Profile review

Question

Hi Oasis,

Thanks for the quick reply; Here are the details you asked for.

Age, Demographic Profile : 24, Indian

Academics - year, stream, GPA (Bachelors + Masters) : 2010, IT engineering from BITS Pilani (its the best private engineering college in India, and among the top 10 overall), GPA of 7.81/10

Short term and long term goal for MBA : I look forward to do an mba in fall 2013, after which I plan to pursue a career in Management Consulting for 4-5 years, get global exposure, work in different firms and grab as much knowledge as I can from the multiple industries I will get opportunity to work for. In the long run, I want to establish my own business but only after getting enough experience, exposure & good contacts.
(There is very limited scope & a cut-throat competition in India, so i believe doing an mba can be a better bet)

Work ex - I have relatively very limited experience (appx 2 years)
Yahoo- 6 months (as an intern, if that counts)
Cisco- 10 months as a software engineer, I quit cisco for I soon realized that I want to build up a career in finance/consulting.
Start-up in a manufacturing business: working for the past 1 year as the chief executive person, have got tremendous exposure in multiple facets of business such as accounting, marketing, production, logistics & planning etc.

Region you want to settle post MBA: In the log run, I want to settle in India with my family. But for my short term goals of getting exposure & knowledge, I dont mind compromising on locations if I get into a good company, although preferably Asia/US/UK in that order.

Any target schools : I'm yet to do research into which schools will I have the best chances of getting into consulting, but my with the limited knowledge I have, I'm looking forward to Kellogg, tuck, Yale, Cornell, Faqua, ISB, Ross, Haas,
Additionally, Harvard(my dream school), Stanford, Wharton, Booth, Columbia, MIT, but I'm not sure if that's realistic.

Any other Question that concerns you : Actually, there are quite a few.

1. Do i need to give toefl? Although the medium of instruction was English in my school & college, but I'm not sure If i need to. I've been getting varied answers from different people.
2. Does it actually makes sense to do an mba from the US considering the huge investment. I know, the placement figures are there as proof but I've heard that the US govt is giving work-permits to very limited Indians & also thte market is not that great, will possibly worsen in the coming years. (It might all be a rumor, but its a big concern )
3. My GPA is decent by Indian standards but when I convert it to the 4 point scale, it comes down a shameless 2.9. Nor are there any opportunities in India to do additional courses from a University to offset your low GPA unlike in the US. What do you suggest I could do to further bolster my profile & make it more competitive.
4. Before you suggest of maybe deferring my MBA by a year or two, I would like to add that I'm keen on doing it next year. It cant wait any longer due to prior commitments & family responsibilities.

Thanks for your time. I so appreciate the great work you guys do of helping us newbies. God bless you!

OasisGC · Answer

Hello, Please find my insights GMAT - Your GMAT is decent enough for top 20 US programs, so GMAT score is not a hindrance anymore for you in your journey to top b-schools. Do not worry about your GPA. Your work ex - Your work experience is a bit on lower side considering the experience that you have gained over a period of two years. Your tenure with two respective giants is short, so the adcom may think that you might not have learned much from those two experiences. Your experience at start up is a good punch, but this would have been much better if first 2/3 years of your work ex were more meaningful. Do not worry about the aspects that you are not good at, every applicant has one or the other weak areas, its how you defend yourself in your essays. You should ideally shortlist 5/6 schools on the basis of your choices, the choice must have 2 dream schools , 3 realistic ones and 2 safety nets. MBA - Region and your concerns about job market Your concerns about post MBA opportunities in US is very debatable

, I am sure there are so many opinions across, the best approach is to talk to a few current students of different schools and talk to a few alums (indians). I know this is time consuming, but this is how it is at its best, believe me its worth doing this exercise. In terms of other regions, UK and Europe are going through very tough times, and you would have a challenge in finding a job post your MBA in these regions, but again do not look MBA with a perspective of next 3/5 years. Asia -- you can explore options such as HKUST, NUS, CEIBS etc, these might not be as good as top 10 US schools, but if you wanna settle in Asia, these are good options. Investment in MBA -- this is a very subjective aspect, none of the regions or schools can actually give you an assured comfort.I would suggest that you plan your budget, shortlist schools and explore options for finance. Everyone has to go through this investment exercise.

And after all, if investment in MBA is the biggest concern for you, I would also suggest you to explore one year programs from IIMs (except IIMA) As far as area of attack i see in your profile is Leadership - you can work out some leadership experience at work or outside work. Hope this helps

zpotm · Answer

Thanks a lot Oasis for your valuable feedback. Whatever concerns I have regarding job market/ geographical location/ investments are secondary in nature. My primary objective is to get into a top B-school.

Can you please advice as to how I should go about shortlisting schools and segregating them into the 3 categories you mentioned. Can I do anything else to strengthen my profile?

Thanks in advance

OasisGC · Answer

Hello,

You can shortlist schools on the basis of priorities and other factors

You should ideally first decide on the region you wanna settle at post your MBA, then you should look for the best possible options at the given region ( i am not very sure about which region are you comfortable the most ).

Once you identify schools, you must look at the budget for the school, possibility of work in second work, scholarship, loans etc., now all these details are very unique, so you have to talk to alums and current students of the school.

With reference to bifurcation, again you are the decision maker, the broad idea is to spread the risk and enhance the spectrum of choices, so even if you do not make it to your dream schools, you have something in your hand to take decision for.

Hope this helps

zpotm · Answer

Thanks a lot Oasis. I will do some research and keep you in loop

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