I am an Indian applicant and will be applying to b-schools for the Fall '12 season. Will send out wherever I can in Round 1. My fiancée (soon going to be my wife) is also planning to do a post grad in a liberal arts course something and we want to be at the same univ, or the same town.
My background & What do I want from my b-school?
I have got 6 years of s/w development experience in financial software companies in India and am aiming at a decent top-50 school which is generous with scholarships. I took the GMAT way back in 2009 and scored a humble 650. I'm retaking the exam again in Aug this year. My interests lie in getting into product management or corporate strategy of a internet/e-commerce company. So, the school should be in/near a region that is vibrant in these industries.
I believe my question will make more sense when I get the test results in Aug but assumming I get a decent score in the north of 700-720 and all other variables remain the same in terms of profile and our current preferences, what can you suggest?
Her background:
Currently, she is working as a features writer for a national-level interior design magazine.Her work ex of 3-4 years has been in writing for city dailies, and features for lifestyle magazines She is keen on studying mainly to acclimatize her writing to the US sensibilities and improve her job prospects. MS. Creative Writing or Journalisin - on these lines.
What am I looking in terms of location ?
Since both of us will not be earning, the cost of living should be cheap, which rules out most of the metros/big cities.
Should be a big state univ so that both of these courses are available. I have to be more selective while considering my business program in terms of ranking/reputation.
The univ/region should be big enough for her to find suitable employment opportunities(during her studies).
My query to the club members is how to find out the prospective univs for us.
I am keenly looking at the following places:
UNC, CHapel Hill - [ambitious]
UT Austin
ASU, Tempe
Indiana,Bloomington.
Ohio State
Anything in the west coast - everything looks expensive to me or out of reach
Any help will be really appreciated.
Thanks,
Ronnie.