Which schools will value a very high GMAT the most?
And would offer a good scholarship?
For someone: age 27, poor work experience, 3.2 GPA, but 780 GMAT?
Really good sob story.
I think, NYU really wants to increase its ranking, so does Columbia--it has been falling for sometime.
Cornell also wants to increase its ranking. So would those schools have the highest chances?
Thank you to everyone.
Define poor work experience. Ultra high GMAT helps at M7 for 'turnaround' candidates but if you don't have solid progression in your resume they don't really care. Look at Poet's and Quants and check out the individual schools - they ding a ton of top 1% GMAT every year.
Basically, the lower ranked the school the more they'll value the GMAT. 10-15 range is probably your reach territory if your work experience is below par, especially with that GPA. Outside of the top 15 (rankings are all different, look at McKinsey's list of target MBA's on their webpage, there are 16 schools, so pretty much anything outside of that) it will probably bring a lot of value to your app. I was around your score level and was offered a full ride to a few schools in the 20-50 range that I didn't even apply to (got my info from GMAC).
GMAT isn't the be all and end all. School's care about metrics for publications but they care more about whether your employment goals after school are obtainable. Those salary reports are juicier for them than an extra 1 point on their average GMAT. If you've got a shitty resume, you're not going to be a viable candidate for a lot of roles. You need a solid story not just to explain your pitfalls but how the MBA will help you meet your goals, and those goals better be obtainable with your background (i.e. if you've spent 4 years as an assistant manager at a Staples storefront and tell NYU you think you're going to work for Amazon as a product manager, you might want to reevaluate your application).
I think TwoThrones is underestimating how hard it is to get into an m7 with a nontraditional profile. The research experience may work, I don't know how to evaluate that. The cancer story can connect the dots. But I think schools will look to see how to persevered throughout your challenges. Right now, professionally, your experience is in the wrong direction.
I don't mean this to keep you down; it sounds like you've got a lot of potential. But top schools aren't looking to give a handout to a sob story, they want to see how you are exceptional in spite of your challenges.
I think you'd be better served to find your way back into another lab or any type of professional role that M7 schools would value before applying for your MBA, to show you are working your way back. Some M7's really won't let you app more than once without a lot of scrutiny. I wouldn't blow your shot over a poorly timed application. Can you feasibly transition to a role that is a semi-target for recruiting? You don't need the perfect role, just something somewhat business related or a management role in healthcare if that's open to you.
Here's the thing.
With your profile right now as it is, you're looking at entry level jobs - competing against those folks coming straight out of college. Whether it's in consulting, finance, healthcare/pharma/biotech, etc.
Adding an MBA on your resume with minimal experience at this point doesn't fundamentally change your employability. An MBA is NOT like a medical or law degree where coming out of grad school you're on even footing. The MBA doesn't replace, but complements your pre-MBA experience and profile - that's how employers evaluate you for jobs.
In other words, the MBA alone isn't going to magically make you more employable without much prior work epxereince- and, more importantly, you're competing against your fellow MBA classmates (and MBAs from other schools) for jobs. You're facing an uphill battle.
Get 2-3 years of solid work experience. You're better off going to b-school at 30 (or even 31, 32) with a few years of solid full-time experience than trying rush in right now, because even if you get into say a top 16, you're handicapping your odds of getting a decent job (on top of having to shell out a ton of money for tuition) compared to your more experienced classmates.
Are you a girl?