Profile evaluation

Question

Hi Alex,

I am an Indian male with 2.7 years of IT experience .I need your guidance on my chances of MBA admission in top universities.Please evaluate my profile and let me know which is best suited for my profile.I am preparing for GMAT and I need to pursue MBA as early as possible.

My Details:

Graduation:B.Tech in Civil engineering from India's rank 1 private college.
CGPA:7.9/10
Work Role:Database Administrator(Cross platform as well as Multi skilled)
Age:24
Company:TCS(Asia's largest IT consultancy)

Extracurricular activities:
Organized quiz competition and was the Head of Quiz committee in my college.Organized sessions for knowledge transition in our company and also mentored people on the same in team.

Colleges I prefer are Wharton,INSEAD,LBS,ISB,Chicago

My concerns/queries:
1.Should I work on shaping my extracurricular activities such that it meets the expectations of top notch colleges? If so please suggest which would be most effective activity that makes my resume unique and highlighted.
2.What GMAT score is required for getting into top notch MBA colleges?
3.What would be the best time for me to take up the examination in-order to get admitted ASAP?
4.I have achieved various technical(ORACLE/IBM) and process certifications and have achieved high percentages(96-98%) in those certifications.These all are done during my job tenure.Will these count during my admission process?
5.For my present work experience and profile what all top colleges I can aim for?
6.What would be best time I can apply for colleges?
7.Recommendation letters I can get from my professors but not from my superiors from my office.I can only get bonafide letters from my work organization and also recommendation letters from my colleagues in my office.Will that impact my admission? If what are the other possibilities/alternative I can cope up for this loss?

AlexMBAApply · Answer

While I understand that you may be new to the GMAT Club, I strongly suggest you do a search and read through of the many posts here -- it will answer a lot of the basic questions you've posted here.

cool08 · Answer

Thanks Alex for your quick response.I have read through some of your posts.I could not build a concrete idea on admission process with respect to various colleges.If I get guidance by step ahead it will help me a lot.The least what i need to know is whats the best gmat score I need to get(I understand it must be >700% for top tier colleges but wrt to my work exp and profile whats the optimum score I need to get?) and colleges that will consider me for my present profile.

AlexMBAApply · Answer

If you're shooting for top 16 schools, you'll need at least a 700 for it not to be a handicap (not because you're an Indian IT guy; it's pretty much across the board for everyone). Keep in mind that a lower than average GMAT score can hurt you, but a high score won't help you. In other words, once you hit a certain threshold (around 700 or so), it really comes down to the rest of your profile and application.

As for schools, to be honest your best bet will be schools in the top 30 range such as Georgetown, Tepper, UNC, Purdue, Indiana, USC, Texas, and so forth. Top 16 schools like the ones you listed will be a stretch even with a strong GMAT. ISB may be the only exception, but even then, it seems to be deathly competitive as well. You have a shot at getting into a decent b-school -- you just have to adjust your expectations on the kinds of schools you have a more realistic shot at.

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