Hi,
I am interested in pursuing an MBA -starting Fall 2017.I would appreciate any input on my profile as well as the
questions that concern me (all stated below):
Me: 25 Year Old Indian Male; 2 years work ex; work in the US but currently hold an Indian passport which means I'm not a US citizen.
How will this affect my chances? I understand that this puts me in a bucket with many other international applicants where it can be harder to stand out.Education: Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering 9.29/10.0 (from a little known but premier school - Thapar University,India)
MS in Aerospace Engineering , 4.0 (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
(This was not to switch majors and this MS program offered a very good specialization in Combustion and Fluid dynamics.)
GRE Score: 1600/1600, Verbal : 800 Quantitative: 800 (gave the GRE in 2011 and according to ETS my score expires next year)
ETS says this will translate to a GMAT score of 790?!
Is my score too old even if it is valid? I am not sure how schools will view my score since it is in an older format. Nonetheless, if I can get by using this score, I'd prefer to use it since it'll be hard to do better than this on the GMAT 
.Short-Term Goal: To work in a strategy role in a consulting firm, advising and interacting with clients on how to tackle problems in energy and transportation (/automotive/industrial equipment). (Example: I would be stoked to work with a client and discuss if their manufacturing plant can meet some of it's energy needs by solar/wind or even battery powered sources which, at the same time will also help them score brownie points with the EPA). All management consulting firms might have an opening in these fields , and I'm interested in new innovative organizations as well, like IDEO. Also, since MBA is not a specialized degree, I am keen to exercise my quant skills and learn more about finance and big data.
Long-Term Goal: Join the industry in a corporate strategy role.
Work Experience:Combustion, Performance and Emissions Engineer at Cummins Inc. : I work on calibrating big diesel engines to make sure they work as well as they can in cold weather and spit out minimal emissions. (About to become a Senior Engineer within the next 2 months) .
Work is impacted by application and does require knowledge of emissions and application requirements. Most experience is with the locomotive sector but I have some insight into Power-generation, mining and Oil&Gas.
Core team member of two 6Sigma projects related to product technical/market strategy. Have gone through the whole 6S process and tools. Will hopefully lead my own project sometime this year.
Details: I have lead "cold chamber" testing efforts for multiple engines at an non-company facility. It involves frequent interaction with the the facility owners(big company),managing purchase requests, the daily schedule, test-plans and guiding a team of technicians and operators (no direct reports). I take input from various cross functional teams who have a "stake" in testing and frequently interact with them (like service/controls/marketing/mechanical validation teams). Technical aspect of the job is mainly centered around what tests to run to do my work and how to analyze the data. Other responsibilities include running system level simulations and have also mentored two interns.
This June, I completed 2 years with Cummins - and will have three years by the time I'm ready to start my MBA next year. Just looking at the numbers, I am concerned that this might be barely enough work experience, but I personally believe that I am ready. In terms of my work experience, do research and ample teaching experience at grad school count? (created a new non-credit curriculum for Matlab). ...Or would you suggest waiting till Fall 2018?Extracurricular/More About me:*Volunteer 8 years every year for community building activities (like painting benches, clearing ditches, cleaning sidewalks, etc)
*Amateur Musician - have been playing drums for 10 years, have played live and have an avid interest in going to concerts
*Having moved around a lot while growing up, I have been fortunate enough to meet with people from all walks of life and visit remote places such as one where one has to walk 5 miles every-morning just to get drinking water (I'm not a social impact hippie but I do certainly have a soft spot for technologies which make life easier for the less fortunate and underprivileged)
Schools:What are my chances of getting in? ... at:*MIT Sloan (In the past I applied for a PhD to their Mech Department and got rejected).
*Booth
*Kellogg (I personally know the Chicago area well and prefer it over any other as it offers a good fit for my interests outside of work)
*Wharton
*Haas
*Stanford
*Tuck (I like their focused approach)
*Darden
I'm open to international schools but would prefer the US since I'm already here. I am not sure about my chances at any of the schools mentioned above but I do know that I only want to go to one of the best.
I continue to do more research at my end but thought I'll get the ball rolling by writing this post.
I look forward to your input and thank you in advance
!
(Open to work with consultants)
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"A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants." - Arthur Schopenhauer
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02 Jul 2016, 10:24
