Profile Evaluation

Question

Hi, Been a silent member of this forum and thread for a long time. Now, the time has finally come to post my profile

Location - India GMAT - 740 (Q50,V40), AWA-4.5, IR-8 TOEFL - 108 (R-28, L-28, S-24, W-28) UG - CGPA of 8.01 (on a scale of 10, with class highest being 8.7) from a National Institute of Technology, India WE - 40+ months experience in a Fortune500 financial services company as S/W professional. Got various awards and appreciations. Hoping the recommenders to highlight the differences from other candidates. Job description includes everything as Extreme Programming approach is followed in the project. The project serves 300+ financial institutions in the US. Also completed certifications such as MCTS(technical), CUES(Domain) etc. Extra Curricular - 1. 3 times Lawn Tennis district champion and 7 time State-level tennis player 2. Trophies from various tournaments in Badminton and Table Tennis as well. Fan of outdoor games. 3. Represented college in Inter-University Lawn Tennis tournament 4. Head of LAN Gaming tournament in college, the biggest event of a National Level cultural fest 5. Runner-up in a corporate level tournament Various other participations and awards in school and college. Other Achievements - 1. National Talent Search Examination scholar, one of the most respected and rigorous scholarship offered by Govt. of India 2. Headboy and House Captain in school 3. Fecilitated by the Education Minister for securing 92.6% marks in 10th standard. Was also the dirtrict topper for the same. Also won various quizzes and debates in school Colleges: I am looking at schools like U of M Ross, Univ of Chicago Booth, Duke Fuqua, MIT Sloan, HBS (i think this is way out of my league) etc. Basically, looking for schools on east coast. I have got some concerns which are as follows: 1. Is my TOEFL score enough for top schools. The speaking section wnet bad because i could not finish in time for a couple of questions. 2. Will it be very difficult for me to enter industry like Automotive with work-ex like mine. I am doing MBA mostly for the purpose of changing career path. 3. I know i am in a very competitive demographic, but the combination of domain (financial) and tech (S/W developer) is not that common and considered quite lucrative. Do you think highlighting the domain will work to my benefit, or the dreadful technical monotony catch up!! It'll be great if you could help me in clearing out my concerns. I am in early stages of application for Round 2, and hopefully your feedback will help in shaping up a strong application. Thanks!!

bryantmichaels · Answer

Vikram thanks for your post, and for taking the time to come out of the shadows to post your profile

You certainly do on the one hand, run the risk of being lost in a sea of high tech Indian applicants, but your solid GMAT score and your unique combination of work experiences may indeed help you break out of this pool to get some attention. HBS will indeed want to see a 110+ on the TOEFL, so not sure if you are willing to retake it or not, but if not, you might replace HBS in your application group and pick another school such as Virginia (BTW not sure how Ross and Chicago made it onto your list if you are looking for schools on the East coast??), but if you like Fuqua, you might also consider Kellogg. B-school is a great time to switch careers of course, but you will need to convince the adcom you have what it takes to make that switch. Don't leave it to them to infer the pathway from what you have done to what you want to do, but rather implicitly spell it out for them how you plan to achieve it. The more schools believe you will be attractive to recruiters in your target area, the more they will get behind your candidacy. Make sure if you have the HB1 Visa, you let them know as well, since employability is a big factor in admissions these days with the high unemployment rate which still persists in the US. If you have viable employment options back in India in your target area, make sure you let them know that as well.. Overall your best bet is to do a convincing job of at least connecting what you have done in the past to what you want to do in the future. I hope this helps you.

Vikram3057 · Answer

Thanks for the feedback. I stand corrected on the location part, what I am aiming for are the schools not on the west coast

. Totally agree with your point regarding the employment opportunities both in India and US after making the kind of switch I am planning. So, I did some more research and have concluded that IT consultancy/Strategic Management can indeed help me in getting to the desired vertical, but might take longer. I have also decided to consider schools ranked between 20-30 in the US. So, some of the places I am applying are 1) Maryland, Smith 2) Emory, Gouizeta 3) Minnesota, Carlson. In a somewhat higher segment, I am thinking 1) Kelley, Indiana 2) Michigan, Ross 3) Virginia, Darden(read this is great for Strategy Mgmt.) 4) Duke, Fuqua 5) Northwestern, Kellogg 6) Kenan-Flagler, UNC So, What do you think for this list as a whole. I know these are a lot of schools, but waiting for another year will be quite tough. Also, do you think applying to higher ranked schools like Columbia, Chicago Booth, MIT Sloan, Cornell etc. will reap better results than the ones already in my list.

bryantmichaels · Answer

If I were you, I'd definitely put a couple of applications into the top schools--you never know when the stretching will yield a favorable result and you definitely won't get in if you don't try

Applying to a lot of schools takes time, but it can be done--the real rub is in getting enough recommenders, since you will not find anyone willing to do 6-8 recommendations. Usually 3 or 4 would be the max, so reach out and try to find more folks who can vouch for you and save the best ones for the best schools.

Vikram3057 · Answer

Thanks a lot Bryan. Maybe I will apply to Columbia and Cornell also. :gl

bryantmichaels · Answer

Coding and software development is becoming a critical part of just about every business, so I don't see it as a detriment for your career at all, but rather an asset--this probably goes double for automotive in the soon to be age of driverless vehicles. It's quite a different story when it comes to b-school, however, since there are throngs of SW professionals seeking MBAs. You must think about how you stand out vs. others with a similar background and focus on the anecdotes which distinguish you from them. 110 Tofel would provide better chances so consider doing it again, but your GMAT is stellar. You mission is to ensure the adcoms that you have a personality and teamwork skills since a high GMAT sometimes calls that into question. If you can sell them on the whole package, you should be in a good position with your targets. You will have to highlight your background of course, but try to do it in a novel way--tell them  why  you like software and not just  that  you like it.

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