Sam,
I really appreciate your sending me your profile, and I am happy to give you some advice about schools to which to apply. As you may know,
Stratus Prep has worked successfully with many Indian applicants who like you are looking to switch from computer science to finance; thus, I am happy to share our unique expertise with you.
While I do think you would be competitive at ISB Hyderabad, I think you should strongly consider 2-year MBA programs internationally as well, for a number of reasons. First, even though you want to go into finance, given your technology/computer science background you will need to build skills in management, marketing, operations in order to have a long and successful career in finance. I believe a top American 2-year MBA program abroad will best teach you these broad-based management skills (though I would also consider a few European schools). Second, even if you intend to spend the majority of your working life in India, having a degree from a leading international business school will represent a significant advantage in terms of branding and networking. From such a program, you will gain a global perspective and meet classmates from all over the world from whom you will learn and to whom you can go for advice and support in the years to come. Third, given your profile (though I would ideally want to know your undergraduate academic performance), I believe that, with the help of an expert admissions consultant who has worked with other applicants like you, you will be competitive (due to your Accenture experience and GMAT score, especially the quant) at a number of top schools outside India. As I mentioned,
Stratus Prep has an unparalleled track record helping applicants with your background gain entry to top international schools.
In terms of specific schools, I recommend focusing on schools in New York City and London, since they are major financial hubs; this will facilitate your recruiting. For example, you should look seriously at Columbia Business School, NYU Stern, and London Business School. Also, Duke has a strong finance program and very diverse population of international students. I would also consider Michigan and Cornell. We have had students admitted to these schools with significant merit-based scholarships so it is very possible for you to receive scholarships from these schools.
To be successful at any of these schools, you will need to do an exceptional job developing and communicating your story and career vision in order to convince the schools that you should be admitted (rather than other applicants with very similar admissions profiles). Even though both finance and computer science are quantitative, many other applicants (especially from Indian) are trying to make this shift, so you must differentiate yourself. The team of highly-qualified MBA admissions counselors at
Stratus Prep and I have extensive experience working with applicants who are transitioning between these fields, and we can advise you how to best communicate your reasons for wanting to make this shift in a way that will truly resonate with the admissions committees and help you not only win admission but also earn a merit-based scholarship.
If you would like to discuss the possibility of working with
Stratus Prep on your applications to optimize your chances of admission to a top program, feel free to private message me or email me at
shawn.oconnor@stratusprep.com. My team and I would love to work with you, and we hope to be in touch with you soon.
Best,
Shawn