Q) I am from India. I have average academic score in schooling and in graduation. (59.2%). I am worried about my low academic performance. I would like to know whether this will create difficulties in taking admission in top Canadian, US universities. How I can compensate this. I have 8 years of experience in project Management, now working as a senior project coordinator. What needs to be done to get admission?
Alex Chu (MBA Apply): Two things. First, if you were an engineering major in undergrad, the good news is that adcoms tend to be more forgiving since they know that engineering schools (regardless of country) tend to grade on a much harsher curve than arts/sciences. Secondly, for US b-schools, adcoms tend to focus more on GMAT than GPA for candidates who received their undergrad degrees outside the US (since it's really hard to compare say a Russian GPA to an Indian GPA to a South African GPA!).
For European B-schools, they also focus on the GMAT more than the GPA since their incoming applicant pools are even more diverse than the US.
So in your case, it comes down to one thing: the GMAT. Don't worry about your undergrad grades, because it's in the past. Focus on what you can control, which is the GMAT. If you're shooting for top 16 US schools and top-2 Euro schools, you need a 700 at a minimum, and ideally a 720 or greater (don't listen to Adcoms who try and tell you that they accept a wide range of GMATs; they are simply saying that anything and everything to get you to apply to boost their applicant volumes). Anything less than a 700-720 and you'll be a long shot. For US schools in the top 30 and top Canadian schools, you need a 680 or higher, and ideally a 700 or greater.
Of course, not everything stops with the GMAT. The GMAT is just the beginning. Once your GMAT is in range, then it comes down to the quality of the rest of your application (essays, rec letters, Interview) and your raw profile/resume.
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I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
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