I am applying to Berkeley and I was wondering what round I should apply in - second or third.
Background:
Female

11 out of 12 GPA from Pomona College (school is not on a 4.0 scale)
Major: Science Technology & Society (not a hard science background, more of a social science background, however I did take some science classes)

Work Experience:
4 years producing commercials for large ad agencies
Left that when I realized I wanted to be a Sustainability/Corporate Social Responsibility Officer or Consultant (hence why I am applying to Berkeley - they have a great corporate social responsibility program)
Realized I needed some experience on the other side so I went to work at a non-profit. I do event planning and volunteer leader coordination with the Board of Directors and the other volunteer leaders across the country- have been here for 2 years, will be almost three when I leave to go to b-school.

I haven't taken the GMAT yet - my test date is the day before the 2nd round application is due. I am worried I will not score within the 80% range for the school - especially in Quant. I am not the greatest standardized test taker, but when I am in a class setting I do well (I scored A's and A-minuses in the math and stats classes I took in college - tho I did not take many).

What is the lowest score I could get and not be handicapped by it for the second round?

With GMATs, shoot for high 600s minimum and ideally 700+ for Berkeley. In terms of the quant/verbal percentiles, shoot for 80%, and anything below 70% will be a concern.

Again, do the best you can on the GMAT come test day. If you don't score in range and it was just a "bad hair day" (i.e. you could've easily scored better, but you just had a bad day), then by all means consider re-taking it and submit in Round 3 for Haas (since Haas has 4 rounds, just avoid Round 4). Otherwise, shoot for Round 2.

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