Ask Admissionado

Hi,

I would like my profile to be evaluated and the list of schools that I could probably look at for a Fall 2014 admit. I am not sure as to what my positives and negatives are and would like to know if I have a chance at the top 10/20 B-schools in the US and probably a couple of safe-schools.

GMAT 1 - 05.10.13 - 670 (Q 48, V 33, AWA 5, IR 3)
GMAT 2 - 28.11.13 - 720 (Q 50, V 38, AWA 5.5, IR 7)

Background: Indian, Male, 25 years old

UG
Education - BE Mechanical Engineering, Kongu Engineering College (Ranked between 50 and 60 in the surveys, Affiliated to Anna University), May 2009 Pass out
GPA - 7.1/10 (Above Average)
Final Year Project/Paper at Wabco India Limited (A subsidiary of TVS motors, one of the leading Auto manufacturers in India) on "Multi-Criteria ABC Inventory Analysis", where the primary objective was to device a systematic method to reduce inventory and thereby reduce inventory costs
Additional Secretary (Vice president) of the Mechanical Engineering department
Part of the Placement coordination team

Work Experience
Indian Hotels Company Limited
1. 3 years full time work experience at Indian Hotels Company Limited (Taj group of hotels - Part of the Tata Group). Initiated as a Graduate Engineering Trainee and then was promoted to Assistant Engineer (Second in command in the Engineering division at the unit level), leading a team of 25-30 employees
2. Lead the department during transitory stages when the unit did not have a Chief Engineer for 4-6 months.
3. The job profile included, but was not limited to, installation and maintenance of engineering equipment (Light/Heavy Machinery) at the unit, including DGs, boilers, chiller plants, transformers etc. The profile also included budget allocation and resource distribution between the various teams in the department.
4. Certified Internal Auditor for OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001
5. Lead the team to achieve Earthcheck Silver Certification in 2012 (Environmental bench marking initiative)
6. Certified Gold level in Process Improvement

After 3 years, quit the company in Feb 2013

Bhumi
1. After, quitting IHCL, I started to volunteer at an NGO called Bhumi. It's India's leading youth non-profit youth volunteer organization which aims at providing supplementary education during the weekends at orphanages and community centers in English, Maths, Science, Computers, Arts and Sports and Career Counselling.
2. Part time teaching volunteer at Bhumi
3. Zonal Coordinator for Maths and Science - In charge of operations at 4 orphanages, that consists of 50-60 volunteers and 110 kids
4. Overall Science Coordinator for Bhumi - Involves development of syllabus and classes in tandem with the kids' education; Training of new volunteers, Budget allocation and distribution between various centers, Resource Management, HR coordination, expansion of program to other cities and core team development.
5. Involved in a program called Joy to the World at Bhumi, which involves fund raising activities.
6. Received the Emerging Einstein award in April 2013 (4 months after joining Bhumi
7. Joined as a teaching volunteer in Jan 2013 and was promoted to Zonal Coordinator and then Science coordinator within 6 months
Bhumi is volunteer driven organization, wherein 99% of the team consists of non-paid volunteers and everyone works part-time.

Extra-curricular activities
1. Currently learning Italian at Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce (Beginner's level)
2. Learned French for 7 years at school
3. Part of Chennai Trekking Club (Non-profit) - wherein 2-5 day treks are organized on a weekly basis and I participate at least in one 2-3 days trek every month. I have not organized any treks but have been involved in the Photography and post-trek write up teams of all the treks that I have participated in.

As of now, I am currently volunteering for Bhumi and an active member of Chennai Trekking Club. I have taken a year's break from full-time employment as I wanted to gain experience working for a non-profit as one of my long term objectives is to start my own non-profit in the education sector. I would like to know as to how the admissions committee at the colleges would perceive it.
I am looking at a General management MBA with a few courses in Entrepreneurship, Leadership, not for profit and government MBA.

Short term goals - To gain experience across different functionalities of an organization in the fortune 500 list so that I will be well equipped when I plan to start my own venture in another 10 years time.
Long term goals - To start a not for profit organization in the education and a for profit organization in the travel and tourism sector.

Thanks

Hi,
Thanks for evaluating my profile. I would like to provide some clarity regarding some of the issues that you had raised.
1. The reason why I left my job at IHCL was that my role was confined to the Engineering section while I wanted a bigger portfolio. I had conversations with a lot of my peers and mentors in the industry and the general consensus was that transition from an Engineer to say a General manager or the head of a corporate unit was not likely as the industry preferred people from the Front office, Sales and marketing background. Hence, I am in need of the tools to make the transit and I believe that an MBA in General Management will help me out here.
2. Regarding my volunteer experience at a non-profit over the last year, it was something that I wanted to do right out of college, but due to my job restrictions, working 14 hours a day 6 days a week, I was unable to do so. I was interested in it for a long time but had no real experience and hence wanted to gain some real exposure on the field. I was also considering a career in it. That's why I spent the last year at Bhumi and Chennai Trekking Club (CTC), the former working in the education sector and the latter in the tourism and travel sector, two sectors that I have got my sights on. Volunteering is not something that I dabbled or experimented with. It is something that I have wanted to do for a long time and will also continue with it during and post my MBA.

So, probably I should consider restructuring my short term and long term goals?

Hi,
Thanks a lot for all your inputs and feedback. These will definitely help me restructure my goals and essays. I can't thank you enough.
Regards
Agni