There are a couple of weak points on your profile that will be red flags for admissions committees:

- your work experience is rather low, and doesn't show much of a career arc. Most internationally accredited full timeMBA programs will recruit applicants with 4-6 years of work experience.

- your GMAT is rather unbalanced, with the verbal much lower than the quant.

I suggest one of the following:

- try to get your verbal up on the GMAT to be closer to where your quant is. If you can bring a 700+ overall score with the sections more balanced, you'd relieve some of the fears that these business schools will inevitably have about you.

- wait at least another year to apply, hopefully getting some kind of promotion during that time.

If you don't do either of those things you honestly won't have a very competitive profile. Maybe locally-oriented schools like UNC Greensboro or Rollins - Crummer - but, assuming you're an international student, I don't know how much value those MBAs would have for you.

Hi Laurie,

I also got a 650 on the GMAT although my score was a bit more balanced (38V, 42Q)

I have 4 years of work experience.

I would like to apply for 2018 intake - MBA in the USA only. Do you have any advice? I don't think I can do any better on the GMAT so I am not sure I should retake it.

It depends. What are your goals?

My main goal is to learn more about business operations and strategy. I have worked for an airline and I recently was promoted to supervisor. After the MBA, I would like to stay in the airline industry or go into another industry with a 'global' footprint. I am originally from India but I have PR in the USA, so visa is not a concern. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

Your goals are rather broad.

Check out Duncan's GMAT tiers post:

https://find-mba.com/board/gmat/gmat-tiers-strong-schools-for-your-gmat-23247

With your GMAT, you're somewhere on the cusp between tier 3 and tier 4. Pepperdine might be worth looking at, or Tippie. Safety schools might be USC Moore, Georgia - Terry, etc.

I would refine your goals by looking at specific industries, and even companies, that you want to work in - then work backwards by looking at where MBAs in those places did their degrees.

Thank you for the information. Yes, I will refine my goals.

Hi Laurie,

I got 650 on the GMAT (35V, 43Q). I have 13 years of work experience (Military) and 01 year corporate experience in Marketing.

I would like to apply for 2019 intake - MBA in the USA/Canada/Europe. Please advice.
I am considering Richard Ivey, Sauders, HEC Montreal, Rotterdam, and programs in MIT Global Scale Network.

Regards

A good place to start would be Duncan's GMAT tiers post, which I linked to above.

That's a really broad range of schools, across several countries. You'd do well to think about your goals, especially what you want to do after graduation.

Also, the difference between your quant and verbal scores might concern some business schools, especially if English is not your first language or if you haven't done other studies in English.

Are you planning on trying to work in the country you'll be studying after graduation? If so, Canada has probably the most liberal visa policies; if you're aiming at schools like RSM of course language will probably be an issue.

There aren't many good schools in the US or Canada that you can get through with that score unless you have a decent work experience, however, India offers some excellent alternatives in Business Schools.

With a score of 650 in your GMAT exam you can make applications at SPJIMR, Great Lakes Institute of Management, IMT, SDA Bocconi Asia Center, IMI, ISBR Business School, Universal Business School, Xavier's University Bhubaneshwar.

Foreign Students can apply to these Top Indian Business Schools through "Study In India MBA" Program and get a chance to win a tour to the college campuses and experience the B-School life first hand, before going ahead with their MBA course.

I don't think many international students will have a useful experience at a second-tier Indian business school. The Indian undergraduate education and business culture are so specific, and the business school experience reflects that. There are some good options (at the MBA level GMAT Tiers - strong schools for your GMAT www.find-mba.com/board/27082
) and for MiM students (for those without work experience).

At least with US permanent resident, this person would have fewer problems with visa issues after graduation, so that's something. As such, targeting a lesser-ranked school in the US might be a good approach.

However, I do still agree that getting a higher GMAT score would help immensely. When you think about it, the time that goes into prep and re-taking is by far outweighed by the increased earnings of getting into a more prestigious MBA.

Here's what I'd do: I'd wait another year so that you have more work experience. Use that time to study for the GMAT, especially for the verbal, aiming to break 700. A 700 GMAT plus three years of work experience (4 at intake) would play much better.