Any help/guidance you can offer is greatly appreciated!

I've taken the GMAT twice now and my decision to retake hinges on my chances of being admitted to the following full time MBA programs: UC Berkeley, UCLA, NYU, Yale, Columbia, UVA Darden, USC (back-up).

Goal - strategic mgmt within large multinational firm
GMAT:
1st try: 680, Q(42), V(41); 2nd try: 690, Q(46), V(38)

Undergrad Education: UC Berkeley, Haas Bus Adm - GPA: 3.1 - 3.2 (maintained 3.4 until the final semester, which I bombed w/ 3 C's)

Work Exp:
1) Big4 accounting firm, audit sr., 4 yrs - promoted each year to supervisory role (annual promotions are pretty standard for public accounting);
2) Large asset management co., financial analyst, 1.5 yrs (exp. incl international corp finance/accounting/planning/operations)

Lic: CPA

XC:
1) Organized, led church mission trip to build homes in third world country
2) College - various leadership positions in business and social fraternities

Given my background, do you feel I can be competitive at the schools mentioned above? I realize I will need to explain the 3 C's I earned during my last semester of undergrad. Would it be sufficient to explain that poor grades came from immaturity and short-sightedness but that i have learned from it and have applied myself professionally and personally since, i.e. achieving CPA.

Also, please let me know if you think retaking the GMAT would help me. I feel a 700-710 is within reach, and possibly a 720 (optimistic). Given my stats, would a 700, 710 GMATscore considerably increase my chances for admittance? Or should I use the time to prepare apps instead?

Lastly, are there any advantages to applying ealier within a given round, i.e. wthin the first week of R2 versus the final

Thanks for your inquiry.

While a higher score is always better, an increase of ten to twenty points is not going to dramatically reshape your candidacy. Further, you seem to present this as an either/or, that is, GMAT or Applications. I think that you are far better off focusing on differentiating yourself from others via your applications in order to catch the eye of an AdCom in a very competitive year. You seem like a decent but as yet unspectacular candidate – acceptable grades from a reputable school, middling GMAT score, standard promotions in accounting, some international experience in asset management and some interesting community work via church missions. For a candidate like you, your application will make or break you at schools like Darden, UCLA and NYU. You should be pretty safe at USC and should be a reach at Yale, Haas and Columbia. It will really come down to your execution...

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission

646-485-8844

Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insider’s Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions! Is there any advantage to applying earlier within a given round? For example, is it more advantageous to apply during the first week of round 2 vs. the last week of round2?

Thank you for your inquiry. At virtually all schools, there is no advantage to applying earlier within the round itself. NYU is a notable exception as is Columbia, during their ED round in particular. However, at almost all other schools, to our knowledge, there is no advantage conferred on applicants who submit two weeks or even two months before a deadline.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission

646-485-8844

Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insider’s Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php

So does this mean that Stern and Columbia both accept on a rolling basis or just Columbia? Thanks!

Thank you for your inquiry.

NYU is a bit interesting in that they receive and order the applications but won’t review them until the deadline for the round that they are submitted in is completed. As for CBS, they roll right through early decision and to my knowledge through the January deadline with a few disincentives for delaying – namely losing special consideration in the ED round and scholarship consideration after the Jan round. To be certain, you should clarify this with their respective admissions offices.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission

646-485-8844

Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insider’s Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php