Thanks Sameer for your reply.
I am currently in product management and plan to stay in prod management only immediately after MBA. Do you see this inconsistent?

Please let me know about my chances in top programs...(your rough take though its not that straight forward )

BTw, WW is world wide

Thanks and Regds,
Amit

Dear Experts,

A kind request to evaluate my profile:

I am an architect from India, aiming for a GMAT score of 700-720
Academics:
10th: 71 %
12th: 72%
Bachelor in Architecture from IIT, CGPA: 6.22 on a scale of 10, 2009 Graduate

Cleared IIT Jee, the most competitive examination in India, i was in top 1%

(Academics are not good due to my involvement in various extra curricular activies.)

Work Experience:
I am working as an Architect in DAR Group.

Total experience: 39 months (by the time of joining)

Relocated to Cairo, Egypt for 3 months for an important project.

Was Project architect of the world's largest women's university which is coming up in Saudi Arabia.

Project architect of Angola's president Villa and Angola's National Assembly building.

I am a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, US Green Building Council) accredited professional.

Worked on various LEED Certified Green Buildings also some big overseas projects mostly in Asia, Africa & Middle East.

Also rated as the fastest CAD professional in the company.

Extra Curricular Activities:
A vocalist, and used to perform in various college events.

Member of National Service Scheme for One year, Involved in teaching slums's children (underprevelaged), collecting funds for deaf and dump school, Organizing AIDS awareness workshops etc

Was Treasurer of IIT Technical Festival, Responsible for sponsorship procurement, Organized various events, workshops, etc

Under my leadership, my college won 2nd runner up, where more than 200 colleges from Asia-pacific participates, it was an architectural documentation competition.

Selected for Summer Undergraduate Research Award in 2006, research title was "Fuzzy Decision Making for selection of Building Material."

Winner of the shelter design competition using bamboo (Cheapest and fastest construction) for Tsunami affected people in India, A competition organized by goverment of India.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Please guide me, which college should i target ?

Hi Sameer,
it would be really great if you can evaluate my profile.

GMAT : 700 (Q50, V35, AWA 5.0)
Nationality: Indian
I have no plans to take GMAT again.

Work Experience:
Duration: 3 years by May 2011
Assistant Manager in R & D Division of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., India's largest automobile company
- coordinate with vehicle design engineers to plan, schedule and execute validation testing of vehicles under development; give feedback to design teams for improving product durability and reliability
- tendering, negotiation and procurement of lab equipments; this involves dealing with foreign-national suppliers
- Other activities: organized Out-bound Team Building Program for 30 individuals, was instrumental in saving USD 27500 by spearheading Suzuki Global Cost Reduction Initiative in my department, designed a breakthrough fixture for suspension system testing, won several awards in company-wide competitions etc.
- Teach underprivileged children on weekends as a part of company CSR initiative.

[Selling Point: Frugal approach to product development, melange of Japanese and Indian work culture]


Education:
Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) in Production and Industrial Engineering, Aggregate score: 70/100
from Delhi College of Engineering, one of the premiere engineering colleges in India.

Extracurriculars:
- Led an 11 member team to design and fabricate a high mileage concept car which won the award for the ‘Best Design Proposal’ at the SAE Supermileage Competition held at Marshall, MI, USA in June 2007
- Chairman, ‘Society of Automotive Engineers - DCE Collegiate Club’
- Technical Head of the annual national level students’ Technical Meet (a four day event)
- Project Coordinator, Aashayein – ‘the ray of hope’, a project of Association for India’s Development (AID) Delhi Chapter to teach children of an underprivileged locality (2007-08)

Hobbies and Interests:
- Travelling, mountain trekking (scaled the Dharwa Pass, 4130 m, on Himalayas) , swimming
- Nature conservation (member of Delhi Greens), photography
- Writing, directing and acting in plays; Watching theatre
- Playing soccer, table-tennis and online chess
- Reading books on wide range of subjects


Career Goals:
Short Term:
Consulting, preferably in Product Life-cycle Management
(my education in Production and Industrial Engineering, and my work experience in Product Development, I believe, go well with this career path.)
Long Term:
Help build thriving enterprises and industries in emerging markets

Choice of B-Schools:
I am looking for a program that is a mix of case based and experimental learning. I don't find lecture based teaching to be appealing. I guess a general management program will be right fit for my career aspirations.
I have already applied to ISB and Haas.
Planning to apply to Ross, Kellogs and Darden in R2.

Questions:
Am I sensible in my choice of B-schools? What else would you suggest?
Any comments on how can I make my application stronger, because I don't have strong leadership experience in my current organization?

Shyamal sir,

I had read the following comment from your original post - 'I am interested in applying for next year.'

Plus considering you've got age/time on your side, I assumed you were going to start your applications next year. If that's not the case, then pick a few (not too many) schools for R2 and apply.

How many schools have you applied to so far?
_________________

Sameer Kamat | Founder - MBA Crystal Ball | Author - Beyond The MBA Hype
Connect with me on Twitter @mba_cb | Email: info at mbacrystalball dot com

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Hi,
I have shortlisted a List of Universities , but i am not really sure whether these universities would suit my profile. I would need some help to suggest whether these are fine or should apply to some other universities. A brief about my profile is:
GMAT Score:690
TOEFL Score:109
Work Exp: approx 3 years in IT organisation
BE Aggregate: 70%

The Univ shortlisted by me were:
uni of colorado boulder
uni of miami
tulane University
Uni of Missouri Columbia
san jose state uni

i am looking forward to MBA in IT, and good universities where funding could be an option and good campus opportunites.
Any help would be highly appreciated

Dear Sir/Madam,
I'd appreciate it if you would acquaint me with the universities in US as per the details mentioned in my profile as follows:

10th grade-80.40%-SSC
12th grade-58%-HSC
Graduation in bachelor of computer Science -B.C.S-68.5%-Pune University

Thus i have completed 15years of education and for the 16th year of my education i am currently pursuing a 1 year post graduate diploma in Finance from Symbiosis International University.It is basically a weekend course however in the final degree it will not be mentioned as a part time course. However i would like to know if this course will be beneficial in fulfilling the requirement of a 15+ 1 year education.simultaneously i am also pursuing a post graduate diploma in banking and finance awarded by the university of Pune.

Considering my profile i'd appreciate it if you could provide me with the best colleges in the Us pertaining to an MBA degree in Finance / marketing/Entrepreneurship/MS courses in Marketing,Investement Management,Entrepreneurship or Corporate Finance.
i would also like to inform you that i do not have any work experience, but i can make arrangements for providing a part time work experience certificate of 3 years.
i would also acknowledge if you could send me additional information with regards to other courses i could take up in order to enable me harness my potential towards entrepreneurship
I gave my GMAT on 21st of November.Unfortunately, I got a score of 600/800.Maths 82% Verbal 35%.AWA scores are yet to come.I would like to know how good are the state universities in the US. For example State University of Ohio,California,Arizona etc.Also suggest me some good MBA Finance colleges in the US wherein I would be eligible.Also, as I mentioned before I have completed 15 years of my education and currently pursuing a post-graduate diploma in finance awarded by Symbiosis International University and Post Graduate Diploma in Banking and Finance awarded by Pune University.I have hereby attached the course curriculum.So I would also like to know if these courses or one of these courses would be considered as my 16th year of education wherever necessary.Also, I have started my own business. I have started a firm in partnership.We provide financial consultancy wherein we deal with equity,mutual funds,commodities,NSDL services,Tax Consultancy,Real Estate Broking.In addition to this we also provide graphics,corporate branding, and IT solutions.We are also looking forward to start project funding.I would also like to know if I can show this as my one year experience.And how much good will this be if I mention it in my CV or SOP's.Hence,considering the above criteria kindly suggest me some good colleges and guide me through the process of admissions.
Also, I am planning to apply to UCI Paul Merage SOB,USC Marshall SOB,Ohio state University,Carnegie Mellon Tepper SOB,University of Texas at Austin(McCombs),University Of California Davis SOB.Can I get into any of these schools considering my above mentioned profile?How about going for a MS Finance program in investment mgmt or corporate finance and later doing an MBA.Please help me out as i am very confused about everything and deadlines are coming very near.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Regards,
Tushar Nangnure

You've got done your homework well sir. Usually schools use a mix of case-studies, lectures, group assignments. Harvard and Darden are the strongest when it comes to case-study based teaching. Case studies have their limitations just like the other options. So you might be better off experiencing a mix of pedagogies and teaching styles.



Yup, good choice, in the Practical-Stretch range. 1-2 Practical schools would've been nice. But fikar not, if you've put in strong apps.
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Sameer Kamat | Founder - MBA Crystal Ball | Author - Beyond The MBA Hype
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Tushar Nangnure saheb, Sankrantichya belated shubhecchya!


Not sure why, but for a minute, I thought this post was addressed to Bobby Darling.


I don't think this would qualify as 16 years of full-time education, specially considering the the PG from Symbiosis is a weekend course (very different, in fact, even from a part-time course). Don't try to veil the courses just to show them as MBA pre-requisites. That strategy could backfire in the long-run. Be honest and upfront in your applications. I would suggest checking with the univs that you are interested in, before you apply. If schools see you as a strong candidate, you might get a positive response (waiver!) from some of these schools. And that brings me to the next point about what will make you a strong candidate.


For these schools, having a basic amount of real-world professional experience is very important. There are some state schools that would take you in with no experience as well. But I wouldn't recommend that. You've already spent a lot of time in gaining qualifications and degrees. Now is the time to balance it out with some hard-core work-ex. US jaanyachi ghaai karoo nakaa.


My take on this. Don't apply this year. Take some time to find out more about the schools you are targetting. Find out what they are looking for in prospective candidates. And then take a call.


I like this part. Spend some more time in structuring and growing this initiative. It'll serve you much more than all your qualifications put together.
_________________

Sameer Kamat | Founder - MBA Crystal Ball | Author - Beyond The MBA Hype
Connect with me on Twitter @mba_cb | Email: info at mbacrystalball dot com

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Hey, impressive profile. Find my comments in line:

Hi Sameer,

Here's my profile. Could you please let me know your thoughts on the target schools that I can shoot for. I am concerned abt my GMAT and dont want to re-take it

Any particular reasons you want to avoid a re-take? Was this your first attempt? Considering your target list and the fact that you are in a competitive pool, it is much safer to be on the other side of 700!

GMAT - 680 (Q48, V35)
Acads - BE: GPA 8.3/10 from a leading college in India
X/XII - 81% /70%
Indian, Mlae Age - 32
Work Ex - 8.3 Years in HealthCare IT for a major IT Co. in India (4years in US and 4.3 in India).
Role - Associate Manager - Projects
Career Progress - 4 promotions till date
Achievements at work -
Created new business opportunities worth $3.2 Mi
Achieved 14 % productivity improvement for teams under me as opposed to an organizational target of 11%

Difficult to say whether this is impressive. If you can translate this into a $ number, maybe much more interesting to look at.
Proposed and implemented cost reduction initiatives that lead to a total savings of $450,000 p.a. for the client
Have always been rated within the top 15% of my peers
Received numerous awards for excellence in performance - e.g. was awarded the "Best Boss"
Again, much more impactful if you can quantify this in some way. For instance, if you can say only 2 guys get this among 1000, then we're talking.
Am currently leading an account wide initiative of reducing costs - target to achieve is a savings of $x Mi

ExtraCurriculars - Was a professional sportsman in India (volleyball) for 2 years (post XII) didnt do great stuff just represented my state in various tournaments
Even participation helps, trust me not many of us around are athletically inclined
Founder of a club that helps promote sports as a career for the deserving
College volleyball captain for 3 years

Course - MBA in Consulting
You'll have a tough time finding a school that offers this, unless one of the big consults have started their own venture . Unlike marketing or finance, consulting is not a "single" stream. It is in many ways, a milieu of all the streams - and hence the attraction towards it as well

Schools - NYU Stern, Fuqua, Notre Dame (safe - safe), Cornell (safe), Columbia

In summary, though you've got a pretty impressive profile, but I would strongly recommend that you think about your GMAT.
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