Profile Evaluation + School suggestions

Question

Hi Jon,

GMAT score: 720 (V36, Q51, IR6)
GPA : 9.02/10 (B.Tech from National Institute of Technology, Karnataka)
Work Ex: Working from July 2013 as Software Engineer (I plan to apply for the class of 2016)

Nationality: Indian
Gender: Female

My extra curriculars are a bit weak. But I am planning on doing some volunteer work starting now.

Can you please suggest the schools I should target for? Also, I was more interested in 1 year MBA programmes, can you suggest the schools I can target that offer 1 year courses?

Thanks,
Ashima

Admissionado · Answer

Dear Ashima,
Well you are off to a good start with a good GMAT and a very good GPA from a very good school. Staring some volunteer work is a good idea, and you should also think about what else you can do, in work, and out to make your profile unique and attractive. You have quite a bit of time ahead of you, so you should have some good options.

If you are interesting in one-year MBAs then your best bets are Kellogg, Johnson, Goizueta, and Marshall in the US, and then the vast majority of European programs (Oxford, Cambridge, INSEAD, HEC...)

Have a look at those to get started, and let me know if you have any more questions.

Best,
Jon

ashima21 · Answer

Hi Jon,

I have started taking courses on "Introduction to Finance" and "Advertising and Society" on Coursera. I also plan to take courses on Marketing. I haven't signed up for signature track but I will receive a statement of accomplishment on completion. Would it be worth to mention these in the application (Knowing that I won't have a verified certificate)? Also, my goal to do MBA is for a career change. But I am not sure as to how well is such an application taken by admission officers. Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,
Ashima

Admissionado · Answer

Dear Ashima,
Sounds like a good idea to me! You can for sure mention them in the application, although I don't think you need to spend tooooo much space on it. It's helpful, but only a bit.

As for your goal - you can propose a career change. That's not a problem, and many candidates do. But the question is: what change? It STILL has to make sense.

To give you two examples.

Person A: Worked his whole life in consumer products, but also his whole life was involved at an a amateur level in sports - played football in college, is the captain of a local basketball team and helped volunteer with kids. If he wants to go to say a sports management job, I'd say "sure why not? He's never done it. But he has the passion and the interest etc.."

Person B: Indian IT guy with five years experience coding and project managing on IT Teams, really is fascinated by finance, and proposes to make a change into IB. There goals are basically terrible ones. Because a) there is no justification for him going into finance b) everyone wants this job simply because its highly paid c) these jobs are super competitive and its unlikely he will get one after graduating.

So, propose a change. No problem. But just make sure it makes sense, not just to you, but to others.

Best,
JF

ashima21 · Answer

Hi Jon,

Can you suggest me some schools that offer good programs in marketing? I am open to both one year and two year courses. Also, I would like to know which would be my "safe schools".

Thanks,
Ashima

Admissionado · Answer

Ashima, Well if you are open to two-year programs, then I'd say your range should be in the 5-20 ranking in the US. Kellogg is the school with the most famous marketing program, but you can do marketing truly from any school. Safe schools for you would be schools ranked a bit lower (so 20 and downwards). Keep in mind that this is a rough estimation and not an absolute cutoff (there's no magic thing that happens around the number 20

). Depending on the target industry of your goals, the type of learning you prefer and the school you prefer (i.e. big or small, city or rural, general management or specialized, east coast or west) you can make your selection from about the above range, and if you provide me with some more detail about your goals and your school preferences I can likely guide you there, Best, JF

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