What are my chances with 690 (Q46, V39) ?

[St Thomas84]

Hey guys, thanks for your invaluable help. I've posted this on the Test Day section but I think it belongs here more.

If you live in Ghana, where the GMAT may sound like the name of cereal on the market to many people, it is difficult to do well in the exam. I don't like my score one bit (I scored 720 on the MGMAT free test and 720/730 on GMAT Prep, all with minimal preparation) but I think it may be sufficient given my GPA and background in general

Here's a synopsis of my background:

I am an African from Ghana
I went to the University of Ghana Business School, majored in Finance and left with a 3.66 GPA
I am an analyst in corporate finance with a Bank listed on the Ghana stock exchange.
I have three years' experience
I have worked on projects across sectors like Power, Telecoms, Mining and Real Estate
I manage the bank's assets in the carbon market.
I've written a number of articles on the carbon market and the opportunities in it for Africa.
I am midway through qualifying for the ACCA, the professional qualification for Accountants in British territories.
I have a certificate in Advanced Project Finance from Euromoney Training, UK
My mentor is a Park Fellow from Johnson and will write a reference letter for me.

What do you guys think my chances are of getting into Cornell? What of the following schools:

Sloan
INSEAD
Fisher
Fuqua
Fox

Thank you and waiting for your responses.

[St Thomas84]

Sorry guys, didn't include my age. 24 years; 25 by when MBA starts in 2009

[MBAApply]

I'm not sure why you're so disappointed with your GMAT prep scores. Beyond a certain threshhold (700+), it really doesn't matter what your score is. Your chances don't really improve if it's 700, 720, 760 or whatever.

Top b-schools aren't looking for academic geniuses. They're looking for people who have serviceable to decent academic ability, but more importantly "real world" skills and non-academic talent -- i.e. your interpersonal, leadership, social, decision-making, and problem solving abilities as it relates to the workplace or organized group activities outside of work (church, nonprofit, industry organization, etc.).

In any case, you should be competitive for all the schools you mentioned (you've chosen a decent range of schools) so I think you should be able to get into some of them. Just focus on your application and highlight your non-academic strengths and achievements.

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

[MBAApply]

To add: your actual score shouldn't be an issue. It's close enough. Don't fret. You're not going to get rejected because of your GMAT score.

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

[Guest]

Thanks Alex.

I didn't say I was disappointed at my prep scores. I meant to say I was disappointed at my actual score considering how I did in practice tests.

Anyway I hope to get into some of the schools like you say. I'm not sure my interests will be better served by retaking. I am an international applicant so you know I have to get my applications in soon.

Once again, thanks for your reassuring words.