MBA 2013

Question

Hello to all.

Well i am a graduate in civil engineering:

My academics are as given below:

10th - 2000 (ICSE) -- 80 %
12th - 2002 (CBSE) -- 70 %
B Tech - 2004-2008 -- 7.46/10 
CFA Level -1 cleared in June 2010
CFA Level - II given June 2011
CIPM Certification holder
NCFM Level - B

Presently working with NTPC Ltd. India as Engineer Contracts, its a power utility maharatna company. (Since August 2008)

I want to pursue an MBA in finance. Planning to write GMAT in August first week.

Have no idea about the application procedure.

Aiming for top B-Schools.

Please guide me in the making of SOP and tell me the books i should start studying.

Regards

Vinay K

bakfed · Answer

Focus on GMAT and get as high of a score as possible. In terms of books, if you're talking about GMAT-prepping books, look into our GMAT section of the forum and you'll see a whole bunch of good stuff. Depending on your strengths and weakness, then you can make better choices for yourself. As for me, I was fairly bad at sentence correction, so I tackled that part with ManhattanGMAT's sentence correction guide.

vinaykushwaha · Answer

@ bakfed
thanks for the response. have today ordered Manhattan SC ... started off with OG today.... my target is 720+ . Planning to give GMAT in August first week. 2-3 hours daily + sunday...

what do you people say??

btw m not good in grammar and english.... and please let me know how to prepare the SOP and which university to apply for and when?

bakfed · Answer

This is what I'd recommend you:
Study for GMAT. While you study, visit this forum and check out the numerous postings on applications and such. You'll gain much more information by browsing through it and learning. But here's a simple breakdown of what you should expect:

Each b-school will ask you for the following information:
A set of essays that you have to write
Letters of recommendation (2, or sometimes 3 letters)
Extracurricular activities that you have participated in or are participating in
College grades (or transcript)
And various other minor materials, such as demographics and personal information

The application calendar year typically goes from October to May.
Each school is typically divided into 3 different rounds, with the first round's deadline in October, second round's deadline in January, and third round's deadline in March. You have to turn in your complete application by the deadline to be considered for that specific round. You will typically hear back your result before the next round is due. You can only turn in one application per school per application year. You also typically want to have your GMAT score already before you commit to a specific round.

In terms of which schools to apply for, it depends on what your post-MBA goal is, where you'd lie to work, whether you need sponsorship, whether you'll require financial assistance or scholarship (some internationals, due to financing issue, will only go for schools that will give scholarships), and of course, your unknown GMAT score. Therefore, it's probably easier for you to just focus on your GMAT right now. If you get 700+, there's a certain tier of school you should focus on. If you're in the mid-600's, there's another tier.

vinaykushwaha · Answer

@ barfed

again thanks for the response.

I will definately be concentrating on GMAT please let me know if i have start preparing my SOP now?? i mean how much time does it normally take?

i have heard that some seniors out here are helpful in scruitnizing ur SOP ...

so please let me know how and when to start writing a draft SOP?

bakfed · Answer

Not trying to beat around the bushes, but it's really hard to tell you where to start without a GMAT score. Finish your GMAT, get a score you're satisfied, then worry about the applications.

If you truly truly truly want to start looking at what you need to do, go ahead and sign up for an application to Columbia's "Early Decision" application. On this "ED", you get to see what schools ask for in terms of academics and extracurriculars, as well as essays questions for Columbia (each school differs by a bit, more or less). There's no real "SOP" in doing your application. A typical good application will take about a month or two to complete, but most of that time is really just polishing your essays and since it's counterproductive to read your own essays everyday, people like to get a fresh sense of the essay by waiting a week or however long before going back to reading it.

But anyway, check out the ED if you really want to know.

The biggest obstacle you have to face right now is your GMAT. Take it when you're ready. Then you can think about the different schools that you should apply for.

vinaykushwaha · Answer

@ bakfed Thanks for the reply

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