GMAT and Beyond

I wrote my GMAT on tuesday 5th June. And what I got was a 710 (51,34). I was very disappointed by my VA score. I knew that I could have done much better. But it was time to think about the next phase.

I shot out mails to the AdComs of the schools I am applying to asking will the low english percentile(71) affect my application. I have recieved 2 replies till now.

ISB sent a long generic mail:

Dear Neeraj,

Thank you for your Interest in ISB.

GMAT is one of the criterions we look for while evaluating applications. There are no cut-off scores - a good score strengthens your application but does not guarantee admission while a low score does not necessarily mean exclusion.You may note that the average GMAT score this year has been 710 in the range of 600 - 780.

Admissions to the ISB are based on:

· leadership potential.

· diversity among students.

· strong academic background.

The ISB aims to develop future leaders and we will give preference to students who have demonstrated leadership abilities in their past working or academic life. Initiatives at the work place and in your personal life will help us assess your leadership potential.

The assessment is done primarily through the essays and recommendations in the application form. We insist that the recommendations are from people from your work place, specifically, your direct supervisor. The second element we look for when we consider your application is diversity. We are looking for why you are different and what you would bring to the ISB community. Diversity may be in the form of educational background, ethnic origin, nature of work ex

perience, kind of organisation worked for, nationality or personal experiences and goals.

The PGP programme at the ISB is rigorous and is accentuated by the short duration of the programme. Students who join the ISB must possess an academic record that can convince the ISB Admissions Committee of their ability to cope with the rigorous curriculum.

We appreciate your interest in the school. You may write to us at: admissions@isb.edu for any further enquiries.

Regards,

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and Tuck sent a short generic mail:

Dear Neeraj,

Thank you for your interest in the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Please note that if you feel you're able to improve on your GMAT scores then we would encourage you to do so. The average GMAT score for the Clas of 2008 is 710 and the admitted-student range is 560-790. With the test score you received along with the other information you provided we would encourage you to apply to Tuck.

Thank You
Tuck Admissions

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My friend vineet (who is going to Emory this fall) suggested to go ahead and concentrate on my essays instead of worrying about all this.

I only had concerns that I have an avg GPA, less than avg work ex and no international exposure. And very next day I was told of an onsite opportunity in US. It came at the time when I needed it the most. But now I am a bit concerned about the community service part. Which I won't be able to do from there. I need to do something about it after I come back to bangalore in 3 weeks or 3 months because I haven't yet started on it.

I know that I am going to have loads and loads of work. But I'll have to make out time for my essays. The day I got to know of this I looked into the map of US. I am going to california which is on west coast, and all my schools are on east coast. So I won't be able to plan any visit to any school. I wanted to apply to UC Berkeley but because of unfavorable loan program I can't. Otherwise I would sure have visited UCB.

In next post I would write on the criteria of selection of schools I am going to apply to.
Oh yes, the schools are... MIT, Tuck, Darden, Emory and ofcourse ISB.

I have to do lotsa shopping before I fly to US on sunday.