hemantS wrote:
Age : 33 (male)
BS: Mech. Engg (Univ of Mumbai India) 2.9/4.0 GPA
3 years of Indian auto OEM exp.
MS. Ind. Engg - (MSU) 3.9/4 GPA
2 years SCM software solution delivery (USA)
5 - Auto OEM - Program Management (contract employee) - Decent Career progression
APICS - CPIM certification
PMI - PMP certification
Automotive Ind- efficiency expert
GMAT 700
target schools: Columbia, Simon (Univ of rochester), Chicago (it is a super huge stretch - but I really liked the program - based on the student body, faculty - academic bend and flexibility of the program)
my problem is that I have weak extra curicular activities. next to nothing -no leadership roles.
My job involves consulting/advising others but no one reports to me directly.
I am prepared to wait for a year but will my active participation in extra curicular activities begining now raise all kinds of red flags?
Job change is not a posibility right now.- hard constraints
My goal is to be in Industry/Equity Research analysis. Can you suggest any other schools with a strong finance programs ?
I do not think an MS program in Finance will help me analyze an industry or forecast a company's future.
Also what else can I do to make myself an attractive candidate for a strong MBA finance program (chicago ideally)?
thank you
Hemant,
I don't think you should wait a year. One year of good extracurricular activity would not significantly strengthen your application, and you would be one more year away from the middle range of MBA applicants. I don't know how realistic Chicago or Columbia are for you. One way to increase your odds at Chicago would be to apply to their part-time program where the admission rates are higher. I think you would have a much better chance at the following schools--all excellent, all with much higher admission rates than Chicago and CBS, and all ranked by USNews in the top 15 finance schools: Duke, Michigan, Yale. Rochester is a good choice. Wisconsin is outside the top 15 but they have a very respected equity research program.
Good luck,