realistic chances

Question

Dear Linda,

I am outlining my profile below. Kindly tell me what, realistically, are my chances of making it to a top 10 school.

 Undergrad : Engineering (Telecom)
Other degrees: Pursuing a one year long distance program in Journalism
 at the London School of Journalism
 GPA:  3.2
 Age:  24
 Sex:  Male
 Work ex:  2 years
 Languages known:  English, Hindi(mother tongue), German(Level 1)
 Nationality:  Indian


I plan to apply for next year so my work-ex will be 3. I am a software professional and have been working in the financial services domain(our organization is a world leader in its category).

My career progress in the short span has been good. In just a year I have been entrusted to lead a project with two people. Also I am handling all client communication and am the Single Point Contact for all proposals made for certain services to our organization.

Further I am also the secretary of the cultural committee in the organization and steer the committee of ten people.


I take a very keen interest in writing(which I can demonstrate through the diploma programme I am pursuing). I was the Editor of my college journal too.

 Other leadership traits:  Was the placement co-ordinator for the Telecom department in college which meant interfacing with all the recruiters who came to our campus.
Was also the house captain in school (the school had students divided into 6 houses and I led one of them) and in that capacity steered the house to overall first position.

I also play scrabble at the national level and have won an event at the regional level. Apart from that I have numerous trophies in debating/writing and sports activities. 

On the social activities front, I am invloved with a local organization which works for the upliftment of street children. Through my company, I have organized fund-raisers for them.

Lastly, I will also get very good recos from my manager.

I am taking my GMAT this Friday and I have to decide which 5 colleges to report my scores. It would be a great help if you could tell me 
where I have realistic chances assuming I manage to get a GMAT score of 710-720.

Would be very very thankful to you for guidance on this issue.

Regards,
Manan

Accepted.com · Answer

Manan, 

Assuming that you earn a 700+ GMAT you will have a competitive profile for a top fifteen school. What do you want to do after your MBA? After receiving that ifo, I will recommend some schools to you.

manan · Answer

Deatr Linda,

I took the GMAT couple of days back and scored a 720(Q-50, V-38).

Well as for majors, I am keen on entrepreneurship or getting into marketing for media/communications.

Please guide me now that you have my profile anad also the actual GMAT score. Also should I think of taking the GMAT again?

Regards,
Manan

Accepted.com · Answer

I have a few questions:

What have you been doing profesisonally?
Where did you go to college and what was your major and grade point average?
Are you in the US? Do you prefer to do your MBA in the US or elsewhere? If the latter where?
Do you have any community service? If so what? Any international experience?

Thank you.

manan · Answer

Dear Linda,

I will provide you a point by point answer for all your queries.

<What have you been doing profesisonally?>
I have outlined my responsibility in the first post in this thread. To give you a clearer picture, however, I am also attaching my resume. Hope that will help

<Where did you go to college and what was your major and grade point average? >
Please refer to my resume for the same.

<Are you in the US? Do you prefer to do your MBA in the US or elsewhere? If the latter where?>
No. I am in India.
US is my first preference. Other schools I am targetting outside US are IMD, Insead and IESE

<Do you have any community service? If so what? >
I have been a voluntary blood donor for the last 4 years. Apart from that I have been involved with orgainizing fund raisers and collection/awarenes drives for a local charity that works for the upliftment of street children.(kindly refer my first post)

Any international experience?
As of now... nothing but I will be deputed to US for six months January next year.

I hope I have been able to answer your questions satisfactorily. Please refer to my first post and resume and kindly let me know what realistically are my chances of making it to a top 10 school in US.
Should I wait for a year or will it help to have a higher GMAT score? Please let me know if there are any minor gaps I could work on before I apply. In short please feel free to critique my profile the way you want to.

Awaiting your valuable response.

Warm Regards,
Manan

Attachments

manan-resume-Monitor.doc [68.5 KiB]
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Hjort · Answer

Hi,

My main issues would be the duration of work experience and level of international exposure. These seem to be especially important for the European elite schools like IMD.

Best,

Hjort

Accepted.com · Answer

Manan,

First of all I owe you an apology for my initial curt response to this post. I simply didn't realize that you had provided the information in an earlier post. I'm sorry. Thanks also for the additional information.

No you should not retake the GMAT with a 720 and the breakdown you provided above. Schools you should consider: Wharton, Kellogg, Duke, Columbia, NYU, CHicago, Michigan, UCLA, and Haas. Look into USC and UT as safeties.

Good luck!

manan · Answer

Dear Linda,

Thanks a lot for the input. The only major concern I have is the duration of my work-ex. Keeping that in mind how competitive would my profile be at Wharton/Kellogg/Columbia?

Among the schools that you have listed, would it be possible for you to narrow down 3-4 schools- most likely to consider my profile favourably?

Also which is the most dependable college ranking(US News/Business Week/FT)?

I know I have been asking a lot of questions and am really thankful to you for your time.

Regards, 
Manan

Hjort · Answer

UCLA Anderson comes to mind as an elite school that is especially strong in entrepreneurship and has strong media connections.

Best,

Hjort

Accepted.com · Answer

With 3 years of work experience you would be on the young side at CBS and Kellogg, but not ridiculously so. Lack of work experience would be more of an issue at Wharton, although considering the breadth of your experience it isn't out of the question, just a less likely admit.

I would recommend you apply to 4-6 schools over the first and second rounds. If I were to narrow down the list of schools for you to consider, I would include Columbia, Chicago, UCLA, UT, USC, and Michigan. 

Although US News tends to mirror most common perception, I wouldn't look at it as "best" or the others as inferior. They each measure different criteria. US News quantifies certain criteria, like GMAT scores and GPA among other factors and surveys b-school deans. BW surveys b-schools customers: students, recent alumni, and recruiters. FT takes a more global view with perhaps a Euro-centric focus. So recognize that none of them are a truly objective all-round ranking. But each reflects different criteria. Understand the criteria and then use the rankings accordingly to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the schools relative to each other.

Good luck!

Good luck!

manan · Answer

Thanks Linda. Thanks Hjort. 

Your advice has been most helpful.

Regards,
Manan

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