is going to make you more competitive at schools of those caliber. But it's a somewhat incremental improvement at that level; if you will needs dozens of hours of prep to get that score, then you may be sacrificing the quality of the rest of your application.

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

Read the mbaMission Insider's Guides (14 individual school titles)

Visit the mbaMission Blog

Follow mbaMission on Twitter