Educational Consultants
HI Yousef, Don’t sweat the IR. No it isn’t good, but it won’t kill your app. Your Q of 49 is fine and the 42V is fine. You are done with the GMAT! Celebrate! Ding for the score after the request for interview – can happen. They’ll take interviews with more candidates than they hope … Read more
Hi Kate, Going through your Q&A has been great. I am hoping that you can advice me on my current situation 1). I took the GMAT for the second time this month after 2 years since my first attempt which was a 680. I got the 740 I was after but I completely bombed the … Read more
If you have a 750 GMAT score with a low IR you may be wondering what your focus should be. Instead of focusing on the GMAT you need to focus on your application. This means making sure your essays are substantive and that your letters of recommendation are all high quality. Determine which round you … Read more
What should you do with a good GMAT score but very low IR? Ideally you would apply first round. You will also want to focus heavily on creating substantive essays. You will also want to make sure that all of your letters of recommendation are top notch. There are other steps you can take to … Read more
A low IR doesn’t keep top MBA programs out of reach, but is still worth retaking the GMAT for. hi! I took the gmat this week and scored 720 – 47 on Quant and 42 on verbal, but only a 5 on IR. should i be concerned about the quant + IR for … Read more
Does a Low IR call for a GMAT retake? Hi Kate, I am a Senior graduating from an ivy league school summa cum laude (4.0) with lots of extra curriculars. I am not a “diverse” nor “legacy” candidate and intend to apply to HBS 2+2 R3. I took the GMAT once, scoring a … Read more
A low IR doesn’t put top schools out of reach. Kate, I’m a prospective applicant with a 710 (49Q 38V) but my IR score is really bad (2 / 8). I am a reapplicant at my top choice – I was waitlisted after applying in the third round last year with a 660 … Read more
There is no required score for the essay portion, however a score below 3 indicates that you do not have sufficient mastery of English and may be cause for concern to the admission committee. A score of 0 indicates that you did not answer the essay portion and reflects more on your character than your … Read more
Wait until you are in-in before you discuss a deferral – as in, pay your deposit to hold your spot and pay your first year fees if it is a very competitive program. That said, schools can revoke admission if you request a deferral. So play your cards very carefully. While it is unusual … Read more
Good question. MFinc is normally a more technically demanding degree. If I am understanding you, you intend to do a Masters in Finance in order to break into asset management. If that’s not quite correct, add your comment below. Assuming that’s correct, you have 2 challenges with the quant: 1. it is low for the … Read more
Hi Kate, I am planning to apply for a Master in finance pre-experience in a business European school to break into the asset management industry after my master. My main options include LSE, HEC, Imperial College London, St. Gallen, ESSEC. I am a bit concerned that my quant score will affect my application. My academics … Read more
Hi Kate, I am an Indian female, currently working full-time in the US. I have 13+ years of experience in IT and I am looking to join a Full-time MBA program (preferably 1 year) in the Top 30 US schools. My GMAT score is 670 (Q49, V31, IR7, AWA6). I have already exhausted 4 attempts … Read more
Good news, bad news. While MS Finc is a very quant based program, 640 is not competitive in the top 15 schools. I’m less familiar with those below that. The 49 is okay, but because the MS Finc is a quant based program, a 49 is basically at the LOW end of the scale … Read more
Hi Kate ! I recently passed the GMAT for the first time with the mentioned score above. The only disappointment I have is with regards to my IR score, during my practice tests I almost always got an 8, once got a 7. I emigrated to Canada from Europe, where I graduated from undergrad a … Read more
Redlining was a thing. It was banned 50 years ago. But it looks like the same neighborhoods deemed unworthy in the 30s are still more likely to be poor today. That’s pretty sad, and pretty interesting. I’m not really seeing any numbers for Fair Lending. There are a few papers from ages ago, like the … Read more
For long term fulfillment, it is important to get in touch with your personal values and your personal mission. This is an imperfect process. Expect this to take you a few iterations. Start here and come back to this when you realize you’re out of synch or stuck – or even just to review! It’s … Read more
The good news is that you are looking for a reasonable salary – that’s the equivalent of $25-30/hour for a 40 hour work week (50 weeks/yr). Have you considered branding yourself? In the 2-3 months that it will take to begin generating decent traffic (based on 10-15 hours/week of effort), you can create loads … Read more
There are a lot of problems with the question. You may want to reconsider how you’ve asked it. So you’ve cleared your backlogs? Then why do you still refer to them? The 68% is not impressive. The two papers might be impressive, but that will depend on where they were published and with … Read more