Profile Eval - 660 GMAT - Should I retake?

[chanhyukk252]

Hi,

I'm currently deciding if I should retake the GMAT. Can you please evaluate my profile for the given MBA programs? Any stretch / safety school advice is always helpful as well.

Demographics:
-27 year old Asian Male (28 at matriculation)

GMAT:
-660 (Q 43, V 38)

Undergrad:
-Virginia Tech: Political Science
-Minor coursework in Cinema-TV (did not complete minor though)
-GPA of 3.54
-Member of Corps of Cadets
-Army ROTC

Work Experience:
-Currently 5 years (6yrs at matriculation) in the US Army as Military Intelligence Officer (rank: captain)
-Besides training, all my experience has been overseas
-Deployed to Afghanistan (2013-2014)

Volunteer Experience:
-Organize and faceplate orphanage trips
-Earned Outstanding Volunteer medal
-Taught English to Korean university students, Korean military officers and translators
-Taught US customs and English to Afghan intelligence officers

Extracurricular:
-Extensive travel throughout the world, including 3 month backpacking trip between graduation and full time work

MBA Major:
-Strategy / Leadership

Post MBA Goal:
-Strategy / Leadership consulting

Targeted MBA Programs:
- UVA
-Vanderbilt
-UT Austin
-Georgetown
-Maryland -Smith

Any other advice on programs or anything is welcome, thanks!

[mbaMissionKate]

Hi there! Happy to share my thoughts on your profile.

From an academic perspective -- your GPA is competitive, though with a major in Political Science, they may wonder how much exposure you've had to Quantitative work. Because of that, I think retaking the GMAT in your case is a good idea. Your Verbal score is excellent but I'm more concerned about your Quant score. Do you think you can raise that up a bit based on how you've practiced? Getting a 47 raw score or higher would be ideal. If you can't raise it, then I'd highly recommend taking a pre-MBA supplemental course in a Quant subject like Stats or Accounting or Finance. There are online options for these courses if you are still overseas.

I think you're strong from a professional experience perspective -- b-schools like military applicants because you've likely had lots of leadership experience, had to overcome challenges, make important decisions, and work effectively in diverse teams. All of these skills transfer well to a business setting - especially if you're interested in leadership consulting, I think that could make for a nice story in your essays. Having international experience is a plus too.

Your volunteer work / extracurriculars all seem great and impressive, assuming these are all pretty recent?

So I'd say the GMAT is really the only concern, more so for a school like Darden. Also, since you're interested in Strategy Consulting, some of the top firms look to hire folks with higher GMATs (700+) so that's another reason to retake.

As for schools, I like that you have a range of options. If you get that GMAT up, you may want to consider Kellogg and Duke as reaches too, they are really strong for consulting and value leadership/teamwork skills. Maybe Cornell, though the other programs you list tend to be more Southern, so perhaps UNC or Emory? Those are in similar range to the programs you list. Happy to advise on this further depending on what's important to you. You can also sign up for a free 30 minute phone consultation if you like (http://shop.mbamission.com/pages/free-consultation).

Good luck to you and keep us posted if you do decide to retake the GMAT!