Duke / Fuqua - 12-25-2024 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

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December 25, 2024 7:51am ET

Applying: Duke / Fuqua, UVA / Darden

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Indian Chartered Accountant, Completed Undergrad and Grad in commernce (A and A+ grade)Fund Controlling - PE(Goldman Sachs) and IIF(JP Morgan)

Post-MBA Target Industry: Asset Management, inc. HF Companies: Blackrock , Goldman Sachs , JP Morgan Asset Management

GRE: 320

GPA: A+

Years of Work Experience: 5.5

Location: India

Post MBA Location: US, UK

Notes:

I got waiver from Darden and applying to fuqua with GRE score. Planning to apply to only two schools in current round 2.
Post MBA goal is to transition career from accounting based role to front end asset management roles.

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Show Comments (4) Last: December 25, 2024

grichmond Verified User. Likes Earned: 1310

Your work experience to date sounds very solid, with some brand name firms on your resume. While your grades sound solid (assuming you attended a well-ranked institution), your GRE leaves a bit to be desired. This is especially a concern as you will be over-represented in the applicant pool (coming from India) and by the fact that you are applying in R2 instead of R1. Do you have good ECs?

Turning back to the test, while it's nice that Darden granted you a waiver, I'd be wary here; when you are an ORM in the applicant pool, you need to put forth as strong of a case as possible - with multiple data points.

A few thoughts:

1. Consider casting a wider net than just two top-16 schools. These are both highly competitive programs and you may face stiff competition. Cornell, UNC, and Tepper come to mind based on your interests.

2. Consider retaking the GRE (even after the admissions deadlines) and updating schools with the new score. Getting into the mid- to high-220s would help your case.

Best of luck!

(1)

anon53976 Likes Earned: 0 Thanks, I had applied to those last year, so I'm not keen on applying again this R2, yes I plan to retake GRE to push the score from current 321 by 5+ points. My plan is to apply next R1 if things don't go per plan. (0)

apurvag95 Likes Earned: 0 While my last year's goal and aim were not up to the point (very vague tbh, like consulting to insurance-tech startup) I'm not sure if just by correcting those, I can be in a competitive pool as a reapplicant. (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1695 With a higher GRE score, and more focused goals, that will help. Did you apply in Round 2, last season? Round 1 will provide best access, if you’re from an over-represented applicant pool. (0)