Need some advice on advancement

Question

Profile:
undergrad EE & Comp. eng. 3.0 (top 20 eng school).
Grad school Comp. sci 3.3 good school
GMAT 720
Work exp 5+ years in the IT field. Thinking of career change but flexible.
Currently leaning toward FT MBA.

Target schools(leaning into FT MBA with concentration on E-commerce, finance, management):
Yale <- first choice because family lives there (so less burden financially)
Johnson
stern
cornell
Others are in consideration...

I am more interested in schools on the East(family lives) and West coast(love CA) plus schools in illinois.

i went through the GMAT scores and 720 seems to be the mean in many of the top schools so i "barely" made it there... I hope colleges will look at my Master degree GPA more since it is more recent... Can i please get a profile evaluation and possibly some reasonable target schools to add to the list?I also understand that there's only so many colleges one can apply to... my goal is to apply to ~7 schools with maybe 3-4 reach and 3-4 "on target".

Accepted.com · Answer

You are being very realistic and your choices are good. You may also want to consider  Duke ,  CMU Tepper ,  Ross ,  UCLA Anderson ,  Darden , and  UNC .

Best,
Linda Abraham

shaselai · Answer

any suggestion for "safer" schools? should i just submit 6 in R1 and possibly more if i get rejected by them all? Will there be enough time from waiting for R1 to finish and possibly submit more in R2? just trying to prepare in case R1 didnt go well... Or should I just apply to the colleges with R1 earliest then try the rest?

Accepted.com · Answer

Also consider UT Austin and Rochester if you want "safer" schools. Regarding timing, that depends on the notification dates of your round 1 submissions. Last year, many programs switched to notifying R1 applicants in mid December . Thus they could easily submit in early January if they did not get good news from their R1 schools. However, not all schools do that. If I were you submit to any schools that you really want to attend R1 -- especially if they have early notification dates. Then give yourself a few weeks off for good behavior. :-)

and by early November start work on R2 apps. Hopefully you will never submit them, but if necessary they will be well on their way to completion. You can apply R2 to your second choice schools or those that are more likely to admit you. Best, Linda

shaselai · Answer

Linda,

couple more followups..

1. Now is really early in the admission season for next year, if i start prepping now should i send my applications asap when R1 opens or wait a little and send it mid R1?

2. Many of the top schools i looked at has interview invite and some of the others have interview recommended. Should I initiate with the schools that has interview recommended or it wont matter much? Also, does the school decide if the interview will be phone/in person or my preference, and if it is my preference then in person is always the first choice right or phone is just as good if i cant make it.
 
thanks

Accepted.com · Answer

1. That is an excellent question. I think you are wise to start prepping early and writing as soon as the questions come out. However, even if you finish your application a month or two before it is due I recommend submitting much closer to the due date. Roughly two weeks before it's due, take it out and review. It's quite possible that the work you have done on later applications has clarified your thinking and will enable you to further improve and sharpen your essays. Make your changes, put the essays away for a day or two, proof the application one last time. Then submit about a week before the due date. 
2. Yes, if the interview is optional, initiative the interview and take advantage of the option. If you have a choice between in person or telephone, and the cost of in-person is not prohibitive, go for in person, especially if it is with an adcom member. Prepare for your interview using the  MBA Interview Feedback Database  and Accepted's  MBA Interview Prep Mini-course.

Best,
Linda

shaselai · Answer

Linda,

how much weight does my grad gpa count when adcom is comparing gpas? Will they just focus on undergrad? I am asking this because there are some schools like yale,tuck that has the 10-90% gpa range of ~3.1-3.8 and if they do compare my 3.26 instead of the 2.93 it could mean a lot. Is it up to the schools or there's a formula they follow?

I also used the latest stats from usnews to compile the following: some figures changed my mind for selecting schools... any suggestions on putting reaches/targets in or exchange? I based the selection (especially those "instead of") on employ rate, gpa range and some GMAT. if the adcom considers my undergrad gpa exclusively then i would still be within range of North carolina, georgetown , ross, virginia, duke,carnegie - although it is toward the lower end but my gmat is above their averages so it *could* balance out.

Round 1:
NYU (picked out of tuck and columbia)
yale
georgetown
Virginia (instead of Ross)
Carnegie (instead of duke)
Kellog

Other consideration:
tuck
colombia,
ross
duke

SO WANT TO GET IN BUT NEED MIRACLE:
haas & BOOTH but chances are slim....

Accepted.com · Answer

They will focus more on the undergraduate GPA, but they will take the grad GPA into account. Also, don't exaggerate the importance of the raw number. In most cases, the grad GPA is higher than the undergrad GPA.

HEre is how I would assess it. (As usual this is not cast in concrete. )

Round 1:
NYU (picked out of tuck and columbia) Reach
yale Reach
georgetown Competitive
Virginia (instead of Ross) Competitive
Carnegie (instead of duke) Competitive
Kellog Reach

Other consideration:
tuck Reach
colombia, Reach
ross Reach
duke Competitive

I agree that Booth and Haas are stretches.

Best,
Linda

shaselai · Answer

i see... it is more or less what i thought. which 2 of the reaches:
NYU,tuck,columbia,yale,kellog do you think i have the best chances at? I would love any of them. I will put in Duke or Ross as the other competitive instead of 3 reaches... thanks!

Accepted.com · Answer

NYU and Yale.

nirmalchawla · Answer

Hi Linda,

I have been reading all your replies and really appreciate them.
Below are some bullet points on my profile-
* Completed 4 years engineering degree from one of the top institute of India.
* Working with Accenture for last 3 years.
* Professional experience have been really good as I have received many awards and recognitions from client and management.
* Extra curric have been at undergrad level.

Could you please suggest the list of schools I should consider applying? I am still to write my GMAT.

bnagdev282 · Answer

Hi Linda,

I have been reading all your replies and really appreciate them.
Below are some bullet points on my profile-
* Completed 4 years engineering degree from one of the top institute of India.
* Working with Mastek for last 3.6 years with 2 years of client side experience.
* Extra curric have been at undergrad level.

Could you please suggest the list of schools I should consider applying? My GMAT score is 560 (Q48,V21).

Thanks,

Bhushan

Accepted.com · Answer

After you take the GMAT, please post and provide the information that you gave above along with your percentage and rank at graduate. Also, please let me know what you want to do after you earn your MBA.

I don't have enough information above to make a recommendation.

Thanks,
Linda

bnagdev282 · Answer

Hi Linda,

My GMAT score is 560(Q48,V21). I want to go in for an Business Analysis stream of Information Technology.

Please let me know if you require more details.

Thanks,

Bhushan

Accepted.com · Answer

What do you want to do after your MBA? Where do you want to do it? Would you consider retaking the GMAT and focusing on your verbal score?

Best,
Linda

bnagdev282 · Answer

Hi Linda,

Thanks for the reply. After my MBA i want to advance in the IT field which i am currently in and become a Project Manager or a Business Analyst and then later startup my own company. I want to do my MBA preferably of one year. I would not mind giving the GMAT again but wanted to get admitted this Sept or latest by Jan since i am some personal commitments.

Please let me know if you require any more details.

Thanks,

Bhushan

Accepted.com · Answer

Bhushan,

I strongly encourage you to retake the  GMAT , focusing on your verbal score. It is a major handicap.

Assuming you improve that GMAT score so that your overall score ends up in the low to mid-600s, consider Babson, Rotman, UT, IE, and perhaps Vanderbilt.

Best,
Linda

bnagdev282 · Answer

Thanks Linda

Accepted.com · Answer

You're welcome.

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