anadimisra wrote:
Thanks in advance for the advice Paul. Here is another profile to evaluate:
I am 29 y/o, M, Indian, IT. I have about 7 years of work experience evenly distributed between 2 companies, one multinational software giant and another small IT services company trying to compete with he giants. My career has been progressive till now, Software Engineer (2 Yrs), Programmer Analyst (2 years) and Project Manager (3 years). I had resigned from my 1st company (the big multinational) in search of a possible exponential growth with smaller company, but the competition with giants and lack of credentials with us have proven major roadblocks. My previous experience has certainly helped me grow our business with the client that I manage and compete with others but we have not had any exponential growth.
I convinced my company that we need to get some more real business education and networking and the company has agreed that I join a part time weekend executive MBA program. I have taken GMAT and received a 760 (Q51, V42) and my GPA is between 3 and 3.5 (it's in a different format). My company will not pay for EMBA but has promised to promote me to a senior management position after I complete it. Company is also ready to keep my workload less and allow me to take the days off for the course.
I am a Certified Project Management Professional and can show that I have been studying and getting trained and certified in whatever I was doing. I am also a member of professional organizations such as PMI and APICS.
My initial idea was to try for Duke Weekend EMBA and it still is. I need your advice regarding my candidacy for DUKE weekend EMBA as well as Wharton EMBA. Do I stand a chance? Perhaps any other schools suitable for me for an EMBA? Also, I live far away from Wharton (Southeast), is that a negative?
I have one more question. Based on all that I have written here, do you think it will be helpful for me to take a consultant's help to write my essays?
anadimisra,
Whether you should aim for the top E-MBA programs like Duke and Wharton depends to a large extent on how much managerial responsibility and experience you have. For those top programs admitted applicants' average number of people led is something like *14*, which is a lot of management. If you are in that range then you may have a shot. My sense, however, is that a 29-year-old project manager would probably have somewhat of a weaker managerial profile than the top programs typically admit. (They are admitting younger and younger people, however.) You may want to lower your sights a bit and consider EMBA programs UNC's, Emory's, or Georgetown's. All three are ranked in BusinessWeek's top 10 EMBA ranking but they'd probably be easier for you to get into and easier for you to travel to.
They won't care how far from their location you are based so long as you can assure them you can get there. They have some people who commute from *overseas.* Yes, I think you could benefit from consulting help, because your profile has some potential question marks that could be smoothed over with well-executed essays.
Good luck,
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Updated on: 09 Oct 2007, 06:10
