Please evaluate my humble profile

Question

Dear Experts,

I hope you are having a great day! I took my GMAT 1 week back and scored a 690.
Please advise me, based on my GMAT score and profile on the following;

Which schools should I be targeting? I prefer North American schools but please advise other options too.
What are the areas that i should work on further?
Financial assistance/Scholarships/Student loan is a must for me. Please advice on this too.

About myself: Bangladeshi Male /31 years / Around 80 months’ industry experience

GMAT: 690 (Quant: 49, verbal 35, AWA yet to receive.TOEFL-have not appeared yet.

GPA/school: I hold a first class degree in Bachelor of Science (Computer Science & Engineering) from the University of Dhaka. It is the top university of the country. But I’m not sure how this result (first class 44th position in a pool of 75 students) translates to the GPA.

Target schools: Please advise.

Professional background:

Total WE: 7 years

WE-1: BBC Media Action (Formerly world service trust) a Non Profit Organization.

Duration: 1 year as Project Manager (Senior Manager Grade). Worked in different projects at both home and abroad. Currently working in a project to reach 25 million people of Bangladesh and improve their economic conditions. Also working in health and environment improvement projects. Leading a team and recently acted head of department.

WE-3: Grameenphone (Largest telecom operator in Bangladesh with a 35 million subscriber base) of Telenor group (No. 6 Telecom operator in the world)

Duration: 4 years, last position was Manager product development, Technology division. Launched numerous innovative products, worked in different projects as project manager (saved 1.3 million in a project with a innovative solution which didn't cost a penny to the company )

WE-2: Grameenphone IT (Largest IT Company of Bangladesh)

Duration: 2 years, last position was Project Manager (Specialist), Commercial division. Worked in different technology projects both at home and abroad. Some of the project were In one of the projects there was a situation where the project was in dire straits and the Fortune 500 vendor failed to deliver. It was a prestige issue to the company and I stepped in (sounds familiar?

) and took the challenge. It's was an extreme tough situation as my reputation, job and the company reputation hinged on the project. The project came out successful, with exact deliverables and perfect timing.

Work experience/visits in countries: UK, India, and Malaysia.

Know 3 languages.

Community Service:

I’m involved with an organization that funds the poor but meritorious students for further studies. These students are chosen from the reports of national news papers and patronized till the undergrad admission. I have so far patronized 2 two students with the funding and necessary mentorship.

Extracurricular Activities:

Guitarist and front man of a band. Have one mixed album and 3 music videos aired in national television.
Organized the first Technology Transfer conference in Bangladesh. The participants came from 12 different countries.
Captain of undergrad department cricket B team.
Composed the Company theme song for previous company.
Published numerous poems in school, college, university publiations

Area of interest: I am interested in pursuing a MBA in Finance

Thanks a lot for all the help in advance!

) and took the challenge. It's was an extreme tough situation as my reputation, job and the company reputation hinged on the project. The project came out successful, with exact deliverables and perfect timing. Work experience/visits in countries: UK, India, and Malaysia. Know 3 languages. Community Service: I’m involved with an organization that funds the poor but meritorious students for further studies. These students are chosen from the reports of national news papers and patronized till the undergrad admission. I have so far patronized 2 two students with the funding and necessary mentorship. Extracurricular Activities: Guitarist and front man of a band. Have one mixed album and 3 music videos aired in national television. Organized the first Technology Transfer conference in Bangladesh. The participants came from 12 different countries. Captain of undergrad department cricket B team. Composed the Company theme song for previous company. Published numerous poems in school, college, university publiations Area of interest: I am interested in pursuing a MBA in Finance Thanks a lot for all the help in advance!

bryantmichaels · Answer

Great profile! You should definitely be targeting schools in the top 10 or 15 depending on your desired are of work post MBA. Sometimes geography comes into play, but if you want to work internationally, you could also consider Georgetown or Duke along with the typical international brands (Wharton for example, which would be considered a reach school). Chicago Booth is great for Finance as is Virginia, but don't miss Michigan (Ross) and UT Austin (McCombs) as oft-overlooked finance MBAs. I particularly like your international experience, as well as people management, plus it sounds like you have made a quantifyable impact on the organizations for which you have worked, as well as taken on some significant challenges. All these things should be accretive to the evidence you would make a good b-school student.

kingme · Answer

Hi Mr. Bryant, Thank you very much for your kind words. It is a real morale booster

. You won't know how much confidence it gave me.

Now, i didn't understand what you meant by the following from your response. >(Wharton for example, which would be considered a reach school). As per your suggestion i will definitely check Georgetown, Duke, CB, Virginia, Ross and Austin. These are all big names and i'm really glad that you think i stand a chance. Just to go in a bit further, i'm quite concerned about my age (it's a common phenomena in our country and it's very rare that you get to do your undergrad by 24) and also about the financial support. Can you advise me, considering all these, a school that is relaxed in it's age limits and offers generous financial support to candidate of my profile? Also i'm planning to apply to some schools on this fall 2012. Do you think it's a good idea? I hope to hearing from you soon. Take care and Thank you sir

kingme · Answer

Dear Bryant, Eagerly waiting for your response. I'm not chasing you

it's just that your reply inspired me a lot! Thank you in advance.

bryantmichaels · Answer

Age is not really a factor unless you want to go to HBS, Stanford or Yale, which tend to favor younger applicants. I myself got into a top 5 school at age 31 and had a classmate who was 47! It's all about what you offer. Often, age and the subequent wisdom that comes with it offers much to differentiate yourself from the competition. Your challenge will be demonstrating that your career has been progressively responsible and impactful all along the way and be able to answer why you didn't go back sooner--there are always valid reasons for that!

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