hi there

Question

Hey all, GMAT - 640

Work Exp - Around 5yrs in Telecommunication industry

MBA - Full time from US / UK / Aust / Europe Would be great if you could help me in analysing how i should go about applying in b-schools. cheers 8-)

Accepted.com · Answer

My ebook,   Best Practices for 2005 MBA Admissions   goes into great detail about choosing the schools you should apply to. For a short (and free) article on the same subject, please see  How to Choose Where to Apply .

Hjort · Answer

Bravo for keeping an open mind about where you want to apply. However, it would be helpful to know a bit more about your background and interests so that we can help identify programs for you to consider.

Hjort

destinationUS · Answer

Thanks Linda & Hjort

As i mentioned earlier my GMAT score is 640. I was a little disappointed as i was scoring higher in the practice tests. I scored in quantitative and lesser in verbal. Nevermind as i believe a little here and there doesnt really make an impact. 

On my background, iam from india and and engineer by profession. I have been working for past 5years. Iam currently a Solution Architect with top telecommunication provider. In the past few years i have , in the networking field, worked in Operations, Planning, Project Management, and solutioning ( both technical & pre-sales) . 

The reason i planned & took GMAT this yr was that i felt to be a genuine MBA , 5 or more yrs of work experience is a must. I have certain schools in my mind. I personally beleive that i have the required stuff to get through good schools who accepts my GMAT score as i have strong references, GPA, work exp. 

I hope from the above detail, you would be able to judge my scope in a better way. 

cheers

Hjort · Answer

Thanks for the update.

What are your career goals?

In the meantime, perhaps these schools will interest you:

Maryland (Smith)

Queen's University MBA for Science & Technology (although you did not mention Canada I figured you would consider it)

Hjort

Accepted.com · Answer

What do you want to do after your MBA?

destinationUS · Answer

Hi

I would like to be a consultant in the field of telecommunications. Yes thats what i want to be though i have been thinking of my scope as a financial analayst or something similar. I have heard from my pals in the schools that once you are in, we come to know more career options and there is always a possibility of changing tracks. 

cheers

Accepted.com · Answer

There is quite a bit of difference between telecommunications consultant and financial analyst, but OK. 

It is true that once you are in school you can change your mind or enter a different field, however for application purposes it is very important that you present yourself as an applicant with a clear, specific goal. There are some schools that would be good both in consulting or in finance, but other schools are stronger in one than the other. Some schools may have stronger ties to specific industries than others (UT and energy, NYU and Wall St for example). So you need to narrow your focus in order to convince the schools that you are right for them and they are right for you.

Even so, look into Indiana, Emory, Wake Forest, Cornell, and UNC.

destinationUS · Answer

Dear Linda,

Thank you for your post. I had shortlisted Cornell, Emory & UNC earlier. Now that you have suggested the same i will be going ahead and applying in those schools for sure. I need to do some research in terms of rankings for Wake Forest, Babcock. 

Is there any site ,which has the details of all schools like application deadlines etc , that can be used as a reference. 

cheers

Hjort · Answer

Hi,

I would suggest the following additional schools for student who are serious about finance

Rochester (extremely strong in economics and finance)

Ohio State

Vanderbilt (includes the law and business program below)

Law & Business Program
While Vanderbilt delivers a finance education that is extendable into any career in finance, many students that enroll in the MBA program are pursuing careers in securities and investment banking. For this career, Vanderbilt offers an advantage that is unmatched by any other elite business school. In a recently developed program with the Vanderbilt Law School, students are now able to receive critical legal training in securities and corporate law through the Law and Business program. This does not refer to the JD/MBA program. Instead, this new program allows MBA students to take advanced law courses and avoid the 4-year time commitment of the Vanderbilt JD/MBA program. An example of courses in the Law and Business program include Securities Regulation, Corporations, and M&A Law and Finance. Combining the intellectual prowess of the Vanderbilt MBA program and the Vanderbilt Law School results in students that are superbly prepared for the demands of the securities markets.

Hjort

destinationUS · Answer

Hi Hjort,

I was considering Rochester for sure. Let me check out Vanderbilt too. Could you help me out with B-schools for tech consultancy in addition to ones suggested by Linda. 

How about INSEAD in my case. 

Cheers

Hjort · Answer

Hi again,

I would check out Maryland, Queen's, and Case Western if you have not done so already. 

INSEAD is an impressive school with strong consulting hiring. However, I had the (possibly mistaken) impression that you were concentrating on near elite and transelite schools.

Hjort

Accepted.com · Answer

The  Busnessweek site has alot of information, but it doesn't have in one spot the questions and application deadlines. Frankly, your best bet is to go to the schools' sites directly and download the information.

Good luck!

hi there

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