Retake GMAT or not

[Indian Gal]

I took my GMAT in March and scored a 700. Q 45 V 40. I am an Indian Female working in the Information services industry as a project manager. I would have around 8 years of experience while applying this fall.
I have a fair amount of leadership in community services.

I have a Bachelors degree in Information Systems from one of the top institutes in India and GPA of 3.5+ and Masters degree in management through distance learning from an US institute with a GPA of 4.0.

Currently I am targeting Chicago GSB, Kellogs, Ross, Wharton and HBS. Could you let me know if I should retake my GMAT and if these schools are out of reach or not.

Thanks.

[MBAApply]

Unless you can easily score a 760, it won't make a difference (and even if it's 760 or greater, it'll make a marginal difference compared to a 700).

With your profile, I'd say Wharton and HBS are out of reach. They are going younger for those from traditional career paths (engineers/IT, bankers, consultants) -- for the incoming class in 2009, most of the traditional applicants like yourself will be '05-07 college grads. This is irrespective of GMAT score (read: there's nothing you can really do about your profile right now that you can do to improve your chances other than a time machine and changing your profession).

With Chicago, Kellogg and Ross, you'll have a fighting chance assuming you put in a stellar app coupled with a bit of luck. These three are the schools you should be focusing on.

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

[Indian Gal]

Thanks for the quick response.

My Post MBA ambitions are in the General management area.

Are there any other schools that I should target other than the ones mentioned above?
What could I do to improve my chances at Kellogg or Chicago?

[MBAApply]

Between now and the summer (when the new applications come out), there's nothing you can do to change who you are to improve your chances (it's just 1-3 months added onto 10-15 years of your adult life to date). When the applications come out, just focus on putting together the best possible application.

As for other schools, I trust you can do the research on your own -- I can't really tell you which schools to apply to as I know nothing about you.

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

[sagar.kharpudikar]

I have given my gmat in dec 07 and scored 550. I am an Electronics engineer with first class agg., last 2 years, i am working in the field of industrial marketing, having a decent exp of community services and good extra curricular activities. I am looking for fall 09 intaker when my work ex will be 3 years. Which schools i must apply or should i retake the gmat?