Profile Eval and recommendation on schools

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Profile Eval and recommendation on schools

by Shina » Mon Jul 19, 2010 5:43 pm
Hi,

I'm a 30 year old Indian female looking for some guidance. Here's my profile and list of schools, could you help evaluate my chances and suggest further schools I can take a shot at?

GMAT - 710 Q49 V37 AWA 5.0 taken this year (old score from Dec 2006 - 600)
Bachelors with Maths and Computers - 58% (This is low)
MBA IT - 69%
Work Ex - 8 years in Learning and dev (Communications, Mgmt Dev etc), involved in various global learning projects
Intenational Exp - Never lived but have taken short work trips to US and China and have worked extensively with US and Aus.
Extra curriculars - Decent
Recos - Can get good and detailed recos from boss, internal clients and head of our department
Reason for mba - want to expand my role to change mgmt and leadership dev... lead the human resources function. Looking for schools with international outlook and repute.

Schools aiming for -

LBS, INSEAD, IMD are top on my list , may be Australia GSB haven't explored the ones in US

What are my chances in above and any suggestions on schools in US. I'm looking for schools with either one year course or quicker ROI. I don't want to end up with an MBA and no job or job that doesn't help me pay back for my MBA.

Looking forward to your response,

Shina

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by Scott@VeritasPrep » Fri Jul 23, 2010 2:37 pm
Hello,

Without knowing more about your post-MBA career goals it's difficult to recommend additional schools. However, in North America, you may also want to consider Ivey or the one-year program at Kellogg if you're looking for an accelerated program.

Your GMAT score is fine, but (as you know) your undergrad GPA is not great, which will probably make admission to one of those schools tough. Also, although European schools tend to go for older applicants a bit more than U.S. schools do, you are definitely getting on the more experienced side of what many top schools like to see. So, the sooner you apply, probably the better.

Beyond that (and more importantly), exactly what experiences you've gained on the job and in your ECs will matter a lot. If you can point to lots of examples where you've had a positive impact in your job and in your community, that will help a great deal. However, if your ECs consist mainly of just showing up for events with a bunch of other people, that will be considered "low impact" in admissions officers' eyes.

Assuming you have great stories to tell from those areas, and that your recos are great, you have a shot. But demonstrating that you make things happen is a must!

Good luck!
Scott