Profile Evaluation : GRE : 305, 5 years work-ex

Question

Hello All,

Which is best as per this profile..?? An MBA (in a B school that accepts the GRE) or MS in Management.?? Kindly suggest suitable universities/B-schools (world-wide) for the below profile :

GRE : 305 (Verbal- 147, Quant- 158)
IELTS : 7
Years of Professional Work Experience (MNC) : 5 years
Excellent record of co-curricular activities
High School CGPA :3.5 (Converted from Percentage scores in Indian schools)
Upper High School CGPA : 3.24 (Converted from Percentage scores in Indian schools)
Under Grad CGPA (B.Tech Deemed University) :2.5 (Converted from Percentage scores in Indian universities)

Please respond with your opinions. Thanks in Advance

Admissionado · Answer

Hey there, Well first of all,t he MBA is the far more prestigious degree, so if you can, I'd suggest going to one of those

Other than that, I’d love to help you out but without more info it’s gonna be hard. Where do you work? What do you do? How quickly have you advanced? Do you have any leadership? What are your great achievements? Do you have notable community service or extra curriculars? Which school did you graduate from? (and give me your Indian GPA) All of these will play important roles in your evaluation. Best, Jon

Ronrulz · Answer

Hi ,

Much obliged by your quick response and your willingness to support. I would love to be graduated with an MBA and I am so very passionate about it. I hope my total years of work-ex would definitely prove to be a boon to me, but my GRE and UG scores makes me panicky. This has made me to consider other options too (MS in Engineering Management or any other management related courses.
I am really confounded by the ambiguity in the information provided over the internet and hence I expect an expert advice in the program that i should opt for and the best universities that I can aim with my profile. I have a total of 5 years of Technical experience in the field of Telecom, but for my Masters I'm hoping to find a program that's more of management side so that I can use my technical expertise and my fostered management skills later in the coming years. Mentioned below are the answers to your queries.

Current company & role : Mindtree Ltd (MNC) (Tech Lead in KPN Telecom Project). In these 5 years, I have advanced to a junior level engineer to a Tech Lead and so I lead a technical team which consists of employees with comparatively lesser years of technical expertise.

I have also served as a senior network engineer in Alcatel-Lucent India (as a Senior Network Engineer) where in I got an opportunity to regulate the Technical service orders that was crucial to the business of many International Telecom Carriers such as AT&T, British Telecom, Vodafone, Orange Communication etc.

In Mindtree , as being part of the KPN Telecom project I have leaded many network upgrades that proved fruitful for my client. These are the few examples of notable professional achievements that I have acquired and hence I have always been appreciated for my technical expertise and leadership qualities for initiating a remarkable change in the process.

My colleagues call me a performer, not only in my professional career but also in extra curriculars . I am a trained singer, a proven dancer, an experienced dramatist, a passionate writer and a recreational artist in sketching. I have also coordinated many cultural events in my previous years and have been the spoke in many discussions.

Social activities includes regular participation in Blood Donation Camps, Fulfilling wishes of children in orphanages etc.

Below are my grades:

High School (ICSE Board- 10th) - 88%
Pre-Graduation (12th) - 82%
Graduation (BTech - Electronics & Communication Engineering) - 65% (Cochin University of Science and Technology, India)

Hope the above information is sufficient for your analysis. Kindly suggest suitable programs and universities/B schools which would be apt for me.

Thanks in advance

Admissionado · Answer

Hey there, Well if management is your goal then an MBA is the degree!

It's true that there are some challenges in your profile - mainly that you come from the single most over-represented group in MBA applications - the Indian Tech Male (and your employer is a huge Tech-farm!!!). The harder thing is that you are doing this with a relatively low GRE. and honestly, why would you do that? What I mean, is you have ONE chance to do an MBA, and the GRE/GMAT is capital in defining where you can apply... so why not retake? And apply with a much higher score? Have a look at this article here: https://bit.ly/B613Mgc I think that might start steering you in the right direction. And of course, feel free to drop me a line any time! Best, JF

Ronrulz · Answer

Hello Jon,

Much obliged by your valuable suggestions. I would like to mark a few points here.

An MBA has always been a dream for me. But the biggest challenge for me is my low scores. My concern is that, if I re-take the test, and score better marks, what if I don't reach up the cream layer that many B-schools look for. And I've heard that unless I get admitted into the top b-schools, the recruiters will be less interested in considering for jobs in their companies. To be frank, I feel being so much ambitious and aiming for only the top b schools would ultimately result in yielding nothing. Because I feel, my abilities is more than what competitive exams can test.

As you are already aware of the technical expertise that I have, what would happen if I opt for program that balances my technical expertise and the interest in my management domain. Can you please suggest some programs like an MS in Engineering Management, about which I have limited information. I've heard from people that candidates with good amount of technical experience can opt for these programs, although I am unaware of how the job market would welcome such graduates.

More than just my scores, my professional experience and other skill would project me better in front of the admission council of universities. In this regard, could you please suggest me some suitable programs that would ultimately foster my future career.

Thanks in advance

Admissionado · Answer

Hey there,
I totally understand your concern, but let me maybe adjust what I said so that there is no misunderstanding.. when I write about test scores I don't mean that you have to wait till you get a perfect score so that you can maybe get into HBS (which might be too tough anyhow). But what I mean is that if you can do better then you should be patient, and make sure you are applying with the BEST score you can ever get.

The second thing is that you are looking at your application from your own subjective perspective, which is fair enough... but maybe I can help you see things from the school's perspective - and that is that they have a wealth of Indian candidates to choose from, and far far too many from IT consultancy places like Mindtree. Which means that from their perspective, even if you have done great stuff at work, it's not that great or interesting for them. And it's important to understand their perspective so that you can DO something about it. And once you are aware of those things you can start to figure out how to counteract them. But in your case with that low a GRE the danger is of not getting into any good program worth its salt...

Best,
Jon

Ronrulz · Answer

Hello Jon,

Thanks for your valuable suggestion. But presently I am re-thinking to go for an MS in Management Information Systems and then later go for an MBA in the later years. Do you feel this would be a better decision. If yes, could you please suggest best universities that I can opt for, with this profile of mine.

Thanks in advance

Admissionado · Answer

Hello there,
Getting a professional Masters before moving to an MBA can be an excellent move to get an initial jump in your career and propel your profile forward and make it stronger for the time when you do ultimately apply to an MBA. I'll mention that for the top programs, it still does not resolve the GRE issue, but it is true that many of the programs are a bit less selective than Top MBAs.

Best,

Ronrulz · Answer

Hello Jon,

Thanks for your valuable suggestion. Since you said the universities offering MS programs would probably give me better chances to get admitted, in your opinion could you please provide a few good universities for pursuing MS in MIS, that you feel would be apt for me..?

Thanks in Advance

Admissionado · Answer

Hey Dude, Well personally I focus on MBAs, but why not drop a line to us, and we'll hook you up with the right person on our team. Just write lauren: lauren@admissionado.com Or visit the site: https://bit.ly/mbafcGC Best, Jon

Profile Evaluation : GRE : 305, 5 years work-ex

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