[tanPG2009]

Hi Jennifer,

I am planning to apply to b-schools this year, my profile is as below:

Education: engineering from IIT, CGPA- 7.1/10
WE: 5 years by Aug 2010
GMAT- 720 (41, 48, 6)
Job profile: have been working as consultant in e-gov, IT strategy and process improvement domains in big4 consulting firms
Extra-curricular- not strong
Post MBA goals: General management, would prefer getting into rotational leadership developmetn programs or corporate strategy group in industry

As of now I am planning to apply to following schools in
1. ISB
2. London Business School
3. Kellogg
4. Tuck
5. Hass
6. Darden
7. Ross
8. Yale
9. Emory

My questions:

A. Is my choice of schools correct, are there any other schools to which I should apply in addition to these. Would appreciate if you can give ur comments schools wise

B. Will I fall in typital IT professional category.

C. As I don't have exceptional leadership experience outside work, will it effect my overall application to these schools. If yes, how should I overcome this. Is it okay to show in application that I will be looking at improving my participation in extra-cul and community services during the course of program??

Thanks in advance

[zedind]

Thanks for your help.

[@nee!]

REPOSTING it

reason : all posts above my post were answered and the post after were also answered except mine

First of all, thanks for your time and wonderful replies. I am an MBA aspirant and have a few queries. Here, go my details

10th : 85.4%
12th : 92.3%
B-Tech :87.2%

GMAT : Yet to be taken,
Age : 23

Experience: Will complete 2 years this June

Organization: Infosys Technologies
Role : S/W Engr and acting technical lead


Leadership and community services:
1.
a) Was Class Representative during engg for 4 years
b) School Captain
c) Was Sercretary Of Mechanical Engineering Association
2. Trained in BOXING,KARATE
3. Participated and Lead a team of 5 in national Symposiums organised by reputated colleges during Engg.
4. Was head of Personal Relations and Organizer of the Technical Symposium organised by us(my college)
5. Member of ECO club,dealing with environmental based problems.
6. Is a member of Canteen Committee at work place
7. Partcipate in community services organized by my organization.
8. Regular blood donor. Need based as well as in camps(But dont have certificate for all)
9. Joined an NGO and doing good work there.


Awards/Recognition/Certificates:

1. Several awards related to work from my Company.
2. Blood Donationation certificates
3. Won many prizes, certificates from IITs in ROBOTICS competitions conducted at national and international level.
4. Volunteer certificate for organising events in college.
5. Paper Published in International Journal.
6. Diploma in SPANISH.


My Queries:

1.Could you please let me know the the B Schools out of GLOBAL TOP 30 schools which provide 100% Loan?

2. Suppose, if I get a score of 740 or above then what are my chances in top 20 B-Schools if I target MIT, Chicago, Columbia, Yale, Duke, Tuck, Ross, Boston,? I see my carrer in Sales and Marketing/ Finance.

3. Can you please suggest other reputated schools where my chances are bright?

4. What more can I do to substantiate my profile?

5. Having a work-ex of just 2 years, shall i wait for 1-2 years n get a 3-4 year exp to get into TOP 20 Schools ?

[sinhamrigank]

Hi Jen,

At the outset, let me give you a snapshot of my profile:-

Workexperience

In numbers: I would have around 5 years of work ex in Fall 2010 with 3 years in Bahamas and about 2 years in Middle East. (5+ years with BIG 4 firms)

In terms of quality: Of the 5 years, the past 2 years in Bahamas have been excellent in terms of the quality of work experience I have had. Apart from being a core team member of 2 of my firm's Global Priority Accounts, I have taken significant initiatives in these teams (eg. spearheaded efforts to have a tool in place for data management which helped the team reduce approx 50% of the time spent in previous years on data management; trained both by Firm's and my client's team on hands on use of the tool, etc) As such even in this economic turmoil when there has been layoffs all across the spectrum including my own firm, the executives really appreciated my contribution and I was promoted recently (note that I compete with not just my peers at my location but two other location offices, i.e. Cayman Islands and Bermuda). In terms of collaboration and teaming, the past 2 years have indeed been incredible experience (I am the only team member based in the Bahamas office, with the rest of the team geographically spread across Americas and I would have some good stories about collaboration and teaming)

Academics:
GMAT: 700 (Q 48, V 36); AWA 6
Undergrad: Bachelors in Commerce (Pass) - On the lower side (approx 55%)
TOEFL: 110
Chartered Accountant from India

Extracurriculars
Never been a part of any big Not for profit name & i sincerely believe that empaty need not necessarily comes from joining a big time NGO. However I do have some real stories about my "giving back" to the community. On the other front, I have been an active member of "Outreach events" on behalf of my firm where I visit local schools and colleges (in Bahamas) to educate young children about our profession, our firm etc.

Also, at my firm, I am an appointed (by the Partners/Executives) member of the "People Advisory Board" from Bahamas office wherein we act as the voice of the employees to the Senior executives in the firm (Just to mention that the Bahamas office is a part of the NY Financial Services office)

Personal
I come from not so great background. Born in a lower middle class family, my 1st school in India had no desks and benches. Also, I had to shoulder my family's financial responsibilty at a young age (actually when Iwas doing my nder graduation). As such (whether I suceed in MBA or not, I have come a long way). So I do have a decent story to tell on my personal front too.

What i am looking for:
An MBA school with a strong team based approach. My future career plans are to get into strategy consulting.

As scuh my target schools are:
Kellogg (Dream) - (almost done with my initial draft essays)
Duke
Darden- (almost done with my initial draft)
McCombs (not sure)
I need to pick up 2 more schools within my reach. Also I was initially planning to apply to Wharton, but I realize I do not have the necessary numbers in my profile.

I intend to visit these schools before I apply so that I could let them know what kind of person I am and how do I fit in.

My queries are
1) Could you comment on my oevrall profile?
2) Any comment on my choice of schools and any suggesstions on any other schools
3) How realistic, in your view, are the schools I have chosen.

Many thanks indeed!

Best regards
MS

[humblewinner]

Hello Jennifer,

I work for a small company, and I just got a significant promotion in terms of title from being a team lead to that of a senior manager. But because of the bad economic scenario, I wasnt given a hike in pay.

My current salary is significantly lower for the title by industry standards. Should I be concerned and ask for a lower title than the one offered.

Or Should I be addressing this disparity somewhere.

Or Can I ignore and apply.

Thank you very much for your suggestions.

[the_hate]

Hello ma'am,
Kudos for great work...

I'll post my profile first and then my questions:

Profile:
10th- 82%
12th-80.6
B.Tech- 77.2%

GMAT- 750(qa-50, va-40) ; AWA - 5

Work ex- will complete 2 years in november '09. 1 year in a top software firm of India(as a software engineer) and 1 year in one of the top coaching institute of India for MBA having almost 130 branches(profile: Center Head).

Achievements/Positive points about my profile:
1) Meritorious student throughout schooling
2) Senior Diploma in Hawaiian guitar.
3) Was part of managing committee of my annual function in college.
4) My college has a rural internship. It's aim is to explore how can we bring change at grasroot level using IT(was a life-changing event for me)
5) Won IEEE organized state level paper presentation contest.
6) Was knowledge manager of my team in s/w firm. Responsibilities included organizing knowledge transfer so that all learn from each other and realized role of communication in a firm.(can properly elaborate in essay)
7) Center head of coaching. Responsibilities include marketing, handling the faculty,workers,students. Learnt a lot. Meeting new people, saw education system first time from top rather than bottom as a student.what are flaws,good points of same..meeting people..arranging for seminars...have to make strategies like which colleges to target for which exam/courses..when to target...again can elaborate properly in essay..used few innovative ways of marketing the product..
8 ) started a free batch for physically challenged and poor students who have the potential to be the best but have limited opportunites as training instis don't provide special facilities in tune for these people...

can elaborate on the above points in essays...

My queries:
Given my sort of weak profile, do i stand a realistic chance of making the cut for top 5(or top 10 b-schools)? I'm planning to apply to all ambitious univs for me..even if I don't make it this year..it would be fine..but if I have no realistic chances of converting(say less than 10%chance) these univs, then would drop the plan.

i) what are my chances of converting top 5 b-schools (a rough idea)
ii) Chances for ISB,NUS and NTU
iii) would my work-ex in education sector help me differentiate myself from IT junta...as my education and half of work ex is in IT sector? How to go about achieving this?
iv) Can you please suggest me few colleges that can give me a good scholarship/waiver? Will think of apping to these after some research.

Thanks for your kind help.

Regards,
Abhishek

[arunsdevine]

Hello Jennifer,

I would like to know the top B schools in US for a technology career post-MBA.

Thanks
Arun

[hareshvazir]

Hi Jennifer,

I intend to apply to schools among the top 15 in US for fall 2010 for an MBA in Entrepreneurship. I am listing my profile below, please let me the kind of chance I stand in getting through.

GMAT Score: 720 M 51 V 36
UG: Civil Engineering from one of the top institutes in India (Good GPA)
Work Experience: 3 years (international), currently working in Dubai with one of the best construction firms in Europe.
Extracurriculars: Good involvements both in work and outside
Post MBA goals: Pursue a venture in the field of real estate and construction

Please let me know. Thanks.

Also, would I be required to take TOEFL given that I my education medium has been English throughout ?

H

[waiwai]

Hi Jennifer,
Here is my profile.
Indian, Male, 28
GMAT : 720 - Q50,V38
Experience - 6 years in IT, Product Development. No managerial Experience.
Acads : 70% - BE in Computer Science, NIT.
ECs - below average.
I am looking for a MBA program with a focus on Product Management/IT Consulting. Would like to move into a product management or a consulting role in IT post MBA. Also I am looking for a one year course, preferably in UK.

Please advice.

[ponds_ggn]

Hi,

I'm a project lead with 8+ expr in major telecom software product based organization, handling a team but not as manager only in technical areas.

My profile.

GMAT=710(Q48,V39, AWA Awaiting)
B.E(E&C)=Average(CGPA of 2.5/4.0).
12th=Average.
Extra-Curricular=Few Accolades in Olympiads in schools and paper presentation in college. Little accolades in Sports.No NGO work expr. But donated for Parikrma (Bangalore based ngo foundation)

I'm targeting one year programs, which all schools I should be targeting in Europe and Asia Pacific region as USA have very few one year programs and what are my chances !

Looking forward !

Thanks a ton!