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.
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Christine Lin | Marvel Admissions
http://marveladmissions.com/ | Marvel Admissions Blog