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!

Admissionado · Answer

Hello there my friend,
Well, before you decide about retaking or not retaking the GMAT I'd suggest you read a post I wrote about GMAT and Indian candidates specifically: to-retake-or-not-to-retake-that-is-the-question-indian-153716.html.

Well if you ask me, the answer is clear in your case... given the little experience you have and your GMAT, I'd say a retake is in order if you think you can get higher... of course only YOU know your potential and your limits, but still a retake seems to me to be the wisest thing you could do. The reason being is because this will HEAVILY influence your profile, which will HEAVILY influence the school you will get in, which will heavily influence the job you will get. So I can totally understand that after having gotten the same score a second time, you feel a bit frustrated, but try and take the long view on things... you are young, anyhow you have quite little experience for an MBA applicant which would also not make you a great candidate.

tosh612 · Answer

Thanx for the evaluation. I retook GMAT and scored 730. Could you please provide names of some ranked schools where I would have good chances of getting admission. I scrapped my older list as I feel its important to get into higher ranked colleges.Also can you provide some names of school where I would be strong candidate(safety schools).

Admissionado · Answer

WELL DONE!!! Wow! That will change things a lot!

I think you can aim for schools ranked about 10-35 in the US. The 10-20 will be a bit harder, and then the 20-35 you should be competitive at.

Are you planning on applying R2 THIS year?

Better get started!!!

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!

Admissionado · Answer

In that case I would definitely recommend waiting till next year. Rushing things will give you no advantage at all! And waiting one more year will:
- Give you one more year of experience before you apply.
- Allow you to apply R1 and have better chances
- Allow you to prepare yourself very very well.

It's true that folks who study for an MF have less experience than an MBA, but since you don't have any finance experience, it will be pretty tough to get in to top programs line MIT or Berkeley. But if you went a bit down the line, you could find some excellent programs which fit. But on the other hand, if you do get in, it should be easier for you to make that career switch to finance because you will have all the necessary technical skills that the industry looks for.

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