Honest opinions solicited.

Question

Dear All,

I'm back after a long hiatus.

Just to introduce myself : A quintessential IT male-Indian(the rest of the stereotype follow).

Age - 27
GMAT-720
U-Grad - Engineer - Computer Science from a State school in INDIA
WorkEx - 5 years ( will be 6 when I matriculate for fall'06)
Work Domain - IT services for the leading IT sourcing firm in INDIA
Intl exp - 2 years.
domain- Financial 
current role - Project Leader
USP - multi-technology platform specialist.

Applying To -
Stanford,MIT,ROSS,DUKE and CMU.(also Indian School of Business)

 Why MBA ? 
Wish to take up the IT sales and strategy stream.Always seen myself as a salesman and a strategy guy.

 Extra-curr : 
Forest trekking(50 kms) - 10 cosecutive years.
Long jump athlete.
active Toastmaster.
participated in Enviromental awareness activities.

Other experiences - Expert printing machine operator, Placement coordinator during U-grad.

I'm half way through my applications/essays and recommendations(hope my do turn up) am gunning for R1.

Now the question.

Have I selected the right schools for my profile/future and what are my chances. Please ?

PS : is there anything I can do to make my profile more impressive(the make urself distinct tips).

Regards,
HMTG.

FN · Answer

well...u have a good profile..but keep in mind...all the other desi score 750 and higher...and are all IT guys...all are project leads....so ask yourself why you and not some other guy....when you answer that question...thats when you will be going to the biz school of your choice...

HowManyToGo · Answer

You are right to an extent fresinha12 ! Thanks a lot for your views.

Linda, I would like to have your views on the strength of my candidature to the schools I've mentioned.

Thanks a lot in anticipation of you response.

HMTG.

Tyr · Answer

Sales is not something MBA program teaches and strategy is not something a salesmen does.
IMHO schools will be confused looking at your goals and how they mix with their program. Not to mention that salesmen rarely make it to the B-schools (that's what I've heard)

HowManyToGo · Answer

tyr, I know exactly what you mean. But you have got to look at it w.r.t to the IT industry especially IT services.
I think IT marketing translates to IT sales (coz in IT-services we don't have a separate IT marketing function, I agree in a conventional industry eg. FMCG , it makes sense for Mktg guys make decisions based on market research/brand positioning etc and direct sales effort). 
So when I talk IT sales it means --> IT business development. IT strategy, because I need to work out reasons for IT enabled business transformations.

PS : I understand the difference between Markteting and sales ( M = S + strategy), and I might agree with you for IT products.

HMTG

Honest opinions solicited.

For how many schools do you think I have a competitive profile.

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards