Hello I am new to this forum. Over the weekend, I read quite a few of the posts made in here. I must say that I am very impressed. Very informative indeed! On to my plain vanilla newbie query. I would like all you pros out here to evalu…
Hello
I am new to this forum. Over the weekend, I read quite a few of the posts made in here. I must say that I am very impressed. Very informative indeed!
On to my plain vanilla newbie query. I would like all you pros out here to evaluate my profile and advise me on which bschools to target.
About me -
Age - 26
Education - BBS, MCA (Both from reasonably good schools).
Grades - Nothing special. However, I did manage to get a CGPA of 7.5/9 in my MCA.
Work ex -
Around 2 and half years + 5 months internship during my MCA (Dont know if that counts). Would be more by the time I start applying.
One of these years was after my BBS from DU. The rest after my MCA.
Now to my story -
I got placed in a software MNC right out of MCA. Worked with them for about a month and in a fit of irrational exuberance left India to work in Bangkok, Thailand on a big project for a small company. Have changed two companies since then and I am now working as an architect/developer for a large dot com.
During my time here..I have learned quite a lot about many things in life. I have managed teams of Thais. Worked/lived with americans, europeans, Asians etc. The Thailand experience has been more of a coming of age experience.
I also networked like hell, purely out of neccessity as I found myself in a new country without the safety net of a regular onsite job. I can now call several generals, ministers and powerful people of Thailand as my acquaintances.
I also helped a medium sized Indian software company to get a large contract out of here. I was involved in the entire process from demos to price negotiation and so on. All this was done outside of the regular day job.
During my stay here, I also met several people from a small neigbour of India. Recently, I have been appointed as an advisor by a ministry there on all things IT - like ICT4D, egovernance and so on.
Other things abt me -
Extra curricular - Not much...the usual stuff like quizzing, college festivals and so on is there. Also I founded a tech user group. Got an award from Microsoft for the effort. I am also involved with a childrens charity here in Bangkok. I teach the kids out there...also working on their website these days.
GMAT - not sure..I am not the usual the quant heavy techie...I m probably just a normal guy in a techies suit. A 700 should be possible though.
Now please tell me..where do you think I should apply...I am looking at USA and Europe...Do I even stand a chance...I mean I have heard that all Indian techies need to be very exceptional in order to get into the good schools. I am certainly a very average guy...
In Asia, I think NUS, NTU, AIM etc should be possible...but I am not too sure abt the value added...
My eventual goal is to be an entrepreneur. I would like to be on the CIO track for now.
hi NMNH,
My profile is pretty similar to ur minus conatcts with generals , minister etc
and Thailand exp. my exp includes 2 yrs in India and 1 yr in Europe now in IT
with TOP indian IT comapny.
Me too focusiing on CIO tracka nd thats the reason want to do MBA from
abroad from reputed College. Like Oxford , cambridge etc.
Not sure whether i suits there kind of student they want to be in Cambridge and Oxford.
Your career profile seems to very interesting and exciting esp the Bangkok part.
I am sure you can get into the ivy collegs (if u have the necesary bucks and ready to take risk-which from ur profile i thk risk is ur friend).
I will interested in knowing if u come across anybody with same profiles and have get into Ivy MBA colleges.
best of Luck for your endeavour in life
Regds,
Himanshu
I think you can build a really good case for admission to the top schools. Frankly, it is hard to believe a 26 yr old s/w developer as a part-time advisor to a govt and power broker. But if its the way you say it is then you shd aim for the best schools. The ability to work with ppl has to be the number one skill a manager / business man needs to have. Good luck!
Thanx for those encouraging words....I certainly wont call myself a power broker.. I am not there yet.
Bangkok has been a roller coaster...ride for me...and I had to fight for everything from learning how to order food - english skills r very sparse here - to my visa - to work permit...to getting jobs..and paying the bills...
Along the way..I have met some people, done a few things..learned a few things about life...Bangkok attracts the best and worst kind of people..You meet the most brilliant authors, profs, businessmen, ex-ministers of developed countries..and also crooks...and I have met even the crooks...dont ask me how...
The advisor to the ministry is of a very small country with hardly any IT..partly secured because I have been liasoning with people from that country for a long time, since college. I met those people finally in Bangkok...as Bangkok and Delhi are the only places to which planes from that country fly and practically every1 one of the high officials have to pass through here...
I also tried my hand at launching a company here...with some other guys..that didnt really work out though...
Its just that my acads r average...and my numerical work ex is thin. I am in the dreaded IT pool. Therefore, I am not sure where I would fit in and what kind of college will value the life skills I have acquired.
I havnt really started with my app thing till now. I would really appreciate if some one would give me pointers on that issue.
Thanx for those encouraging words....I certainly wont call myself a power broker.. I am not there yet.
Bangkok has been a roller coaster...ride for me...and I had to fight for everything from learning how to order food - english skills r very sparse here - to my visa - to work permit...to getting jobs..and paying the bills...
Along the way..I have met some people, done a few things..learned a few things about life...Bangkok attracts the best and worst kind of people..You meet the most brilliant authors, profs, businessmen, ex-ministers of developed countries..and also crooks...and I have met even the crooks...dont ask me how...
The advisor to the ministry is of a very small country with hardly any IT..partly secured because I have been liasoning with people from that country for a long time, since college. I met those people finally in Bangkok...as Bangkok and Delhi are the only places to which planes from that country fly and practically every1 one of the high officials have to pass through here...
I also tried my hand at launching a company here...with some other guys..that didnt really work out though...
Its just that my acads r average...and my numerical work ex is thin. I am in the dreaded IT pool. Therefore, I am not sure where I would fit in and what kind of college will value the life skills I have acquired.
I havnt really started with my app thing till now. I would really appreciate if some one would give me pointers on that issue.
D00d, I agree with MBA05, you can build a really strong case. Dont get too hung up with the stats. Remember, all the bschool say they are more interested in admitting people than just numbers. If you feel u r nt quant-heavy, and dont want to get into quant heavy schools, then dont app to such schools - for instance, some schools like Tepper look for ppl with a number heavy background, more so for Indian applicants. Start doing your research now. You have plenty of time to hit 07.
I seriously think you can build a good case by talking about the cultural differences between Indian and Thai, your work with the govt, your attempts at starting a company (talk about this only if you can show you've given it to ur best n yet it dint work out). These things in itself make you unique among the competitive Indian IT pool.
As for your number of yrs of workex, it really doesnt matter. Its what you've done in those yrs - n frankly, u seem to have done ur bit! 😃 One chotu sa advise tho: If I were you, I wouldn't talk about the one month stint with the software MNC.
Start your research now and aim for the top schools. If you do the research in advance, you can use the 5 free GMAT scores effectively, n not end up wasting another $100+ on it - most of the people I know didnt reasearch in advance, and ended up not apping to even of those 5 schools!
HTH,
Uday