Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

6 years of experience in US and India includes working as embedded(for devices, not PC) software engineer at small medical device development company, Cisco Systems, teaching at engineering college and consulting/entrepreneaurship but with some atypical gaps.
Masters in Computer Science from University of Kansas 3.67/4
Bachelors in CS from JNTU, India 80.14% ~ 3.8/4
GMAT 660 (V 36, Q 46), AWA 4.5

Planning to apply to 1 year programs at:
Kellogs
Cornell
IMD
INSEAD
IE
HEC Montreal
Please sugggest others.

Mostly, I am concerned about the (below) average GMAT scores. Given my commitments at work and life, I don't expect to push it closer to 750 in a couple of months (before admissions). What best can I do otherwise to make my overall profile attractive?

Unfortunately your GMAT will be a stumbling block because you are up against a large pool of technically-trained applicants from India, most of whom will score in the 700s. You will need to convince the admissions committee that your professional background offers a distinctive profile that will contribute to the classroom discussion. Depending on the details and how you position it, your varied background could be either a help or a hindrance. An admissions consultant can guide you on how best to position your experience.

One year programs are designed for people who are already well into their careers and are simply trying to round out their background. They are not well-suited for people who want to change careers. You need to be very clear about why you are looking for a second graduate degree.

If you are determined to go to school next year, you should consider schools whose statistics are closer to yours as safety schools. The top schools always pose a risk because they have so many more qualified applicants than they can accept. If your goal is to work internationally, think about Thunderbird or Hult. If you have another concentration in mind, check out the ratings to find schools that are highly regarded in your area but less highly-ranked overall. Those schools are likely to be interested in you and slightly less difficult to get into.

Good luck,

Thanks for the feedback Tani.
All things considered, one year MBA programs are better for me.

Here are the concentrations I am looking at:
Innovation,Technology Management, Leadership, Entrepreneurship,
Could you suggest some safety schools (1 year) in these areas?

Just curious, how can I go about using the services of an admissions consultant?

The following site lists the top ten one-year programs internationally. These can be a stretch at your GMAT level, but not necessarily impossible.

https://www.macquil.com/articles/oneyearmba.php

Babson ( a top entrepreneurship school) and Emory both have one-year programs that may be worth considering. Note that one-year programs often require extensive undergaduate business coursework for admission.

I neglected to answer your query about admissions consultant. Kaplan has a strong program that deals with applicants to the top US and international schools. You can check out the program and the consultants on this site. Kaplan lets you request a consultant and you will be assigned accordingly if that individual is available.

https://www.kaptest.com/GMAT/Admissions- ... lting.html

Thank you Tani for all the links and information.
Babson has a requirement for business coursework. That's why I did not put it in the first choice list.
Could you please suggest some safe schools? I was not able to find much on 1year programs other than top ones.

https://www.find-mba.com/usa/1

The link above has a much longer list of one-year programs, several of which are less difficult to get into.