Hi Paul,
Age : 26
W/E : 4 Years (IT)
Nationality : Indian
GMAT : 720 (48,41); AWA - 6.0
GPA : Not sure. Had 81% for my engg degree. (Would like to know if there is way to calculate the GPA)
After reading through all the posts in the "Ask Paul" section, I couldn't resist the opportunity to get advice from you!!
As you could have guessed from the stats above, I am unfortunately in the over-represented group of Indian-Male-IT. I have tried to offset this by getting a 720 on the GMAT but I am afraid whether this is not going to be enough.
EducationMy entire education has been based on English as a language of learning. I completed my engineering in Electronics and Instrumentation from a university in southern India (Not a reputed college). Was part of college associations - in leadership roles. Academically, I was in the top 3 of my class and got an aggregate percentage of 81. I know a little bit of French through a course at Alliance Francaise.
WorkOf the 4 years I have worked (All 4 years in a reputed MNC in India), almost 2 years were in the US. My role for most of the period has been that of a Software Developer. In the last year of my tenure in the US, I was entrusted with co-ordination of work between the onsite and onshore teams and also engaging the client in communication which I believe required a good deal of my leadership skills. My official role during this period was Senior Software Engineer and I did not technically have any employees reporting to me.
My short term goal after completion of my MBA is to take on a role of Business Analyst in the IT industry. My interest is to use my technical knowledge along with the managerial skills honed after an MBA to act as a conduit between business and technology.
My extracurriculars are not extraordinary and there is nothing noteworthy to brag about. While I was in India for work, I was involved in an employee group dealing with the upbringing of the downtrodden and education of underprivileged children.
Schools I am interested in : Nanyang, ISB (India), University of Maryland
What are your thoughts after reading through the above?
Which other schools of repute offer an MBA in IT management?
Does my work exp in the US help at all in gaining an edge?
Does my extracurriculars being weak put me at a disadvantage?
How do I convert my % scores to GPA?
My official role was never that of lead or manager but my actual work involved using my leadership abilities to a great extant. Will this be accepted and will attestations from references be enough evidence?
Any other suggestions to improve my chances at any of the big schools?
I am sorry if that is a lot of questions. I was notorious at college for asking questions all the time. Thanks in advance!!