Ask MBA Admit - Dr. Shel Watts

Male: 30, Canadian, Asian (Civilian not military)

Languages: English, Mandarin and Cantonese

Education:
- Electrical Engineering GPA 3.3 (B+) (top Canadian school)
- a few course in economics for fun after undergrad
- basic finance certification

GMAT: 710

Volunteer: Food bank intermittently for last 2 yrs (difficult hold down volunteer position due to work travel). Some minor volunteer work while at war zone for Canadian Family members.

WE1: 2 yrs software development

WE2: 6 yrs CIA type organization in Canada (3 promotions + awards). Even balance between HQ work and field work.
- HQ: Research, analysis, Led major projects (1M+ (big for my org)), lead tiger team, Team leader
- Field work: Deployments abroad including to a war zone leading small but high impact team and adviser to a 1-star General. Extensive work with int'l partners and int'l military forces.

Motivation: Use previous work experience + business fundamentals = new exciting challenges in finance

Goal: Finance and entrepreneurship

Targets: HBS, Booth, Wharton, MIT

Questions:
1) In terms of work experience, I'm in the "other" category. How will I fair against the bankers and my former engineering brethren?

2) I scored 4 to 5 points lower than avg on my Verbal. I think 730 is very reasonable if not higher. In this situation I've read from others that there isn't much upside for what I risk on the downside. Is this in line with your assessment?

I've enjoyed reading your assessments. I'd appreciate your thoughts on my profile as well. Thank you.

hi ,
i'm shreyas babu from Bangalore ,India.
i have done my 3 year full time diploma program in planning and entrepreneurship at which specializing in marketing and finance in indian intitute of planning and management, Bangalore of which affiliated in IMI, Belgium.i'm just a fresher, i would to do higher studies,
so please suggest ideas what i can do like Msc in finance or direct MBA in some decent university.

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Hi BYURover,

From the high-level details you have provided here, it appears that you have a very interesting candidacy. But a few details could help me in my assessment. For example, Hispanic can be a lot of different things. From what particular background are you? Also, what was the international volunteer organization for which you were working? That could potentially make a difference. For example, if it was Peace Corps, you might get a little more mileage out of that. If it was a religious group, you would need to think about how to present that, though it can also work in your favor. In general, the international volunteering should be a good asset and certainly can help to distinguish you.

The 3.1 GPA may not be much of a concern. It depends on what your college was, so again I need that information. I am not sure how studying Mandarin was at your college, but at Harvard College, which I attended, anyone taking Mandarin Chinese usually had a low GPA because native English speakers found it very difficult. Were your grades higher or lower in that minor? If the Mandarin grades partly account for your lower GPA, then it will be easy for the committee to take that into account.

The fact that your GMAT score is 730 certainly helps a lot. Again, 3.1 is not necessarily a low GPA, so the 730 reinforces the fact that you have strong skills and will help the committee lean toward interpreting the 3.1 with more positive eyes.

For me to know how strong you are as a candidate, I would also want to know more about your background (family background, personal “story”). Also, are you involved in any extracurricular activities now? On the whole, you look like a very strong candidate and from what you have told me I think you can be very competitive wherever you want, including the top schools like Harvard.

Feel free to send the details I have asked about to me at my website or in a private message, and I can provide a little more detailed feedback.

Best wishes,
Shelly Watts
MBA Admit.com
https://www.mbaadmit.com
Email: mbaadmit@aol.com

I am planning to take an MBA (top 10 Biz Schools; in particular Wharton, Harvard, London Business School, Columbia, INSEAD, MIT) in the next 1-2 years.
Age: 26
Nationality: Italian
Languages: Fluent in Italian, English, German. Good command of French, Spanish.
GMAT: N/A

Studies:
Bachelor in Business Administration (Bocconi University), GPA: 28/30, Final Grade 110/110
Thesis on Information Systems: The implementation of an ERP Solution
Fudan University (Shanghai) - 1 month course
MSc in Economics of Innovation and Technology (Bocconi University), GPA 29,5/30, Final Grande: 110/110 cum laude
Thesis in corporate Finance: Using real options to evaluate industrial investments in FMCG industry
Msc in Business Admn. (CBS) (Double Degree Program)

Post Graduate work exp:
Luxembourg (1,5 years): FMCG multinational company (7Bn € Turnover), Strategy and Business Planning, working in the worldwide CEO dep., administrator of the group financial simulator tool.
Germany (1 year): same company, Shopper MKTG Manager (depicted by Bain Germany as the best practice in this country), working together with the sales team responsible for 50% local company`s turnover (approx. 800M €). Developed innovative quantitative projects that enhanced retailers' turnover.

Activities:
Talent Management Workshop (CBS) for a 3bn€ industrial manufacturing company operating worldwide: been selected as a talent ambassador together with other 4 Scandinavian students in order to develop a Strategy plan focused on how to find, evaluate and retain best people. Direct involvment with general managers/directors from all over the world.
Category Manager certification: coming soon
Partecipated for 1 year in a social housing project
Active member of the Rotaract Club
At the age of 17 I developed and managed an Information System for the local authorities regarding economic development.

Reason for doing an MBA:
I would like to further my own business. I am going to launch two innovative companies and I believe a MBA program will give me the chance to climb my learning curve quickly.

GMAT: I hope to hit a score around 700, but you never know...

What is your advise? Timing? Schools? What I need to strenghten in my profile?

Thanks!

Hi,

I am Manikanth from Hyderabad. I want a profile evaluation and some valuable suggestions to apply for MBA fall-2012.

I gave my GMAT yesterday and got 730(M 51, V 38). I have 3.5 years of IT exp with Oracle India (would be around 4 yrs months by the time of matriculation). I did my MCA from NITK, Surathkal and BSc(Electronics) from Pune University.

My academics:
X - 73%
Inter - 75%
BSc - 81%
MCA - 8.4 (CGPA)

I have a very different background and it was never a cake walk for me. I started my first job in a STD booth in my 7th class and have worked in many petty jobs since then to support my education. As part of my jobs, I have developed interest in various fields that is how I joined BSc(electronics) and then did an MCA (again because of interest developed by my part time jobs in BSc). In the last 3.5 yrs in Oracle i've had exposure to various ERP modules and now am more interested in strategy or Product management roles, either of which needs an MBA. I am targeting ISB and few other US B-schools (only those which offer good fundings as I can't afford anything above 25 lakhs, since I can get loan for only that amount ). Can you please tell my chances for top US B-schools?

I am not sure if I can afford the costs of US B-schools, though some schools provide tution and funding, I should entirely depend on loans if I leave my current job. My savings over the past 3.5 years were also less as I did many donations for poor students who were in need of tuition fees. I don't have any proof for this, since they were all brothers of some distant friends or some recommendations by my family members. I also practice yoga and teach it to 6 people at home everyday, again I do this for free and they were all neighbors. I don't know if I can show all these in my application.

I am also planning to apply for Harvard and Stanford, which one do you suggest? Also, any suggestions on other US B-schools which is good for indian students with IT background that provides good funding and have a good placement record in IT related fields post MBA. I am also planning to apply for NUS, singapore, but again confused here between Nanyang and NUS, which one is good for MBA in IT related fields like Operations, Strategy or General Management.

Thanks in advance,
Manikanth.

Dr. Watts,

Firstly thanks for your time and guidance. Please have a look at my profile and send me your valuable suggestions/comments:


Indian, Male, Age: 27

GMAT 730, (Q49, 86%ile), (V40, 89%ile), (AWA 5.0)

Academic:

Undergrad: Civil Engg, IIT Madras, GPA: 7.32/10,
Masters: Transportation Engg, Texas A&M University, Major GPA 4.0/4.0 (Total 3.9/4.0)
Graduate Certificate in Business, GPA 3.75/4.0, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University (This is kind of a Minor. with a total of 4 courses, 12 credits).

Certifications:

CFA Level 3 Candidate.
Professional Engineer, State of California.


Work experience details:

Full Time (Close to 4 years by Aug 2012), Dept. of Transportation, CA
July 2011 to Present, Associate Project Manager
July 2009 to June 2011, Assistant Project Engineer
Nov 2009 to June 2010, Assistant Project Manager
Oct 2008 to Oct 2009, Transportation Engineer

Part Time ( 2 yrs, 20 hrs per week), Texas Transportation Institute, TX
Sep 2006 to Aug 2008, Research Assistant


Pre - MBA work experience areas : Infrastructure Engineering, and Project Management
After - MBA plans: Short-Term: Infrastructure/Project Finance, Long Term: Investment Management and Private Equity.


Potential Points To Be Highlighted In Essays:

From Professional Life:

● Supervised a politically highly sensitive project which was among the first few projects funded by Obama’s $ 40 B infrastructure stimulus package of 2008. Project became very crucial as it was allotted to a contractor with criminal history, and the whole crew was very less experienced (had to contract out the project to that company because of the reservation limitations). I took over and lead the project after the Senior Engineer who was supposed to lead that project left with in the first quarter of the project as he found it very difficult to manage the contractor and his crew.
● Saved close to $1.5 Million on a highway construction project by coming up with few innovative approaches to deal with unexpected issues raised during the project.
● Developed new data analysis methods which are now followed by our whole project mgmt group.
● Among the youngest in the department to receive a professional engineer license and consequently to authorize State projects.
● Worked on the Caldecott Tunnel Project ( a $ 420 million project, Nation’s second largest highway project supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 )


From Personal Life:

● the way me, my education, and my career progression stood up as a good example and inspiration for many kids in my village and neighboring villages.
● my commitment to make sure that no kid from my village would drop out of school (until at least primary school) due to the lack of financial resources or guidance. Did set up a Fund to fund their primary school education.
● involvement with several child education related activities through CSECC (California State Employees Charitable Campaign), CRY (Child Rights and You), and AID (Aid for India’s Development)

Other:

● Worked on a start up “Biglifeindia”. Idea was to generate superior returns on the investor’s investments by pooling and investing them in growing sectors like infrastructure development, real estate, large-scale agriculture etc, in India. Temporarily suspended the project because of unfavorable political developments and consequent new regulations (Andhra Pradesh Micro Finance Institutions Act, 2010).

Target Schools:
R1: Booth, Columbia, Wharton or Harvard, MIT or LBS
R2: Wharton/Harvard, MIT/LBS, Haas, Anderson, McCombs.


Please send me your valuable suggestions and comments regarding my following concerns:

1) At which of my targeted schools, do I have a decent chance to put a competitive application?

2) Is it worth retaking GMAT, given that I am confident of increasing the score from 730 to 750: both from admits perspective and scholarships perspective.

3) Given that I have time to apply only one of either Wharton or Harvard, also either MIT or LBS in first round, is there any advantage of picking one school over other in R1 vs R2.

4) Areas where I should specifically concentrate to make my application more competitive at my targeted schools.


Thanks a lot for your time and help.

Ram

Hi Shel

Thanks a lot for all the work you are doing here.

It would be great if you can evaluate my profile:

Indian, Male Age-27

GMAT
710 (49 QA, 35 VA) AWA 5.0

Academics
B. Tech, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (6.93/10) – 2003 -2007
CFA Level 3 Candidate
Technical certifications from IBM & Sun Microsystems

Professional Experience
Full Time from July, 2007. Will be around 5 years in August 2012.
December 2008 – Present – Business Analyst
December 2008 – July 2007 Software Engineer

Business Analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland (December 2008 – Present)
Functional Areas – Corporate Markets

Highlights
• Managed business software requirements for 3 projects, totaling to £ 25 million.
• One of the youngest B.A at RBS. Skip level promotion from Software Associate to BA.
• Assessed & Reformed organizational processes through a Work-Out initiative, leading to savings of £ 200,000.
• Estimated & formulated business cases for various corporate transformation programmes. These transformation programmes were introduced as an aftermath of global financial crisis in 2008.
• Led a team of software developers to deliver a critical solution for automation of account opening process targeted at Business & Commercial customers.
• Established and fostered relationships with various business and technology stakeholders. First to be selected out of my team in India to work on-site with business stakeholders in London & Wimbledon.
• Imparted domain based trainings to software developers and project managers.

Software developer at Sapient Corporation (July 2007 – December 2008)
Functional Areas – Retail Banking & Telecom Billing

Highlights
• Led a work stream during the training project.
• Designed and developed software components for an online broadband provisioning system for a large telecom client.
• Raised Rs. 200,000 for young students as part of charity drive at Sapient Corp.

Personal Life
Born and brought up in a small town, not a lot was expected of me. I come from a traditional family with business background where the usual expectation is to enter the family business. By breaking the mould, I have set an example for children of my family to follow their instincts and interests.

Short-term & Long-term Goals

Short-term
Want to move to the front office (customer facing) job in portfolio management. Having done my share of software coding and business requirement analysis, I feel a front office or customer facing job will provide me the needed knowledge required to produce new software for the portfolio management domain.

Long-term
I want to set-up my own company which will focus on development of new and innovative software’s for portfolio management. I want to start with products targeted at corporate customers and then extend these to retail customers. I wish to provide low-cost portfolio management services to mass consumers for e.g. the growing middle-class in India.

Target Schools
R1 - Booth , Columbia , Duke, Darden & Kenan Flager
R2 - Wharton , Kellogg ,Ross , NYU Stern & McCombs
R3 - None

I havent decided on the non-US schools but I am primarily considering ISB , NUS and INSEAD.

Will be very beneficial if you can respond to my following queries:

1. How do you evaluate my profile? ( My goal is to get in any of the top 15 colleges. Primary focus is on school which is good in finance)

2. My GPA is pretty low ( 6.93/10). How is this compared to applicants from a similar background. Is my GPA insufficient or a negative point?

3. Is my GMAT score weak? How much is the benefit of retaking the GMAT given that I may increase my score from 20-30 points only.

4. Is my selection of schools too ambitious? Which schools would you suggest as the top priority?

5. What areas should I concentrate in my profile to make it strong? What are the corresponding weaknesses that you see in my profile?

Thanks a lot for your time and help.

Regards
Sameer

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Hi Sameer,

You certainly have a very interesting and impressive background. I think you have a lot of wonderful material to draw on in presenting a strong application. Your work experience appears to be first rate, and I believe you will be able to present yourself as someone who has demonstrated the highest level of professional performance. It's great that you are at level 3 of the CFA also.

You did not provide information about your extracurricular activities. That can be important for distinguishing you and can matter at some of the top schools. You can let me know what sorts of activities you have engaged in and whether you have had leadership positions in any particular organizations. I am not so much concerned about your GMAT as I am about the GPA. That may potentially look low to some schools, so your recommendations will take on much more importance, as you will need to use the recommendations to dampen any concerns the committee might have about whether you can provide excellent work in the classroom and do the MBA work well. Given the lower-than-ideal GPA, I think you should apply to some surer-shot schools, which for you might include Ross, McCombs and Cornell. I am not sure if some of those programs have enough of a finance slant for you, though.

You should try to get as many applications into Round 1 as you can, as that can potentially make a difference for you, given the soft spot you have in your GPA. If I were you, I might make sure that among the Round 1 applications are Ross, McCombs, Duke, Darden, and Cornell. NYU is a possibility also. Chicago might be more of a stretch, but you should try if you are interested. I cannot comment on Wharton as I would need to know more about your extracurricular activities to assess your chances there. Wharton is usually much more picky about numbers (GMAT/GPA) than the other schools above, but I have helped people with 2.7 GPAs (more than one candidate) get into Wharton, so it is always the overall picture that matters. An excellently crafted application can do wonders to override a weakness.

You would benefit from having a strategy session now to find out how you can strengthen your extracurricular activities, in the event that you need to beef them up.

Feel free to visit our website if you would like a strategy session or assistance in the admissions process!

Best wishes,
[highlight]Shelly Watts[/highlight]
MBA Admit.com
https://www.mbaadmit.com
Email: mbaadmit@aol.com

[highlight]From Dr. Shel Watts, https://www.mbaadmit.com

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Hi,

I am happy to provide feedback about your profile. As you know, you have fantastic academic credentials. That is always a plus in applying to the top schools you have highlighted below. It sounds like you have worked for some top-performing companies, which is also a great asset. Your positions sound as if they have come with a great deal of responsibility and you have clearly achieved success and demonstrated strong leadership abilities given your progress in your career. All of this is good for you in the admissions process. Also, it is good that you have some valuable extracurricular activities to talk about.

What sorts of extracurricular activities did you do during college? You have plenty to work with post-college, but if you were involved in some great extracurricular activities during college, that is even better.

For the GMAT, a 720 would be great. You could probably work with a 700 also given how strong your academic credentials are, but the higher the GMAT score the better.

Of everything you have mentioned, one thing that might raise questions is why you need an MBA given the fact that you have studied in related fields at the master’s level. You will need to make it very clear why you need the MBA.

Best wishes,
[highlight]Shelly Watts[/highlight]
MBA Admit.com
https://www.mbaadmit.com
Email: mbaadmit@aol.com

[highlight]From Dr. Shel Watts, https://www.mbaadmit.com

Sign up for our Buy-1-Get-a-2nd-Set-Free Special - Valid until the end of July 2011.

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Hi,

First of all, you sound like a fantastic candidate. You have great credentials. You stand out in professional experience, community leadership and academics, so you have excellent material to work with in presenting yourself as a candidate who has not only achieved a great deal in the past, but also as a candidate who will surely achieve a great deal in the future also. Your work with CA transportation system will surely give you some very interesting stories to write about!

I think it is potentially risky to take the GMAT again. If it goes down to 700, for example, that is not ideal for you. If it goes up, I suppose that can make you stand out even more, but your academic credentials are so strong that I don't think the 730 would deter you from gaining admission to the schools you most want.

If you have to submit some applications in Round 2, I would choose something like this combination:
R1: Wharton, Harvard, LBS, MIT
R2: Booth, Anderson, McCombs

If you want to move one safety school into Round 1, then perhaps move McCombs into Round 1. If you have to move one of the above from Round 1, perhaps MIT could move to Round 2. Columbia is rolling in its admissions, so that would be a "Round 2" application in terms of the timing of when you would prepare the application, assuming you did not want to apply Early Decision.

At Harvard, if you desire, you can make a strong argument that your presence can benefit not only the business school, but also the public policy school - there is a lot of joint work between the two schools. While you will be an MBA student, you can attend seminars at the public policy school and provide valued insights there given your work experience. That's just another way to position your candidacy as very unique.

Let me know if you need any further assistance in the application process!

Best wishes,
[highlight]Shelly Watts[/highlight]
MBA Admit.com
https://www.mbaadmit.com
Email: mbaadmit@aol.com

I am from india, 10 yrs experience in IT, BE compter science,67% (1997)

i studied briefly in grad school in 1999 but shifted to work visa H1 b in 2000 after a prolonged process.worked for two american companies.returned to India in 2003 after down turn struck me heavily. overall four years in USA and two months in france/spain.

Four fortune 500-1000 companies on my resume. 2 yrs of project leadership experience.usually the "goto man" for troubleshooting issues and for assitance to other develpers technically.handled important projects as a one man team or a two man team. has helped company locate new site for operatins in a new city.

strengths

strong critical thinking process like fact based opinions
ability to differ from the crowd if required without fear
can dig deeper into research and double check thoroughly on an issue.
ability to focus on the moment without getting rattled under pressure/stress
high ambition
possess good strategic understanding
can identify talent levels very well.
clear communciation at professional levels

weaknesses

1.unorganised
2. managers though respectful of my talent and potential have said i have a natural tendency to
insubordinate and tend to follow my own rules.(should not matter as entrepreneur!)
3.need to be passionate about the job i do.
4. reserved in party settings


extra curriculars-
ardent quizzer,software contests,intellectual interests like history,politics,technology, played cricket,


GMAT not taken- will be in sept last week.TOEFFL last taken in 1996 for a 670 and asking for a waiver this time.

planning to apply to european 1 year programs as first priority(probably 15 HEC,INSEAD,EM LYon,EDHEC,IMD,st gallen,IE,IESE,ESADE,WHU,Mannheim,sda bocconi,st gallen,TIASMBA,cbs) and US schools as second priority depending on situation.

ofcourse a bad GMAT performance can spoil it all. but so far it looks good.

Please give me a feedback.


My goal is entrepreneuship so that i jump into business in a trained manner and know about business plans, venture capital and all.

Hi there, thanks for all of the information so far, very helpful!

At time of application for 2011:

Age: 25
Gender: Male
Undergrad Major: Mechanical Engineering
Undergrad Minor: International Studies
GMAT: 720 (Q47, V42, AWA-6.0)
GPA: 91.7 (3.5 to 3.8 depending on scale)
Full Time Work Experience: 3-3.5 years
Co-op Work Experience: 2 years (my school did 3 months in class, 3 months full time co-op job rotations for the entirety)
Applying to: Harvard, London Business School, Columbia, Stanford


So my co-op experience was mostly in product development and test engineering at automotive related companies. Then I went to work as a field engineer on offshore ultra-deepwater oil rigs for a highly regarded oilfield service company. I have a lot of leadership experience in my current job and in multiple organizations in college. I also have a good amount of international experience having done study abroad in Germany, having spent part of my full time work in France, and loving to travel. I think my biggest weak spot is that I have no real community service to speak of since graduating but thats mainly due to my hectic schedule since I work offshore, but I have mentored 4 engineers that have come into my company since I've worked there. I was the person primarily responsible for their training and I have taught a course to global workers at one of my companies learning/training centers. I am the field champion and helped commercialize the main product my group offers to oil companies.

Comments on how I should plan my application strategy? I've heard that engineers too often get wrapped up in technical aspects of their job, is this something I should look out for?

Hello Dr.Shel,

Could you evaluate my profile and let me know my chances for Admission at Stanford, Kellogg and NYU if I apply during R1 this year (for Fall 2012)?

--------------------
Overall Profile

1. GMAT Score: Yet to give, but have scheduled a test-date. (expected 680-700 based on current GMAT Prep scores)
2. Graduated in Dubai – BE (Hons) in Electronics & Instrumentation (GPA: 3.28/4)
3. I have 3 years of Entrepreneurship Experience running an IT company (4 yrs by Fall 2012).
4. Nationality: Indian; Age: 24 yrs old (25yrs by Fall 2012)
5. Currently held position: COO
6. Started first company right out of college in 2008 with 2 partners; grown successfully to 3 companies across Dubai, Hong Kong and India, managing a total of 12 employees.
7. Biggest success is an Online network currently ranked among the top 150 websites in the world.
7. Languages known - English (Expert), Hindi (Expert), Telugu (Expert), French (Basic Proficiency), Arabic (Basic Proficiency)


Work Ex Highlights

• Interned at 2 very large Oil & Gas companies in the Gulf during college (for a total of 8 months (2+6)).
• Worked for 2 years (lasts for only 2 months each - so a total of 4 months spread across 2007 and 2008) with Dubai International Film Festival, directly managing about 500 or so Volunteers each year. Gained significant leadership experience here, due to the various groups of people I had to manage at once (people from various parts of the globe, varying from 15yrs to even 60yrs in age).
• Started my first company with right out of college, turned it into a successful venture and am now managing 3 companies across Dubai, Hong Kong and India, with a total of 12 employees.
• Company's annual turnover is currently over 1 MM$ - would say it's a pretty successful venture, having started off without any external funding from family or VC's.


Extra-Curricular Activities

- Volunteered at Dubai International Film Festival for 2 years.
- Was promoted to Captain at Dubai Film Fest, wherein I trained and managed about 500-700 volunteers through the event.
- Was an integral part of the Events Organizing Committee at college.
- Helped in organizing several Inter-College Competitions and Events during college.
- Was a Professor's TA (Teaching-Assistant) at various Engineering Lab's during final 2 years of College.
- Won 3'rd place in a Software Development Trade Show held at University of Wollongong, sponsored by Microsoft Gulf.


Hobbies:
Karting, Archery (taking professional classes), Football, Volleyball

Target Schools:
2 Year Full Time MBA at Stanford (Entrepreneurship), Kellogg (Marketing/Entrep), NYU: Stern or McCombs.
Safety Schools: Babson, UCLA, ESADE & IESE (Spain)

Why MBA?
To network with people from my Industry, to network with VC's for my projects currently in development, to learn how to efficiently form & execute business plans on a much larger scale and to hone my leadership skills.
--------------------

From my perspective, my strong points are: Entrepreneurship, EC's, Perfect age-group for Stanford.
Potential weak points could be: GMAT Score (not yet given, but with my profile would 680-700 be low?), Undergrad-GPA (is 3.28 low?), Nationality (Indian male, from Engg background in IT).

Please let me know your thoughts on this. Thanks a lot for your help!

.

[highlight]From Dr. Shel Watts
https://www.mbaadmit.com

Sign up for our Buy-1-Get-a-2nd-Set-Free Special - Valid until the end of September 2011. [/highlight]


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Hi devilmaycry2709,

I know it must be frustrating to have the lower-than-desired AWA. But, your strong overall score is very impressive! So my thought is that this AWA score will have a minimal impact on your admissiosn odds. In particular, if you have other factors to point to that demonstrate you have strong writing skills, that is a plus in your situation. It is probably better to move forward with the 770 and the AWA at 4 than to retake the exam and go down significantly on the overall score, even if you get a stronger AWA score.

Best wishes,
Shelly Watts
MBA Admit.com
https://www.mbaadmit.com
Email: mbaadmit@aol.com

From Dr. Shel Watts, https://www.mbaadmit.com

[highlight]Sign up for our Buy-1-Get-a-2nd-Set-Free Special - Valid until the end of September 2011.[/highlight]

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Hi Prabhakar,

You have a very competitive and unique profile! Assuming that you achieve a GMAT around 720 or higher, I believe you can be a strong shot at your top choice schools. Your GMAT score can be important because your GPA will potentially look lower-than-average for a foreign national Indian male candidate. You should therefore make sure that everything in the application set is tailored to "override" your GPA. By that, I mean that your recommendations and essays should make sure to highlight your strong analytical skills and your substantial professional accomplishments, to pull attention away from your GPA which represents a good performance, but not necessarily a stellar performance.

Also, you will need to put together your essays well, because you need to make sure to present your entrepreneurship in a way that helps the committee see your work as very significant in the past, and very promising in the future. You will need to address in your essays why you need an MBA from the USA also. When foreign candidates are coming from entrepreneuerial situations (in which they started a business themselves) or from small companies, this question is normally best addressed somewhere in the essays. I would think that you might want to add schools like Columbia and Wharton to your list, and maybe even MIT depending upon what your company focuses on. Consider schools abroad also, such as INSEAD, LBS and IMD. I do not think you would be satisfied with Babson, and there are probably higher ranked schools that can serve as safety schools for you.

Feel free to be in touch if you need any assistance putting your apps together! You still have plenty of time to get them pulled together for Round 1.

Best wishes,
Shelly Watts
MBA Admit.com
https://www.mbaadmit.com
Email: mbaadmit@aol.com

Hi Dr. Watts,

I have a general question about US vs European MBAs. I am currently working in the US and although I believe I will live in Europe long term, I am almost certain to return to the US after an MBA. With that in mind, is it worth going to a school like Cambridge Judge or Oxford Said to then immediately return to the US? Do you have any thoughts on how this might be viewed and what US MBA might be equivalent in a US job search?

Thanks!