profile evaluation after retaking gmat

[mdlindsa]

I am applying for admission for schools in fall 2010 right now. I recently retook the GMAT, and got a higher score than I had anticipated. I thought I would be more in the 640-680 range, but I received a 710 (45Q/42V). My first choice all along had been UNC-Chapel Hill Kenan Flagler, along with some other southeastern schools like Wake Forest and Georgia with a stretch for UVA, but after receiving my new GMAT score, I've been wondering if I should take a shot at a top 10 school. Can you evaluate my chances? I know that my work experience is a bit unorthodox for business school, and my gpa isn't top 10 material (which is what makes me skeptical). If I don't stand a chance, I don't want to waste my time and money applying. However, if I do have a shot at a top 10, I think that I should go for it.

I am a 24 year-old white male, graduate of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, 2007 with a degree in Multimedia Journalism and a 3.0 GPA.

By Fall 2010, my work experience will be as follows.
6 months New York Times, web designer/developer
1 year NBC Universal web designer/developer
1.5 year Mother Nature Network web designer/developer/videographer
3 months in China running the special olympics world games website during the games in 2007

GMAT: 710 (45Q/42V) second time taking it. The first time I took it blindly and got a 580 (will that make a difference?)

Thanks!

-also, after posting this I realized I left out my goals and reasoning behind getting my MBA, which is very important. I really want to acquire a broad range of skills during the process of getting my MBA, but I would probably choose marketing as a concentration. The company I work for right now is a start-up, and we do not have a marketing department. I end up working as not just a developer/designer, but also a product manager and creative director. I know that I don't really have a standard background in this, and have been learning on the job for quite sometime. I would like to really solidify my understanding of it through an MBA, and move out of development/design work into more managerial positions. I would like to bring that new skill set into new media, where I've worked for the past couple years. Having said that, I am also very interested in management consulting and finance...I'm not really tied down yet. My essays will be written geared towards marketing though...I believe I can make the best impression that way.

[mbamission]

Hi -
Congrats on the strong GMAT score!
Schools will consider your best score, so the 580 should not come into play.

As it relates to your target schools, your GPA is somewhat below average for many of the top 10 programs, but your strong GMAT score can help to mitigate that.

Having a non-traditional background is not going to hurt you per se, but you will need to create a strong story behind your experience and why you want to go to business school. And, I agree that the marketing path seems to make most logical sense for you at this point.

With that said, we always recommend building a well-rounded list of schools. Of course, schools rank quite differently depending on which publication you are speaking of, but I would think a top 10 may be a stretch but as long as you are balancing this out additional apps from the ranks of Kenan-Flagler and perhaps one more regional school (Emory?) then I think you are taking the right approach.

I hope this helps.
Erin

Senior Consultant
mbaMission
www.mbamission.com