Profile Evaluation Request

Question

Hi,
Please find my profile below:

I am a 26 year old software engineer with 2+ years of experience in IT. I work for a well known MNC in India.I am originally from Nepal and hold a Nepalese citizenship.I have been in banking domain since I joined the company. After early training period,even though I was designated as Software Engineer,due to the frequent changes in Lead positions I got great exposure and experience. I had to take responsibility to manage whole database for an electronic banking web application right from development to production. I was directly contacted for any database issues and got the opportunity to handle the clients for different requirement and reviews. My basic role is the maintenance of database for a certain electronic banking web application and development of different new features and requirements which needs to be incorporated in the application.

GMAT 1st attempt 640(Q 48, V 30) 2nd attempt 640 (Q47 , V 31) after not improving the second time really hesitant to attempt anymore

I completed B.tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering for NIT, Warangal with 7.6(/10) pointer in 2011

Extracurricular : Part of different people engagement teams at Work, Working as a Volunteer for a NGO,Involved in national tech fests and cultural fests at college, lots and lots of activities during high school

Looking at:
i) Indiana Kelley - MBA
ii) NUS -MBA (singapore)
iii) NTU- MBA (singapore)
iv) Texas A and M mays - MBA
v) Brigham young university Marriot- MBA
vi) University of wisconsin Madison-MBA
vii) Georgia Tech schellar- MBA
viii) tippie (IOWA)- MBA
xi) university of georgia Terry-MBA
x)university at illinois- urbana-champaign- MBA
xi)Smeal- MBA

Will be choosing among them!

Please provide a evaluation of my profile. Also kindly let me know my chances at those colleges above or any tips in which all colleges from above I should apply to. Is there any higher ranked colleges (than above mentioned)which I have a decent chance at.

As I come from a economically week background, do you think at any of those colleges I can hope for some scholarship?

Thank you a lot in advance!

mbaMissionJenK · Answer

Hi there,

Thanks for posting all of your profile info! While it sounds like for your specific job, you've accomplished a lot, it is all still very technical in nature, and business schools are very interested in knowing if you possess leadership, teamwork, people management, and communication skills as well... and you will need to work hard to show that you are not JUST an IT/technical applicant. With just around 2 years of work experience, that is also a drawback as schools are looking for those with more experience to bring to classroom discussions, particularly in the areas I mentioned above. All that said, 640 is not out of the question at the schools on your list, BUT it is below the average at most of them, making it that much tougher for you to gain acceptance. Depending upon what preparation you've done, you may want to invest some more time and effort with a preparation program and try to see what you can do with the GMAT one more time, and/or consider getting another year of work experience and seeing where you can gain some leadership and management experience that you could focus on in your applications. I encourage you to continue researching your options with the question of your personal career goals FIRST and foremost in your mind, and think about what next steps make the most sense given your goals. Finally, I should mention that scholarships are not extremely common in the MBA world, and those that are given are usually for the best applicants received and vary a lot by school. Most MBA students finance their education through low-interest educational loans paid off with their post-MBA salary over 5-15 years or so.

Good luck to you on your decisions!

tosh612 · Answer

Thanx for the evaluation.I took the advise of retaking the GMAT and got a score of 730 (q 50 v 39).I m hoping this score will help my chances at ranked schools.So I scrapped my rough list of school I made last time. Could you please provide some top schools name where I will have good chances with this profile. Also, could you provide some schools(even lower ranked) were I can hope substantial scholarships. I am mainly looking at American business schools.I am doing research to finalize my list.Any help will b appreciated

mbaMissionJenK · Answer

Congrats on that 730! Excellent, and will help you in the admissions process.

In terms of choosing schools, Tepper comes to mind... but a lot of it depends on what YOU are looking for in a school, as well as your post-MBA goals which you haven't mentioned ?

I would think schools outside the top 8 or so would be within range with very strong essays.... you still have less work experience and sounds like less leadership experience than would be preferred, so best chances at schools out side top 15. If you have your heart set on a top 5/top 8 school, I'd suggest applying to one as your reach school. For more on choosing schools, check out our free download at: https://info.mbamission.com/Selecting-Yo ... ram-E-Book.

Best wishes!

tosh612 · Answer

Thanx for the reply again...I have been looking at the top universities and I see most of them have average work experience 4-5 yrs in their class profile.Do you think it is wise to wait and apply next year???How much will my chances improve for say the top 20 ranked universities??

Also, wat do you think of my chances at MASTER in Finance or MASTER in FINANCIAL ENGINEERING at schools such as university of california, berkeley or MIT 
if I apply this year. I hear that these courses require less work experience than MBA and the course is more quantitative in nature. IF this two a no no then which other school do u think is in range!

mbaMissionJenK · Answer

Hi there,

Your profile would likely be stronger in another year, yes, for an MBA, especially if you can focus on getting some good leadership experience in your job, wherever possible; thinking about where you can go above and beyond and really contribute to specific accomplishments at work that you can then cite on the applications as well.

In terms of those other Masters degrees, I can't say for certain as those are less my area of expertise but just generally I would think yes, you may have an even better shot at those-- you have the strong GMAT, you have the technical background, and yes they generally are not as focused on work experience as an MBA degree would be. To best assess, have a look at the specific program websites and the class profiles if possible and you can see how you stack up against others. But probably most important is to determine what YOUR personal goals are, and then figure out what degree will best help you get there. Good luck!

Profile Evaluation Request

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards