Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

GMAT: 680
Work ex: 2 years (3 by next year feb) in a good international consulting firm (but in India only. No international experience). Have worked with many clients in many industries. I have worked with managers and in one case even the Director of one of my clients. Does that help?
Studies: Engg from a top 10 engineering college (non-IIT). First class (65%)
Extra curricular: Very good. Part of many college societies, part of tech fest, and also have some ngo experience after college.

Dear AakashAggy,

There are hundreds of US schools out there. So whether you can get into 'any' of them, the answer will most definitely be a yes. Can you get into a 'good' (subjective again), is the question you gotta be asking here I suppose. To answer that question, I'll really need to understand the nature of your work. For kind of consulting are we talking about? Management/IT/HR/Others?? Name of the company is also important to understand the brand value associated with your profile.

For reasons mentioned here, I will not be able to dish out specific school names but with more information about your work, I will be happy to give some overall guidance.

Cheers,

AakashAggy wrote:GMAT: 680
Work ex: 2 years (3 by next year feb) in a good international consulting firm (but in India only. No international experience). Have worked with many clients in many industries. I have worked with managers and in one case even the Director of one of my clients. Does that help?
Studies: Engg from a top 10 engineering college (non-IIT). First class (65%)
Extra curricular: Very good. Part of many college societies, part of tech fest, and also have some ngo experience after college.

Hi AakashAggy,

You have just above 2 years of experience which isn't that much. Average acads and less than competitive GMAT score--? why do you want to take a chance right now? My advice to you would be to build your profile for another year and re-take the GMAT to cross the 720 mark. Apply from a position of strength when you do next year,so as to maximize your chances of success for admission into the top 20-30 b-schools.

As the other consultants mentioned - it isn't clear what you mean by a good school in the US. Given the little we know about your profile I would say that with a degree from a good but not top school, the fact that you will be competing in the highly overrepresented Indian applicant pool and (here is the dealbreaker...) the fact that you haven't worked outside India for a lengthy period of time.....the mathematical probability of gaining entrance to a top 15 MBA program in the US (US News Rankings) is 0.

So if top 15 is what you meant by good then I do not believe that is in the cards.....if you are willing to look at top 20-50 schools then it is another story. Unfortunately non top 10 or 20 MBA programs have little value for internationals once they return to their home countries because they just don't have the brand recognition. Now if you attended the #30 program in the US and decided you wanted to stay in the US you run into another problem which is that employers who recruit at that program are not going to be as willing to do visa sponsorship as say an employer who recruits an international at a top 10 program. So you are stuck returning to your country with a piece of paper.....have a very careful think about all of this before you start spending money on the application and school.[/b]

AakashAggy wrote:GMAT: 680
Work ex: 2 years (3 by next year feb) in a good international consulting firm (but in India only. No international experience). Have worked with many clients in many industries. I have worked with managers and in one case even the Director of one of my clients. Does that help?
Studies: Engg from a top 10 engineering college (non-IIT). First class (65%)
Extra curricular: Very good. Part of many college societies, part of tech fest, and also have some ngo experience after college.

Hello,

You definitely have a good profile and have a pretty decent chance with top 15-30 US b schools. Focus on your ngo and consulting experience. your pre mba consulting experience increases your chance of post mba employment and that's what b schools are looking for.

reverseflash wrote:

AakashAggy wrote:GMAT: 680
Work ex: 2 years (3 by next year feb) in a good international consulting firm (but in India only. No international experience). Have worked with many clients in many industries. I have worked with managers and in one case even the Director of one of my clients. Does that help?
Studies: Engg from a top 10 engineering college (non-IIT). First class (65%)
Extra curricular: Very good. Part of many college societies, part of tech fest, and also have some ngo experience after college.

Hello,

You definitely have a good profile and have a pretty decent chance with top 15-30 US b schools. Focus on your ngo and consulting experience. your pre mba consulting experience increases your chance of post mba employment and that's what b schools are looking for.

Thank you reverseflash. You are the only one here who seems to feel I have a chance. As you say 15-30, do you think I can make to Cornell or Teper? I saw many rankings that say these are in 15-30. If I can make it I think I should apply now only than wait for one year.

Thank you also to all others who replied.

Aakash,

Definitely retake the GMAT given you are in the competitive Indian tech male applicant group.

If you could bump your score into the 700's I think you might be competitive for the lower-part of the Top 15. Otherwise, you are reaching into the 15-20 with 20-25 more your target.

So, to answer your last question, I think you would be competitive for Cornell with say a 720. But even with your present score you could be successful at Tepper with a strong application given your profile is similar to the profile of many of MBAPrepAdvantage's successful applicants. Have you considered Cornell Tech in New York City?

Best of luck,

AakashAggy wrote:

reverseflash wrote:

AakashAggy wrote:GMAT: 680
Work ex: 2 years (3 by next year feb) in a good international consulting firm (but in India only. No international experience). Have worked with many clients in many industries. I have worked with managers and in one case even the Director of one of my clients. Does that help?
Studies: Engg from a top 10 engineering college (non-IIT). First class (65%)
Extra curricular: Very good. Part of many college societies, part of tech fest, and also have some ngo experience after college.

Hello,

You definitely have a good profile and have a pretty decent chance with top 15-30 US b schools. Focus on your ngo and consulting experience. your pre mba consulting experience increases your chance of post mba employment and that's what b schools are looking for.

Thank you reverseflash. You are the only one here who seems to feel I have a chance. As you say 15-30, do you think I can make to Cornell or Teper? I saw many rankings that say these are in 15-30. If I can make it I think I should apply now only than wait for one year.

Thank you also to all others who replied.

Cornell and Tepper would be stretch given low work ex and low GMAT (relative to your peers).. If you are aiming for these schools, I'd agree with Bhavik and others to wait for a year or two and improve your profile.. good luck!