Duke / Fuqua - 07-29-2019 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

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July 28, 2019 6:49pm ET

Applying: Duke / Fuqua, London Business School, Michigan / Ross, Northwestern / Kellogg

Intake Year: 2020

Pre-MBA Career: Consulting

Post-MBA Target Industry: Technology, Non Profit/SI Companies: Amazon , Google , IBM , Microsoft , Oracle

GRE: 320

GPA: 3.80

Years of Work Experience: 4

Location: D.C.

Notes:

Profile: Indian-American female
Goal: Pursue corporate social responsibility role in a large company, preferably tech. Plan B is internal strategy role in a tech company.
Undergrad: BSBA in Finance, BA in Political Science, Minor in Spanish; heavily involved in business school activities; University Hall of Fame inductee
GRE Score Details: 155Q; 165V
Experience: 2 years of experience in government consulting (technology transformation projects); 2 years of experience in commercial consulting (cybersecurity transformation projects) [all with same company]; common thread is change management/strategy/marketing & communications work for large-scale transformation efforts in public and private sector.
ECs: 3 years of pro bono strategy consulting with DC-area nonprofits; Events Chair of the board of the firm's Asian Pacific American Forum; led a Commercial intern team over the summer; numerous firm awards, including the highest individual award the firm gives employees

Qs: Am I applying to too few schools? Recommendations for other schools to consider? Recommendations for what to highlight in application? Will GPA and business undergrad offset mediocre GRE score?

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Show Comments (6) Last: August 21, 2019

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1693 Your work experience (assuming you can show impact) and ECs look strong, combined with your profile and undergrad GPA. That combination should provide you access to some of the top programs. Your GRE score, and it's Q score, would appear to be the weakest part of your candidacy. Have you taken the test more than once? It might be worth a retake, just to try to nudge the score up marginally. The good news is, there's no rush to apply in the first rounds, if you need more time. For now, with your current score, you may well still be competitive, esp for T16, but I'd try to shoot for a couple more M7s. (0)

ss216313 Likes Earned: 2 OP here. Thanks for the feedback, Alex! I am re-taking the GRE in a couple of weeks. However, while my practice tests show my verbal score inching towards a 170, my quant score isn't improving by much. I was hoping to apply Round 1 to give me the best chance of getting in, but I may delay until Round 2 if I can't get my GRE score up. Also, didn't realize I had a good enough mix of experience, ECs, etc. to shoot for more M7s--I'll definitely look into that! (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1693 Justo be clear, there's no real advantage to round 1 over round 2, in your case. All things being equal, round 1 is better, as you'll get results sooner etc. But if you can present a stronger candidacy for Round 2 (ie improved GRE score etc) then you should target round 2, even for some of the programs, (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1693 More detailed feedback on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2019/08/episode-43-wire-taps-advice-on-low-gre-re-applying-government-background-and-more/ (0)

ss216313 Likes Earned: 2 OP again. Listened to Wire Taps--really appreciate the detailed feedback, and I am looking into adding more schools to my list. I had originally chosen Kellogg/Ross/Fuqua for the larger than average percentage of graduates who go into tech, which is where I'd like to head in the future. I did retake the GRE a second time but saw no significant improvement in my score (156Q, 166V, 322 total). Wondering whether it is worth retaking it a third time or whether I should just apply Round 1 to my top schools. (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1693 The additional 2 points will help. Might be worth splitting your apps across rounds 1 & 2, and having one more go at the GRE if you think there's is still improvement to be had. Your school selection makes sense, but adding 1-2 more programs is sensible. Most schools are increasing their presence for the tech sector. (0)