Profile Evaluation Request : Engineer | F-27Y

Hi mallicks123,

Thank you for your post. Here are my thoughts:

REALLY ANALYZE WHETHER YOU WANT AN MBA OR AN MIS

As a first step, I would really encourage you to assess whether you wish to pursue an MBA or an MIS degree. Look into the programs as deeply as you can, analyze their employment reports, and try to connect with current students and/or alumni to learn more about what the experiences are like and what kind of jobs and careers people who have each type of degree go into. (Even more specifically, try to connect with international students at the programs, including students from your home country, that way you can get a read on what career paths are viable specifically for international students post-degree, as visa opportunities and sponsorship can play a role in that.) By doing so, you will be able to identify whether the MBA or the MIS has better alignment with what you're hoping to do and accomplish in your career. (Sometimes folks still end up deciding to apply to both, which is okay too!)

YOU CAN AIM HIGHER ON THE MBA SIDE

If you do end up focusing on MBA programs (or deciding to apply to more than just those that you've listed), I believe that you can develop a school strategy that is more aggressive on the U.S. than what you've articulated above (UConn is the #79 ranked MBA program in the U.S. according to U.S. News & World Report). With your profile, I could see you building a school strategy that ranges from approximately T20 to T40 in the rankings, depending on how aggressive you want to be on the top end and how much you might wish to prioritize chances at scholarship funding toward the back end. You might even be able to reach past T20 for one or two schools; no two candidates are alike, but I have worked with a young woman from India with a pretty similar profile who received strong scholarships to two schools in the T17-20 range. Those are definitely reaches, I'd characterize her outcome as pretty much "best case scenario," and it required unbelievable hard work and commitment on her part, and very deep partnership together. I think that the T17-25 would be very difficult, but as the aforementioned case study demonstrates, it might be worth including a couple of schools from that range in your strategy, and then cascading and diversifying down the rankings from there.

YOU WILL NEED TO DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF VIA EXCELLENT APPLICATIONS

On a related note, you have a great Quant score, so if you think you can improve your Verbal, you can potentially push even higher on the GMAT and, along with that, even higher in the rankings for either of the degrees. On the MIS side, I'd say you line up pretty well with the programs you've listed, though Indiana might be more of a reach given your GMAT score is pretty much right around their average, which can be a difficult starting point when many of these programs are small, and they receive a lot of applications from India. No matter the degree or the school, that underscores the heightened importance of bringing your story to life; unpacking the value of your professional and personal experiences (such as your international experience); articulating the specifics of your goals, why you need the degree, and how each school uniquely enables you to realize your goals; describing what unique / specific contributions you can make to each program; and differentiating yourself across your essays, applications, recommendations, etc . If you'd like to discuss how to approach these topics (and how I work with applicants to do so), or to further consider your school selection, please feel free to email me at greg@avantiprep.com or sign up for a Free Consultation via this link: https://www.avantiprep.com/free-consultation.html

Best Regards,
Greg