Hi ,

Would love some input on my situation.

My profile: Caucasian MALE; 25 years old.
Gmat score - 700 ( Quant 46/ Verbal 40) - 90 percentile

Academic background:
Graduated from top 25 national university with GPA 3.62/4
Was on full scholarship and graduated high distinction in chemical engineering scholars program

Work experience - Internship with the White House Office of Science and Technology policy, 1+1 year at ExxonMobil as a process engineer, 1 year at McKinsey as a business analyst.

Extra curricular activities - Selection committee for University's full scholarship program, Co-lead for McKinsey's alma mater recruiting, communications and new hire assimilation committees while at ExxonMobil, engineering students without borders when in school

Want to apply to the following:
Furqua
Darden
HBS
Stanford
Sloan
Wharton
Columbia
Stern

I feel like I am pretty much in range for Fuqua/Darden, but for the HBS, Wharton, Standford bunch, I am wondering if I should try to take the GMAT again. I completed a lot of prep before taking the exam, and my score did not go up at all, so I am wary to repeat.

Can you provide any input? Thanks in advance!

Hi there,

Thanks for writing in and sharing your background. I agree that your profile appears competitive for Darden/Fuqua, and you can probably add Stern and maybe even Sloan to that list. You can certainly apply to the other top schools with a 700, and if your practice indicates that you've maxed your score out, then it's probably not worth investing dozens of hours to try and squeeze 10 or 20 points out. Instead you can spend that time working on your goal statement and your essays. To make the leap into that top category, you'll want to clearly state how your work experience, plus the MBA, will help you achieve your short- and long-term goals, plus spend the extra getting to know the programs and how you can fit well with their offerings.

Best of luck,

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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