Ask Stacy Blackman

Hi Stacy,

First of all, thank you for your time Very Happy

This is my profile in brief:

Undergraduate:
Bachelor's in Management Studies - Mumbai Univeristy, India
Specializations: Marketing, International Finance
First Class - but with only average marks
Received an "O" Grade (highest possible) for my University Project (a branding/research based project on a comparison of Coffee Café franchise brands)

GMAT:
710 (94th %ile)
Q.46 (80th %ile) V.41 (93rd %ile)

Work Experience (2 years, 6 months):

* Creative Executive with é Design, a creative agency, in Mumbai, India. Promoted to lead Web Designer after 1 year, and have been actively working on Web and Graphic design projects for both Indian and International clients. Currently handle 4 clients on my own.
Total work exp at é Design: 2 years

* 6 months with Lowe Lintas India (Mumbai) working as a Brand Services Executive for the following brands:
Wheel Detergent Powder (A Unilever India brand)
Active Wheel Detergent Powder (A Unilever India brand)
Hansaplast Plaster (A Beiersdorf India brand)
Harmony Condoms (A Beiersdorf India brand)
Lion Balm (A Beiersdorf India brand)
- Part of the 3 person core team that relaunced Wheel Detergent Powder brand in March '05, which made it the largest detergent brand in Asia (both in volume and value)
- worked actively on innovation and activation projects with the Unilever India Wheel Detergent Brand Management team.

+ Undergrad work ex in Client Servicing, Sales and Freelance design.

Extra-Curric:
* State-Level Handball player: 1999, 2000, 2001
* District Level Football, Volleyball, Basketball and Chess.
* Lowe Mumbai Football team member- Silver Cup runners up.
* Organizing Committee Member + Creative Head + Event Head of my own college festival
* Winner at numerous college festivals in a variety of events (Business Games, Advertising Events, Event Management, etc etc)

Community Service:
A couple of design projects I did for an NGO, Childline India Foundation.
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This is where I need help! I'd primarily be interested in Marketing/Branding and/or Consultancy so I need to apply to colleges which are known for these programs. Any suggestions??? I'm not opposed to studying Finance or Logistics, but I'd be more comfortable in a school where I know Marketing isn't the LEAST favoured choice.

I have a few colleges in mind, but I have little or no knowledge about their marketing programs + their expectations from Indian students (which I've heard is higher than from everyone else! Apparently, if a class profile GMAT average is 670, you should add another 30-40 points if you're Indian)

This is what I have thought of so far:
UT-Austin McCombs
Univ of North Carolina - Kenan Flagler
Univ of Indiana - Kelley
Ohio State - Fisher
Univ of Illinois - Urbana Champaign
Emory University - Goizueta
Texas A&M - Mays
Purdue University - Krannert

Any thoughts on the colleges listed above?
What are my approximate chances on the above listed colleges?
Should I add any other colleges/remove colleges from this list?

Also, I've heard that Marketing jobs are extremely difficult, if not impossible to come by for international students. Is this true? How far will a good university help in reducing such a handicap? And does the geographic location of the Universities also matter for Marketing students (I heard you should try studying as close as possible to the big cities, so as to be closer to the corporates).

Thank you once again for your help!

Stacy Blackman wrote:You may want to consider adding Kellogg (it has the strongest Marketing reputation), Michigan and Tuck. Of course all of those are more competitive than the schools you have listed. So they would be your reach schools. But if you were admitted they would certainly be good launching pads for marketing or consulting careers.

Also, I've heard that Marketing jobs are extremely difficult, if not impossible to come by for international students. Is this true?
I am not aware that this is true. It would depend on the company. You may want to contact a couple of target companies and discuss their recruiting.

And does the geographic location of the Universities also matter for Marketing students (I heard you should try studying as close as possible to the big cities, so as to be closer to the corporates).
For the big corporations, geography is not really an issue. They recruit at specific schools and it can be very difficult, almost impossible, to get in if you do not go to one of those schools. Again, I suggest you contact HR at some dream companies and discuss with them. For smaller companies you would want to be local.

Thanks for the advice Stacy. I have a follow-up question as well:
I'll be going for a couple of interviews next month, and I'm a bit nervous.

1) I was wondering if you could provide me with some info on how to prepare and some do's and do not's.

2) Also, I'm a bit stumped about what questions I would have for the school. Aside from the curriculum, placements, teaching styles and the culture, what other information would one require to make a well balanced decision?

Thank's again for the help!

Stacy Blackman wrote:I have a few blog entries that should help with interview questions:
https://blog.stacyblackman.com/2006/01/1 ... -practice/
https://blog.stacyblackman.com/2006/01/19/star/
https://blog.stacyblackman.com/2006/01/2 ... questions/

Hope that helps!

Will check the links out!

Hope my interviews go well!

Thanks!