full time working mom-full time or part time MBA?-confused

Hi,

Please note that it is difficult to properly help you with school selection simply based the information provided. School selection is part of the service we offer, and we do so by having in-depth discussions with our clients about leadership capabilities, past achievements, what they are passionate about, etc. If we just look mainly at your GMAT score, your best chances are probably going to be Rotterdam School of Management, E.M. Lyon Business School, and EDHEC Business School.

Would you consider retaking the GMAT? There is a lot of room to improve your verbal score. By raising your GMAT score, you can improve your chances of getting into a top MiM program. Having attended London Business School for my MBA, and as an alumni interviewer for the business school, I believe the school would provide a great foundation for a career in strategy consulting.

In selecting schools to apply to, you should think about where you would like to work after getting the MiM, and preference for length of the program.

Additional aspects of the application to focus on would be demonstrating leadership potential through personal and professional achievements (perhaps your work in managing and organizing PARADIGM 2010), and past contributions to teams and community. You should also articulate a clear motivation for wanting to do strategy consulting. Great recommendation letters can also set candidates apart.

Strategy consulting is a competitive field to get into. Once you enroll in a Master in Management program, make sure you practice and prepare for the strategy case interviews. In addition to demonstrating strategic thinking, the other half of the job interview is about the personality fit. So you would want to show that you are motivated and energetic, but also someone who works well with a diverse group of people and can contribute to your teams and client projects. As a former strategy consultant, I can tell you that it is so important to not only have intelligent people on the team who can do the work, but people with great personality and attitude also.

Best of luck to you!

Christine Lin

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kumarhim1988 asked:

Hi,

I am planning to apply for MiM program 2013 intake. Following is my profile summary:

Profile Summary
--------------------------------------------------------------

Academics:
- GMAT 620 (Q50, V25), AWA Awaited
- Undergrad: Delhi College of Engineering(DCE) - One of the Top 10 Engineering Schools in India, Percentage - 64%, B.E. Civil Engineering (Year of Passing - 2011)
- Ranked in top 1000 from 200,000 in DCE's Entrance Exam
- C.B.S.E. XII - 83.6%
- C.B.S.E. X - 84.4%

Internships:
1. Intern at a Non-Profit Organization, Centre for Science and Environment, for 2 months
- Role - Worked on the planning of Rainwater Harvesting Units for Kumaon Engineering College, Dwarahat, Uttrakhand., India
- Worked on the editing of technical report on Rainwater Harvesting for Science Centre, Marchak, Sikkim, India
- Worked on the costing of Rainwater Harvesting Units for Anil Agarwal Green College, Tughlakabad, New Delhi, India

2. Intern at Public Works Department Delhi, which is the premier agency of Govt. of NCT of Delhi engaged in planning, designing, construction and maintenance of Government assets in the field of built environment and infrastructure development.
- Role - Worked on the design of foot over bridge at Satyaniketan, New Delhi, India
- Worked on the project of strengthening of ring road from Dhaula Kuan Flyover to C.O.D cut, New Delhi, India

Work Experience:
- Worked as Consultant for 11 months in Polaris Financial Technology Ltd. - one of the top financial technology firms in the world.
- Role - Worked on Automated Risk Integrated System Software to provide solutions on credit risks for Citibank
- Developed prototypes for the Credit Risk Analysis(CRA) for Citibank using Adobe Flex Technology
- Worked on Credit Initiation Module and Collateral Administration Module for Credit Risk Analysis for Citibank

Accomplishments:
- Managed and Organized PARADIGM 2010 (BRIDGE MAKING CONTEST, INNOVA 2010) – PARADIGM is a bridge making competition conducted under INNOVA
- Won the Second Prize in PARADIGM (BRIDGE MAKING CONTEST, INNOVA 2009)
- Won the third prize in STRUCTURE-D (STRUCTURE MAKING CONTEST, INNOVA 2009)

Note:- INNOVA is the annual technical festival held on the National level in Delhi College of Engineering (DCE), Delhi, India.

Career Goals:
- To gain leadership and business skills to develop solid business acumen
- To get into Strategy consulting and work for Top Brands.

Target Schools:
- Duke: The Fuqua School of Business: Master in Management Studies
- HEC Paris
- Essec Business School, France
- IE Business School, Spain
- ESADE Business School, Spain
- Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University, Netherlands
- EMLYON Business School, France
- EDHEC Business School, France
- London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
- London Business School, UK

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-Based on my GMAT Score 620 and my above mentioned profile, Please suggest me the Five Business Schools out of the above mentioned list for which I have the best chances of getting into the MiM Program.

Thanks and Regards

Hi mshrek,
Your GMAT score is actually not too far off from the average GMAT score for most of the schools you’ve listed.
Your GPA could potentially be a problem. I’m interested to find out your actual grade, and how you convert your grade to GPA. The grading system in India does not convert well into GPAs, so unless the business schools specifically asked you to convert your college grades into GPAs, just report the actual % you received. The business schools you are applying to should understand the rigor of the grading system from an Indian Engineering School such as IIT.
Do you think your college grades are good reflection of your academic ability? Can you prove that you are a better student than your college grades indicate? Have you taken other classes since college and received better grades? Did your grades improve overtime during college? Were there extraneous circumstances that hindered your college studies, such as personal or family health issues, other responsibilities, etc.
On the professional front, you should articulate why you want to transition from engineering to marketing. Go deeper than the typical reason of wanting to do something more creative, and search for a reason that is uniquely yours, based on your professional and personal experiences. Think about how you can uniquely contribute to the business community based on your skills and interests. Hopefully you have some examples to demonstrate your potential as a great marketer. What is your post MBA career goal? A logical and realistic path may be a marketing role within the technology/banking/trading sectors.
While selecting business schools, be sure to reach out to current students and recent alums to better understand the culture of each school and select the schools that best fit you. As far as additional schools to consider, I would recommend taking a look at Cornell as well. It is a tight-knit community, good for developing soft-skills. Several of our clients have gotten scholarships from Cornell, and have been really happy with their experiences at the school.
Best of luck to you!
Christine Lin
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Hi Team,

Need your help in profile evaluation. Thanks in advance !

Kindly evaluate my profile. Thanks in advance

Work experience : 51 months ( aug-2008 to nov-2012)
Gender : Male
Nationality : Indian
Profession : Software engineer


Professional Experience :
Software engineer: 2 yrs 5 mths in Banking domain ( With one of the most reputed Indian IT company)
Software engineer: 1 yr 8 mths in Trading domain ( With one of the most reputed trading firm head quartered in India)
GPA : 2.63 / 4 ( after scaling )
College : Indian Institute of Technology
Extra acads : Won few competitions in college but do not have any certificate as a proof. Did some event management in technical fest and cultural fest of my college, though my role was not that significant. Did some CSR in my company. Again no certificates of participation here. On a second thought, do colleges really look for any certificates for Extra acads ? If not, then can I convince them with the work I did in CSR or the competitions that I won in college?
GMAT 1 : 650 ( QA :51 , VA :26)
GMAT 2 : 690( QA :50 , VA :32)
Areas of Interest : Primary : Marketing, Secondary : Finance
Colleges to apply :
1) Michigan Ross - 703
2) Dartmouth Tuck - 718
3) Fuqua, Duke - 698
4) NYU Stern - 720
5) Indiana, Kelley - 670
6) HEC Paris – avg 690
7) Kellogg – 714 *2011

What I realize here is that my GMAT score and my target schools are somewhat in a mismatch. Yet, I’m giving a shot. I would really appreciate someone to provided his/her inputs here.
My Queries :
1) How is my GPA going to affect my admission to the above mentioned schools. Is there any way to compensate for it ?? Apart from retaking GMAT !!!
2) My professional background has been revolving around software/banking/Trading domain. How good are my chances to get into schools that are well known for marketing ? How do I make up for it ?? Are good essays and LORs the only hope for me ??
3) Considering my profile what other schools I can have a best shot at ? I am very skeptical of the huge tuition loans and it would be really great if someone can suggest a good b-school (within Top 50 global rank) based on ROI.

P.S : I am keenly waiting to apply for round 2. For HEC Paris I am thinking of sept- round.

I've endlessly researched top schools but can't seem to arrive at a high-potential shortlist of five schools.

Firstly, which among the top 20 FULL-TIME MBA programmes are most likely to accommodate applicants of my age in their admission? I'll be 36 at matriculation (Aug. 2013.). Based on my age and career focus (and other details below), which schools are my best bet? I really need to get started on the essays. I've been drafting responses to more than a dozen schools' essays in my head for months now...but appear to be too jittery about being written off as too advanced (in age or/& career-wise) for the schools I eventually choose . The referees that I've put on alert for over a month now are already telling me that they are yet to receive any link! Just imagine. Pls HELP!

I've seen the average age and w.e. of the various schools - but the ranges would have guided me better. As a hint, I have been eyeing HBS, Wharton, Columbia, Yale, MIT, Darden, Stanford, UCLA (Hass & Anderson), Stern, LBS, Judge, INSEAD, IESE, IMD, Darthmouth and Fuqua. Did I hear you say, "really a long wish list"?


General Details:
11-year W.E. (BIG 4 audit firm (12 mths), Investment banking (Corp. finance & Issuing House) (14 mths) and asset mgt (82 mths). Last position held: AVP/COO of a mid-tier Nigerian bank's asset management subsidiary. Now an independent financial consultant - (est. at matriculation: 30 mths).

Leadership (example): Led the team that handled the biggest mutual funds issue in Nigeria (as at Q1 2008); led teams in my last two full-time employments that recorded other local industry firsts/biggest.

GMAT 770; GPA (3.22/4.00), MSc Finance (Univ. of London)

Others:
ACA (CPA equivalent) and CFA Level II Passed

Application Round: 2nd round.

Immediate post-MBA focus: investment banking/investment management. 5-years and above post-MBA focus: investment management/entrepreneurship

Hi Abecity,

Your challenge is not so much your age, but to explain why you want to get an MBA at this point, and why you need an MBA to achieve your post-MBA career goal, and to show that you will get a lot of value out of the MBA program.
Have you worked elsewhere besides Nigeria?
I like experienced applicants because they can contribute greatly to the classroom discussions and the business school community. My roommate at London Business School was 36 when we started the MBA program, and she got a lot of value out of it. She did well with traditional campus recruiting for summer internship despite the economic downturn of 2001, and also ended up with a managing director role in an established firm after MBA. Since she was an expat with Motorola at China prior to business school, she also organized a China trip for us that included visits to international companies as well as local companies, and meetings with alumni. She was awesome, and she definitely enriched the MBA experience for the rest of us. So just embrace your age, experience, and wisdom, and write about what you’ve learned from your experience, and what you hope to achieve professionally through the MBA program, and what you can contribute to the business school and to your community.

Since your post-MBA career goal is in the same field you’ve been working in, I’m assuming you would like to continue to take on more leadership roles. You may be able to differentiate yourself further by thinking more about your long-term career goal based on what you’re passionate about, and ways you can uniquely leverage your skills and experiences.
Your strengths are the GMAT score and professional leadership experience.
In terms of narrowing down the list of schools, where would you prefer to work after business school? The business schools may all sound similar initially, but when you start to learn more about them, each school has a unique culture, and you should go for the type of environment you thrive in.
I don’t know enough about your background, but if you have some great extracurricular activities and can tell a good story, you do have a chance at the top schools.
For Europe, I would recommend looking at London Business School, and INSEAD (1-yr MBA program may be good for someone like you with more work experience). For the U.S., consider Columbia and Wharton, then depending on the quality of your work experience and extracurricular activities, considering stretching for Harvard and Stanford. There may be some concerns about you having too many years of experience for schools like Stanford and Harvard, so you will have to demonstrate that you've used your time wisely, and that you are very clear and realistic about the value you will get out the MBA and your post MBA career goals.

For your recommenders, make sure they are able to provide specific examples of your leadership capability and positive personality traits, and that they understand why you want an MBA, and why this is the right move for you now. You do have to tactfully follow-up to see if they have any questions, and make sure they allocate adequate time to provide great letters of recommendation.
We do help applicants brainstorm ideas for essays and help they tell their own unique stories. If you are really feeling stuck, it may be useful to engage a few hours of an admissions consultant’s time to help you with strategic positioning and essay development.
Good luck!
Christine Lin

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[quote="MarvelAdmissions"]Hi mshrek,
Your GMAT score is actually not too far off from the average GMAT score for most of the schools you’ve listed.
Your GPA could potentially be a problem. I’m interested to find out your actual grade, and how you convert your grade to GPA. The grading system in India does not convert well into GPAs, so unless the business schools specifically asked you to convert your college grades into GPAs, just report the actual % you received. The business schools you are applying to should understand the rigor of the grading system from an Indian Engineering School such as IIT.
Do you think your college grades are good reflection of your academic ability? Can you prove that you are a better student than your college grades indicate? Have you taken other classes since college and received better grades? Did your grades improve overtime during college? Were there extraneous circumstances that hindered your college studies, such as personal or family health issues, other responsibilities, etc.
On the professional front, you should articulate why you want to transition from engineering to marketing. Go deeper than the typical reason of wanting to do something more creative, and search for a reason that is uniquely yours, based on your professional and personal experiences. Think about how you can uniquely contribute to the business community based on your skills and interests. Hopefully you have some examples to demonstrate your potential as a great marketer. What is your post MBA career goal? A logical and realistic path may be a marketing role within the technology/banking/trading sectors.
While selecting business schools, be sure to reach out to current students and recent alums to better understand the culture of each school and select the schools that best fit you. As far as additional schools to consider, I would recommend taking a look at Cornell as well. It is a tight-knit community, good for developing soft-skills. Several of our clients have gotten scholarships from Cornell, and have been really happy with their experiences at the school.
Best of luck to you!
Christine Lin
If you like the post, give it KUDOS!


Really appreciate your inputs here . Thank you very much !

AGE: 35
WORK EXPERIENCE: 14+ YEARS (SAME COMPANY)
INDUSTRY: AUTOMOTIVE PARTS & SUPPLIES
MANAGEMENT ROLE: SENIOR COMMERCIAL SALES MANAGER
UNDERGRADUATE: UNC ECONOMICS 3.14
GRE: 317 (~660 GMAT EQUIV)

I will be applying to a full-time program as it is my desire to switch from my current sales/product management role in the automotive industry into an analytical marketing function. I interested in programs that are particular strong in marketing with a strong marketing recruiting reputation. I have a strong management background with up to 15 reports, extensive leadership roles in extracirricular activities, and extensive domestic and international travel. I feel that my biggest challenge is clearly articulating my next career goals although I have a pretty good idea of that in my head. I suppose I am a mix of usual (white male) and unusual (a bit older, non-traditional industry experience) I am confident I can present myself as a unique candidate. I originally planned on pursuing an MBA four years ago, however with the onset of the recession I decided to stay and see my business through the economic times. I have spent the bulk of my life living and working in North Carolina, and while I intent to apply to Kenan-Flagler as well as Duke, I am putting serious consideration into school on the East and West Coast.

Thank you in advance,

Hi planetcadillac,
In addition to the two schools you mentioned, you may want to consider University of Texas at Austin for its Center of Customer Insight and Marketing Solutions, and also University of Wisconsin-Madison for the A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research and the Center for Brand & Product Management.
Your GRE and GPA may be slightly lower than the average at these schools, but you’re making up for it with your management/leadership experience.
You’re correct in that your biggest challenge is clearly articulating your next career goals. It is very important for older applicants to explain why they want to get an MBA at this point, why they need an MBA to achieve their post –MBA career goals, and to show that they will get a lot of value out of the MBA program. This may be an area that would be helpful for you to engage an admissions consultant to tell your story well. You should express what you hope to achieve through the MBA program, and how you can contribute to the business schools and to your community.
Recently I responded to another older applicant who was concerned with his age. I like older applicants because they can bring a lot of insight to classroom discussions and the business school community.
Best of luck to you, and we’re happy to offer you a complimentary consultation if you are interested.
Christine Lin

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Dear Consultant,

May I request you to evaluate my profile and help me understand the following:
a. How to stregthen the existiing profile?
b. Chances of selection in b schools across US/ Canada?
c. List of colleges that I should look at?

Would be more than happy to give more details should it be required.

AJ

Hi Aman,

I get the sense from your prior posts that you are still preparing for the GMAT. It is difficult to provide you with recommendation without the we GMAT score, college grades, and understanding why you want to get an MBA, and your post-MBA career goals and long term goals.

Thank you.

Christine Lin