gauravgoyal_g wrote:
Hello Paul,
Would appreciate it if you could evaluate my profile and recommend a few b schools in US and Europe that I stand chances in. Thanks in advance for your help and guidance.
Profile:
Indian Male
Age 30
GMAT : 770
Education : B.E. (Equivalent to B.S.) in electronics engineering from a reputed engineering school in India. GPA 3.0
Job experience : Total 9 years in IT. Three years as a developer, 4 years as a tech lead/tech architect, last 2 years as a project manager. Currently I have about 20 people spread across 2-3 medium sized IT projects reporting to me.
Career Goal : CIO. I love both tech and project management.
Reasons for pursuing MBA
1) Improving general management skills
2) Studying how companies formulate IT strategies and how IT impacts a business, how it works with the various other business functions to help a business achieve its goals.
Post MBA Plans
I want to do strategic IT consulting for a few years. This will help keep me abreast of latest tech developments, get exposed to how the best companies in the world run, develop contacts and see how top management views IT in the grand scheme of things. After that I want to move into an upper management role in IT leading the execution of critical IT initiatives.
Leadership experience.
Have been leading teams ranging from 4-16 people over the past few years. Current responsibilities include project planning, team building and day to day management.
At college I was the president of our electronics society. It organized events such as company visits, seminars from business leaders, social activities etc among the 250 odd students pursuing electronics as a major at our college
Extra curriculars
Have participated in debates, quizzes, dramatics throughout school and college.
I'm planning to apply for fall '08, so I may have some time to iron out any kinks in my profile. Please suggest some appropriate schools in US and Europe that I could apply to. Also please share your views on whether going to B School will help me achieve my goals
Thanks for your help,
Gaurav
Gaurav,
I certainly think an MBA is appropriate for someone with your goals, no doubt about it. You have a very strong profile with one minor weakness (age) and one major weakness (community leadership). I recommend spending the next few months in an intensive leadership role with a community organization, i.e., leading people or shaping the organization's future. It's not too late. If you repair this weakness, then you can aim high: Tuck, Wharton, Kellogg, Michigan, MIT, Chicago (HBS if you want to, though not sure you're "unusual" enough for them). In Europe INSEAD and London place the highest percentages of their classes in consulting than any other schools and are also arguably the best 1-2 in Europe. You would be competitive I think.
Good luck,