Profile Evaluation

[sanfran22]

690 GMAT (48Q - 82%, 36V - 78%)
27 yr old white male
3.5 GPA from top 20 liberal arts college
Sales & Trading Background from top bulge bracket inv bank - 5 years at matriculation
5 years active in successful charity
Will get excellent recommendations from director and managing director

Others:
- Leadership: Captain of senior year lacrosse team
- Recently started up a website that now has 2500 users and growing - no income yet though
- Have good idea to start bigger site but want MBA to help me do so

Applying to Haas, Stanford, Harvard, Wharton, NYU, IESE

Am I competitive? Do I need to take the GMAT again?

Thanks

[mbamission]

Hi sanfran22,

Thanks for writing in. It sounds like you'll have some interesting essays to write with your consistent charity work, recent startup, and post-MBA goal. Given the schools you list I would consider retaking the GMAT if your practice exams indicate a bump in score is possible. While your story and goals may be strong, it would be best to proactively get in front of any concerns over your GMAT by getting that score up.

Good luck,

Jessica Shklar, Senior Consultant
mbaMission

[sanfran22]

Thanks for replying. My practice tests were around a 690 and the highest I got was a 700. I plan on applying first round to Haas and Stanford. If I study hard, I think I could possibly get a 710, but I also may get a 690 again since I'll be writing essays at the same time. Do you still think I should study again or do you think really focusing on the essays is more important? If I don't take the test again, am I not competitive at either?

Thanks again

[mbamission]

Hi again,

If your practice tests maxed out at 700 you might be better off just focusing on essays. It's not that your score automatically will make you uncompetitive at these programs, but I believe you'll be below the median at all of them and on the lower end of the 20-80 scale, so you will need to overcome that weakness with each school. A higher score would just allow you to eliminate that concern when your application is being reviewed.

Hope that helps!