MBA Fall 2009 Assistance - Profile Evaluations, Essays, Etc.

[VikashCRai]

Anshul,
Thanks for your response. Given the effort that would go in for essays and recommendations, would you suggest that I try for Spring/Fall 2010 - give my GMAT and TOEFL in feb-mar 2009 timeframe?

I have engineering degree in E&C from reputed college (75%) and overall decent academic record. I also have nearly 4 yrs in job experience.. You think it will be ok enough for a good international college?

Thanks,
Vikash

[VikashCRai]

(i am sorry this one is a repeat post)

[joshi_sushant]

Hi Anshul,
Thanks for the initiative. I too targeting the Fall 2009 session for US b schools. In this regards, have som issues. Can you throw some light on them ??
I am into S/W product development. (development of a 3D CAD tool) and after completing my MBA am looking for mrketing domain jobs in tech. sector, roles like product / brand managemtn etc. So i rite now figuring out whcihc B shcools to apply. CA based b schools become obvious choce, but lets face it, getting into Stanford / haas is not at all easy, so they are not the once I am targeting. Now what do you think a bt Kenana Flager. Its in North Carolina, near RTP,. and heard that its good for marketing. ( almost 25 % of hte batch got into marketing last year, as per their website.. ) So , any idea if tech companies recruit brand/ product manager for KFBS ?? and same for DUKE-fuqua... DUEK is maninly operation orientated....so does being near RTP help duke pass out to get into the product / brand managemnt ? And what abt UCLA anderson, and MARSHALL ?? ( both are in CA , near LA, but unfortunately, none of them look tech oriented to me ) In short, which B shools ( between rank 10-25) do you think can provide me the opportunity to get into product/ brand managemnt role in tech sector ??
BTW ,..can you send me your contact no. etc?? Would like to discuss some quick issues over the call..... in u dont mind.....

[soulinluv]

Anshul,


Great inititiative i must say.

I will have 5 years of IT exp by time i join.
GMAT :700
Work Ex- Good progresion,currently team lead in IT
Extra currics and Communty involvement :very good

I want to switch in to consulting after MBA.I plan to apply to UNC,Cornell,Kelley .Please tell how can i realistically improve my chances.I will PM you more details if needed.

[elecabhinav]

Hello Anshul,

First of all thanks for taking such a nice initiative.Right now ,I am confused as to which colleges should I apply to for fall 2009? I need your help in zeroing in on the b-schools .Right now these schools are in my mind:

Insead
LBS
ISB
HEC Paris
Oxford
Cambridge
My guidelines for choosing a particular B-school are:
· be based in India/Europe/USA/Singapore
· be less than 18 months MBA program
· have good placement
· be recognized in India (in case of a non-Indian school) as I want to return back to India 1 year post MBA
· be a top ranked school
Please let me know your feedback about this list and what other option I can consider based on my profile.


My profile:
X - 90%
XII - 93.75% (Overall ranked 1st across all ICSE board affiliated schools in the city)
B.Tech (Electronics)- 78% (UPTU)
Overall ranked 2nd across all the branches in my college
Awarded institute merit scholarship for 4 consecutive years at my college
GMAT : 750 , AWA 5.0
Work Exp. 4 years by the time MBA starts
Company :Highly ranked software MNC. I am working as Software Quality Engineer and have no International experience till date
Professional Achievements:

• One of my idea was voted as the best idea by my company employees out of 70 ideas submitted at the annual conference of my company
• Was the 3rd employee in my business unit of 75 people to be awarded the distinguished award for doing excellent work in performance benchmarking
• Have written three international paper publications in the field of localization , automation and suite testing.
• Selected into a pool of 12 out of 100 applicants from quality engineering to deliver a technical talk at the annual conference of my company
• Won 1st prize in a video creation contest organized for freshers in my company
• Became Certified Expert in 2008 by securing highest marks (98%) in my business unit which is a record till date
• 5 of my ideas are in the final stage of approval process to become International Patents

Extra curricular Activities:

• Member of an NGO .As a member I visit NGO, spend time, provide technical knowledge and distribute goodies and other stuff to the children at these places
• Holds the post of Vice-President Membership in company’s Toastmasters Club
• Member of the organizing committee of a national level technical fest organized in my college
• Initiated and conducted literary weeks that consisted of events such as quizzes , essay writing contests and debates at my college
• Selected into a group of 20 out of 300 students as a member of core literary council (2nd and 3rd year) and core hobby council (3rd year) of my college
• Was elected Cultural secretary ( 1st Year ) , Mess Secretary (2nd and 3rd year) and Wing Prefect (4th Year) of the boy’s hostel at college
• Won awards in literary activities (quizzes, essay writing etc) during academic career
• Raised funds for National Level college events at college
• Have interest in Numismatics (coin collection ) .Won 1st prize in coin collection contest at college
• Won awards in cultural activities (solo acting , script writing etc) during both academic and professional career

Please help me.

Thanks in advance

[RedJazzGuy]

Elecabhinav:

You haven't mentioned as to what you want to do post-MBA: this is an important criteria, as it is necessary to get out of the mindset that 'one hat fits all'

Just to paint a picture: LBS is strong in finance, while INSEAD is THE consulting school. It is true that you can get into consultancy even after attending LBS, but the opportunities will be less.

Also note that LBS is a 2-year program.

Your profile looks good but the drawbacks that I see are the lack of international and managerial experience. But as long as you have great recommendations, and strong essay you will be able to overcome those issues.

One key thing to keep in mind is that you fall under that Indian/male (I presume)/IT category. So it is extremely important to distinguish yourself from your peers, and there seems to be a strong case for you in your profile. But now, it is a matter of putting that into words.

Good luck.

NB: your academic records seems comparable to a student matriculating in the above mentioned schools.




[quote=elecabhinav;1153929]Hello Anshul,

First of all thanks for taking such a nice initiative.Right now ,I am confused as to which colleges should I apply to for fall 2009? I need your help in zeroing in on the b-schools .Right now these schools are in my mind:

Insead
LBS
ISB
HEC Paris
Oxford
Cambridge
My guidelines for choosing a particular B-school are:
· be based in India/Europe/USA/Singapore
· be less than 18 months MBA program
· have good placement
· be recognized in India (in case of a non-Indian school) as I want to return back to India 1 year post MBA
· be a top ranked school
Please let me know your feedback about this list and what other option I can consider based on my profile.

[elecabhinav]

Originally Posted by RedJazzGuy

Elecabhinav:

You haven't mentioned as to what you want to do post-MBA: this is an important criteria, as it is necessary to get out of the mindset that 'one hat fits all'

Just to paint a picture: LBS is strong in finance, while INSEAD is THE consulting school. It is true that you can get into consultancy even after attending LBS, but the opportunities will be less.

Also note that LBS is a 2-year program.

Your profile looks good but the drawbacks that I see are the lack of international and managerial experience. But as long as you have great recommendations, and strong essay you will be able to overcome those issues.

One key thing to keep in mind is that you fall under that Indian/male (I presume)/IT category. So it is extremely important to distinguish yourself from your peers, and there seems to be a strong case for you in your profile. But now, it is a matter of putting that into words.

Good luck.

NB: your academic records seems comparable to a student matriculating in the above mentioned schools.




[.

Thanks for your reply RedJazz. Honestly speaking I have not delved too deeply as to which stream I want to do my MBA . Finannce and consulting do attract me for the sole reason of being high pay packages in these functions. Technology is something I like as I have been working in this field since beginning. General Management is also an open option for me. So I am paying more attention to brand name and placement statistics of a college rather than it's specialization. I know that's not the right approach but this is what I am thinking right now.

[just4anshul]

You are in a very competetive field, not trying to dishearten you, but marketing companies mainly prefer people who have had significant exposure to the US Lifestyle, but having said that, many internationals have made the cut.

Lets look at your schools. I would suggest you the following,

• Duke
• UCLA
• UC Berkeley
• USC Marshall
• UT Austin
• UNC – I am attending UNC this fall, so I can say it’s a good school
• Michigan State
• Indiana Bloomington

Please post your profile so that I can suggest better matching schools.

@ soulinluv

You have a good profile, but you are from the IT pool which is going to make it very tough for you as many IT ppl have the same profile so more competition. I would retake the GMAT and push it up to 750 if possible, or else just work more on your essays if you don’t wish to retake the GMAT.

UNC Cornell and Kelley are good schools and you stand a fair chance in each. Also consider UT Austin and Emory.

Strengthen your co curricular activities, it helps a lot. Find something unique about you to write in the optional essay. Let me know if you need more help.

Anshul

[just4anshul]

@vikash,

If you are taking for GMAT in feb/march, you will def be a little late for the 2009 intake. The ideal time to take your exams would be in july/aug. 4 years of work ex is good enough, don’t worry about that.

@abhinav

You should think about what you want to do post MBA because the b schools want students who know what they want to do and your goals will make a big part of your essay and interview. I think I already sent you a msg regarding your b schools earlier, if not PM me and I will review and send another one.

Anshul

[ankitgarg20]

Originally Posted by just4anshul

@vikash,

If you are taking for GMAT in feb/march, you will def be a little late for the 2009 intake. The ideal time to take your exams would be in july/aug. 4 years of work ex is good enough, don’t worry about that.

@abhinav

You should think about what you want to do post MBA because the b schools want students who know what they want to do and your goals will make a big part of your essay and interview. I think I already sent you a msg regarding your b schools earlier, if not PM me and I will review and send another one.

Anshul

Hello everyone,

First of all thanks to everyone who takes out time to reply to queries here. I too have my share of queries. But first,here's my profile:

X-89%
XII-84%
BTech(IT)(2007)-80.4% from IP university in New Delhi. I was in top 3% of my college in terms of grades.

Work ex: June'07-Oct'07: In a start up as a mktg manager
Nov'07- Current: ICICI Bank,Asst Mgr, FOREX Dealer.

Extra curriculars: Really good. Have been a part of many initiatives throughout my college and school life. Can elaborate more.

GMAT: Writin in August end. Expecting a score of 710+

Very frankly, I did my first job only as a filler. I was a campus recruit for ICICIand knew that would have joining a little later. Thus,rather than sitting at home, I gained little bit of practical exp in that company.My current work profile includes trading national & international currencies for the bank. I already run a book (Dollar/Rupee) which is worh $200 million per day and would soon start dealing in other currencies too.

My career shift(from IT to core finance) has been a choice shift. I was personally tracking and learning about capital markets ever since Aug-2006. It was a completely concious decision to join ICICI Bank & I plan to stick to this field only. Trading/Dealing/capital markets
etc. Thus,though on papers my present work ex is about 1 year, my practical exp exceeds that by at least another year.
My reaSon for MBA is simple to guess. To move higher into the field that I have selected.That is capital markets. want to work with some of the best hedge funds accross the world.
My MBA specilisation will be Finance only.



Here are few questions that I have:


1) I plan to do an MBA in finance and nothing can make me change my mind on that. I am 200%
sure of making a career into it. Thus, want to go to a school which is regarded highly
for its finance grads. Like we have IIM-C in India. I know columbia is one of those, but can you
suggest some more schools?
2) My work ex by May2009 would be only 2 years. That means if I apply for Fall'09 session, at the
time of interviews, I might be having at the most 1.5 yrs of work ex.
As a result, I thought of applying only to some schools which are not in Top 10.Reason being
my lack of work ex. Is it an option even worth considering?
3)Do you know of any other course(not MBA & preferably of shorter duration) to which I can hope to
get admit to before finaly taking my MBA? Say for example some course in finance or something like diploma?
4)If I decide to go in Fall 09 only, then what could be the possbile schools that I can or should target?