USA B schools for my profile

Question

Hi,

I am looking for a top B school in the USA.

My profile looks like the following:

Name: Sridhar
Age: 27
Nationality: Indian

Work Experience:

Total experience in years: 5 years and 1 month

Company worked for: Infosys Limited

Brief description of job:
Joined Infosys in July 2008 as a fresher and underwent generic and stream specific (Network) training in Infosys Mysore Campus till Jan 2009.

Systems Engineer – Jan 2009 to March 2010
Senior Systems Engineer – April 2010 to Sep 2011
Technology Analyst – Oct 2011 to present
Expecting to become Technology Lead in Oct 2013

International Experience – 13 months in Paris, France at the client location (worked on behalf of Infosys)
Led a team of 6 in Paris (client location) between April 2012 and May 2013.
Currently leading a team of 4 for a different project.

Education Background:

10th Standard
School – Lawrence School, Lovedale (Nilgiris District)
Board – CBSE
Percentage– 81.8%

12th Standard
School – SRV Higher Secondary School, Rasipuram
Board – Tamil Nadu Higher Secondary Education
Percentage – 94%

Under Graduation
College – Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering (SVCE), Affiliated to Anna University, Chennai
Discipline – Electronics & Communication Engineering
Percentage – 63%

GMAT:
Date Taken – 27-01-2012
Total – 660
Quants – 48 (78%)
Verbal – 33 (67%)
AWA – 5.5

Extra Curricular Activities:

• A passionate runner. Completed two semi-marathons and one 10 km run in Paris, France.
• Completed one 10 km run for a NGO, Kaagaz India in Bangalore.
• Completed three levels of LA Cuban Salsa from the Russian Cultural Center, Chennai in 2009
• Completed the short term type writing course. Can type at 45 words per minute without looking at the keyboard.
• Played the bugle and trumpet for the school band between class 7 and 10.
• Vice President of the Leo Club, a social club in Engineering College

I am looking for a career in management consulting in operations or strategy after my general management MBA.

Could you please evaluate my profile and let me know the top B schools that I can apply to in the USA.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Regards,
Sridhar

Admissionado · Answer

Hello there Sridhar,
Good to hear from you my friend. Let's dig into your profile a bit and have a look at things. I think that your biggest plus in your profile is your leadership. You have two big leadership stints, and this is from what I can see the single biggest advantage you have. The toughest thing for you is your applicant pool - as an Indian Male IT guy, things will be HARD! There is a lot of competition out there, and some of it has better grades and a better GMAT.

If you are set on applying to US B-schools, I'd say that your likely target range for schools are schools ranked about 30-60 (I'm writing about the US News rankings, in case you wonder). But to make sure you get into the BEST of those schools, the most important thing (besides that you write fantastic and impressive essays) is that you do what you can to stand out. Even with your fantastic leadership experience, there is a danger that you sound like other candidates, esp. given the size of your pool, so you need to think about, even NOW what you can do to be different and unique (and this can be through your stories, your writing, your tone, your experiences... anything you have).

Hope this helps!

sridhar9504 · Answer

Hello Sir,

Finally after a lot of rejects from Krannert, PSU, Foster and Fisher, I now have admits from 3 schools with good scholarships.

1. Tulane Freeman - 60% scholarship
2. Mason School of Business - 60% scholarship
3. George Washington University - 50,000 $ scholarship.

Please could you help me choose the best among these from an Indian student's point of view. Since all these schools are providing me almost the same scholarship, I would like to choose the best school in terms of placements for International candidates, cost of living in/around campus and a better university in terms of facilities.

Also, I intend to be a strategic consultant in the manufacturing industry after my MBA.

Please help me in choosing which one.

Regards,
Sridhar

Admissionado · Answer

Hey Sridhar,
So first of all congratulations!!!! That is awesome to hear that you got three accepts.

The first thing is in terms of rankings. I generally tell people to go to the best school they get into. Here, the rankings are quite similar and I don't think that there is a big difference.

The second thing is in terms of employment. If you want to get a REAL idea of what you might get after graduation, it's likely not enough to rely on "international student placements". It's just waaaaaaay too general as a statistic to be of any use. Instead you should be doing a bit of research on: a) where do Indian graduates from my industry end up going? b) How are the school's placements in my industry? Which IT firms hire? As far as I know, GW or Mason are a bit better located in terms of Technology firms and opportunities, but you should check this out, preferably by speaking (or emailing) with students and alumni

The third thing is in terms of region - These three schools are in pretty different places, and as the jobs you will likely find will be in these regions, keep that in mind when you make your selection. For it's not just the place you will study, but likely also live in the years to come.

I also think that personal feeling for place and school and region should play an important role in your selection when the schools are similarly ranked. You want to go to a place where you feel good, where you will be at your best, where you will be in the best position to learn most and meet the most people. And what I would suggest is that you take a trop and visit all three schools before you select. I know I know, it's far and expensive and you don't have time. But go anyways. It's the single best piece of advice I can give you in your specific case.

I hope this helps,

And good luck with your MBA voyage
(and let me know what you choose!!!)

Best,

JF

sridhar9504 · Answer

Hi Jon,

Thanks for your reply. In a recent turn of events, I have been offered admission by UC-Irvine too with a decent scholarship of 25000$.

Hence, it is my first choice when compared to Tulane of GW as it has a FT ranking of 48 and US News ranking of 45 and also its a hub for tech companies which is where I want to land up in.

Please let me know if you have any points (bad and good) about UC Irvine.

Regards,
Sridhar

Admissionado · Answer

Sridhar, Let's put it this way: problem solved

Have a blast at Irvine!

sridhar9504 · Answer

Thanks a lot Jon!! I hope I do have fun too!!

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