Top 10 school? two thumbs up?
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04 Aug 2004, 15:07
This seems to be a popular question eh?
I have attached a quick snapshot of my profile below. I have split it into different skill areas to give an idea how my essays would finally evolve.
Looking for your expertise to obtain a quick frank assessment and the type of schools that I can realistically get into.
Planning on Kellogg, Wharton, Harvard, Stanford,Tuck, Dartmouth, UMich, Sloan, U of Chicago,Duke, Columbia at the moment.
Still in the deciding process for the final checklist.
1. List of schools (stretch,realistic,safe) that stand out based on your expertise?
2. Do I need to re-take my GMAT? (690 (q-(48) 80%, v -(35) 77%), AWA- 5.0 (one attempt)).
I could increase it to 720-730 after another month of prep (I would be competing against IT-Indian candidates who average >700 - concern?).
Is it necessary?
3. Do I have a realistic chance for a top 10? What are my problem areas that I need to work on?
4. For my profile (Indian, Engg, IT etc. ) , which schools would be more competitive and which may not?
5. Other areas that you see from my profile I should pay more attention to?
Activities/ Achievements
Male, 29, Indian Citizenship, In the US for >8 years. Chemical Engg & IT consulting background.
What after an MBA?
Focus on strategy consulting (or marketing -2nd priority). Use engineering and IT background to develop solutions to business problems. Work in the consumer goods, pharma industries for 8-10yrs. Start own business aimed at providing add-on solutions/products in a niche, red-hot technology area.
Professional Experience
7 years with Big5 IT consulting firm. F500 clients. Manage 5-15 member teams. Wear different hats - Business Analyst, Team Lead, Architect, PM.
Advanced to principal consultant (top technical level at the unit). Currently leading implemention of an enhanced merchandising work process for 3000 retail merchandisers spread across NA and Canada for a large consumer goods concern.
2 'Best Consultant of Month' Awards (amongst 300-350 peers) in the last 5 yrs.
Unit VicePresident's OverAchiever of Year Award - June 04 - decided by peers
Units Leadership team member - 04-05.
Last 3 score ratings (performed by the client managers -done every 6-8 months): 5.0/5.0
Serving as a mentor to 8 consultants in an Engagement Manager capacity.
Actively involved in Interviewing and reviewing potential candidates for current and other external project teams.
Transcripts/ Academics
Junior College - 3rd in School. Ranked 1st in Sciences. (99/100 in Math)
Undergrad - UDCT (Top school for chem engg in India) Chemical Engineering. (First Class). Awarded merit scholarship in 1995.
Grad School - UniversityOf Toledo (received graduate scholarship and tuition waiver). GPA: 3.85
Grad School - President, BioEngg Chapter, Univ of Toledo . 1996-97
GMAT Score
690 (q-(48) 80%, v -(35) 77%), AWA- 5.0 (one attempt)
Recommendations
Owing to consulting background (breadth of client projects), confident to obtain good- very good recommendations from client managers.
Community Service
Cultural Chair - Network of Indian Professionals, Cincinnati (not for profit). Organized 3-4 100-150member events in this capacity. (2003-2004)
Organized fund drives, charity events, charity auctions with other professional organizations (YouthCincinnati, AsianProfessionals, Habitat for Humanity, CleanUpCincinnati)
Helped a colleague ( IT skills) with creating a website for a non-profit organization.
Hobbies / Extracurricular
Passion for backpacking /trekking. Organized 4week backpacking trip to Patagonia (South Argentina and Chile). Organized tours in cincinnati for local trekking club. Other treks include HalfDome and MtWhiney california. Planning and organizing trip to climb Mt. Kilimajaro, Africa in February.
Running - Started with 5k races and completed the Cincinnati Flying Pig half-marathon. Organized a group and currently training with the group (7) for the chicago marathon in Oct.04.
Reading - started a reading club for NeTIP chapter to discuss relevant books concerned with the indian diaspora - their impact on present day US, issues affecting the indian subcontinent etc. Organized talk show with professors from cincinnati to discuss indian history and relevance/parallels with mainstream america.
Radio host - Minority radio show catering to the Inidian populace on sundays for a year.
Travel - ever-present itch to see new places - have visited all continents except Antartica :)
Actively involved in Racquetball.
International/ Cultural Exposure
Inidan citizen. In the US for the last 8 yrs.Conversant in 4 indian languages. Level 1- Spanish.
Consulting work involves working offshore development teams and business user groups from India, Germany, France, UK, Costa Rica
Thanks for the time and effort!
bk