Urgent Advise needed from the community
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11 Sep 2013, 21:19
Hello GMAT Clubbers,
I'm posting a message on behalf of my son Tushar, who is currently away from town with no internet access. He has asked me to post this question on his behalf to the GMAT Club community, who I've been told are very knowledgeable.
Tushar, has always been a fairly good student. He had completed his Masters in Commerce. Towards getting work experience for an M.B.A, he worked at the Bombay office of the U.S. investment bank - J. P. Morgan. He worked 3 years there and has now quit to pursue his M.B.A. He has given his GMAT last week and scored 710, which I understand is a fair score, for applying to the top 20 universities, specializing in Management courses. Now here is where, we are confused & have a few queries ....
We are told by some friends that, apart from academic & GMAT scores, the top 20 Universities, also give adequate weight to extra-curricular and social activities. Tushar has a whole lot of certificates from his schooling & college life, in terms of excellence in extra-curricular activities. But in terms of practical social contributions, he does not have much to present. It was explained to us that, if Tushar could put in a 3 - 4 month stint with a good NGO in Africa, he would stand out in his applications. An African stint, is not a problem for him, as that can be arranged by us. He is passionate about that continent as he spent a good 10 years of his childhood growing up there.
But, we are told that the round 1 applications have to be filed in before end October ' 13. Which means that, if he were to file the applications now, he cant show any social contributions and will have to rely exclusively on his academic & GMAT scores for consideration by the Universities. But if he were to come and work with an NGO in Africa for a few months, he can apply during the 2nd round of applications in Jan ' 13, but with the social contributions stated on his CV.
Now here is my request. Could you please advise on the below ?
1. Is social contribution so critical to admissions to top universities, specializing in MBA degrees ?
2. What kind of practical social contributions, would they normally be, looking for ?
3. Would it be advisable for my son to skip round 1 of the admission process, to actually work and get an NGO work experience on his resume' ?
4. Alternatively, should my son, apply to the lower rung of the top universities in round 1, without the NGO experience and apply to the higher rung in round 2, with the NGO experience ?
5. Is it easier to get into the top Universities in round 1, or in round 2 ?
6. Once he applies to a top University in round 1 and if he is not considered, can he re-apply to the same institution in round 2 ?
If the community could help us out here a bit, it would be of immense help !