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Target Schools Suggestion 29 Indian Male

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farhanchaudhary
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Target Schools Suggestion 29 Indian Male [#permalink] New post   29 May 2014, 04:59
After giving GMAT within 2.5 month scoring a 690 and deciding to apply to only 1 school last year, I would like to think I am a little wiser than before:)

Here is my profile
Indian Male 29 years old(NO IT BACKGROUND :-D )
Masters in Management from a Tier 2 University (Human Resources Majors)
Bachelors in Commerce(Accounting)

Work experience:(Will complete 5 Years by applications)
Currently working with a Retail Distributor as a Brand Manager for a French Cosmetics and Skincare brand, Pan India. Lead a team of Beauty Consultants.
International Work Experience with a leading Retail Chain as an Assistant Buyer for 11 Countries in Middle East(Dubai).
Assistant Merchandiser for a leading Indian Retailer in India.
Have an experience of working with people from different backgrounds and diverse cultures.
Shifted industry within six months of post grad degree(was very difficult to convince people to hire me in a Marketing Role after getting a degree in HR, but did it anyways, since marketing is the place for me)

Extra-curriculars:

Except for participating in College plays and Dance( Undergrad years) nothing much.

2 things that didn't go well during ISB interview :
1. I am doing decently well in my current job so how MBA would add value, since If i want to be in retail i am on the right track
2. Why a second masters( My first masters was in Human resources and I decided to shift to marketing & sales function in a different firm, immediately after working i an HR role for 2 months. (Too Fickle???)

Below is the list of colleges I will be targeting for 2015 intakes, this is a first list of 10 schools of which I am going to shortlist 6 :

No School
1 LBS or
1 INSEAD
2 HKUST
3 Kellog (Confused about this, 2 years and also high investment level, I have kept Kellogs because its the best in marketing)
4 Cambridge Judge
5 SAID
6 Warwick
7 Cranfield
8 Bocconi
9 ISB
10 NUS

I have selected these school on the basis of their faculty for marketing, companies recruiting for marketing and strategy courses. I am going to retake GMAT and target a score of 750+ to improve my chances. I consider 1-4 as stretch, 5-7 as Reach and 8-10 as Match.

With so many experts at GMATCLUB, I would love to know your point of view on this list and my chances with them.
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mgg234
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Concentration: Strategy, Finance
Schools: CBS '16 (D) Anderson '16 (A$) Duke '16 (A) Kellogg '16 (M) Booth '16 (WD)
GMAT 1: 750 Q49 V44
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Re: Target Schools Suggestion 29 Indian Male [#permalink] New post   29 May 2014, 11:03
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This advice really only applies to American MBA programs, I'll let other people opine on the rest but:


1: Coming from India, you really need to get your GMAT score up if you want to get into a Kellogg level school, its super competitive even outside the IT crowd. Even for an American, 690 is low.

2: Be careful about going into marketing as an international - many americans companies don't sponsor internationals, and there is an institutional bias against them since it's felt that won't intuitively understand the cultural landscape of Americans.
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Re: Target Schools Suggestion 29 Indian Male [#permalink] New post   29 May 2014, 11:42
mgg234 wrote:
This advice really only applies to American MBA programs, I'll let other people opine on the rest but:


1: Coming from India, you really need to get your GMAT score up if you want to get into a Kellogg level school, its super competitive even outside the IT crowd. Even for an American, 690 is low.

2: Be careful about going into marketing as an international - many americans companies don't sponsor internationals, and there is an institutional bias against them since it's felt that won't intuitively understand the cultural landscape of Americans.


Thanks for your advice.
I am still not sure about Kellogg, but I have still kept it as a target school cuz of the strong marketing curriculum. After working in 2 different markets in Asia I understand the importance of consumer preferences and identifying with the local culture. Having said that my target is not to work in US but having the network to come back to work in Asia pacific and in future Europe. Does it acts as a hindrance if your post MBA goal is to work in a completely different region?

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CrackverbalGMAT
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Re: Target Schools Suggestion 29 Indian Male [#permalink] New post   02 Jun 2014, 01:19
farhanc85 wrote:
mgg234 wrote:
This advice really only applies to American MBA programs, I'll let other people opine on the rest but:


1: Coming from India, you really need to get your GMAT score up if you want to get into a Kellogg level school, its super competitive even outside the IT crowd. Even for an American, 690 is low.

2: Be careful about going into marketing as an international - many americans companies don't sponsor internationals, and there is an institutional bias against them since it's felt that won't intuitively understand the cultural landscape of Americans.


Thanks for your advice.
I am still not sure about Kellogg, but I have still kept it as a target school cuz of the strong marketing curriculum. After working in 2 different markets in Asia I understand the importance of consumer preferences and identifying with the local culture. Having said that my target is not to work in US but having the network to come back to work in Asia pacific and in future Europe. Does it acts as a hindrance if your post MBA goal is to work in a completely different region?

Posted from GMAT ToolKit


In general, no.
But given your profile and goal of working in retail marketing, yes - could be a hindrance.
There are high chances that you would have to return to India to look for a role of your liking after an MBA from any of the European schools on your list. So b prepared for this. And if your goal is to return to India, then think about whether this will make financial sense since you will be earning in INR. :)

The first 2 schools on your list are Dream category for a large proportion of applicants and I would suggest that you treat them that way. You definitely need to increase your GMAT score to 730+ to become competitive for some of the schools on your list.

Also spend some time thinking about what went wrong during your ISB interview last year. You have mentioned it as a Match school - yet, there must have been problem areas. The fact that you could not justify why an MBA makes sense at this stage is a red flag, not just for ISB, but for all other schools. This is something you will be questioned on repeatedly.

Let me know if you need help with doing a Ding Analysis. That would be a good starting point to deciding what to do next.

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Gowri

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pytha1gurus
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Re: Target Schools Suggestion 29 Indian Male [#permalink] New post   02 Jun 2014, 01:41
About your goals: Whatever you aspire for in the future, why can't you start those roles from Next monday?

Think about it this way: what are the challenges you will face in that setting? What are your handicaps that you will be exposed to while doing that.

In addition, I saw the list of the school, however, I could not see a list of the employers that you are targeting. Do you know what companies you want to work for? Sears? Rotational leadership programs( Cross Functional Leadership programs). Or are you considering places such as Dupont? GE and Johnson and Johnson will have marketing cum/Sales programs. Both are amazing as the exposure to the global leadership will come with a strong learning curve. However, at your age, and with your work experience, schools want more mature thought process. Be specific ! Tell them why can't you start these roles from next Monday( Figuratively speaking), and be specific about what will a school do for you.

Also remember, some of these firms( Johnson & Johnson and GE) hire from international schools, rotate you around the globe for two years, and place you back in India at salary higher than those offered to IIM Grads( Not sure about ISB).

When did you finish your masters? Which year?
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Re: Target Schools Suggestion 29 Indian Male [#permalink]
02 Jun 2014, 01:41

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