Hello,
Please evaluate my chances of admission. My profile is as follows

GMAT: 680 (43 Q( 67%) and 41 V (92%))

I will have 5.3 years work exp as R&D engineer in a US manufacturing company by the time I apply to schools. I have been promoted after just 2 yrs on my job. I also have a Master degree in mechanical engineering with a GPA of 3.9/4 with a heavy math focus and have excellent grades in all the math course I have taken. I also have publications under my name

My undergrad is from India and my GPA is little above 7/10. Math grades in my undergrad are average only. I also have below avg extra curricular activity.

So based on the above profile these are my questions

1. Will my Master degree grades be given prominence by schools or will the emphasis be on undergrad performance?

2. Can I highlight my background in MS to offset my low quant percentile (67%)

3. What are my chances in schools like Insead singapore and NUS singapore?

4. Would you suggest I re-take my GMAT.

Your response will be greatly appreciated

Thank you

Hi and thank you for your inquiry. To answer your questions...

1. schools compare applicants based on undergraduate GPA. They will take the Masters into account, especially as it offsets your lower quant GMAT and slightly lower undergrad grades, but they compare applicants across undergraduate grades. That being said, I recommend you write the optional essay to highlight for them your very strong masters GPA, emphasizing your math grades. I don't think think that will end up being a barrier for you especially if you can pull up the GMAT (see q. 4)

2. Yes, use the optional essay to do that

3. INSEAD is a very tough school. If you pull up the GMAT you may be competitive there; their average GMAT is around 700. NUS is a lower ranked school but accepts fewer than 10% of its applicants. Your GMAT is right at their average, but if you pull it up that could be a differentiator for you. I think you'll be a competitive candidate at both, although you didn't give me a full profile (nature of your work and leadership experience, community involvement, etc.)

4. Yes. Your Quant % is really pretty low; if you can pull it up even 10 percentage points I think that will strengthen your profile, and if you've only taken it once there's really no downside to trying again.

Best,

Jessica Shklar
mbaMission