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Hello,

I am an Entertainment MBA Aspirant. Currently, have applied for my MBA focused on Entertainment Media at New York University, USC and UCLA. I am also looking forward to apply for the dual degree MBA- MS media venture management at Boston University and Syracuse.

Currently, a freelance creative strategist for a community newsletter and also an associate with a small time music producer, and a key vocalist of a local music band, pulse. Additionally, post Mid- Feb would be interning at Ogilvy & Mather, Bangalore, where my job profile would be project planning and client servicing.

Prior to this, I had been associated with the software industry for about 3 years, but my strong passion for the Music industry made me take a different path. The new media marketing strategy is something that made me curious about the career change.Though my experience in the Media Marketing is limited the electrons and protons in me are excited enough to learn since Diversity and Adaptability have been my traits ever since childhood.

I did my Bachelor's in Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University and secured 77.6%. In due course of my undergraduate degree, had been a part of various research projects namely, a waste management project with Astra Zeneca and a traineeship with ONGC-MRPL etc. Had also actively participated and organised cultural events and was involved in financial sponsorship for a national level event, a major deal from Coca cola and Redbull..

My TOEFL score is 106 ( Reading - 24, listening- 29, Speaking - 26, Writing- 27) and GMAT - 590 (Q-46,V-25,AWA-5.5). Despite the low score, I decided to apply with the same score and retake my GMAT test this month, have informed the universities about the same.

I kindly request you to evaluate my profile with the given information and provide your valuable inputs and suggestions. If any additional information is needed, will be more than happy to provide.

Regards,
Sandhya

Hi Sandhya,

Your profile is quite interesting, nice to see that you shifted from IT to entertainment media. Your decision to do MBA at this is point makes sense. Since your GPA is below average for the B-schools you applied, you need to focus on GMAT and score anything above 670 to make your case more competitive. also look at some safe school options, ideally you should look at applying to 5-6 schools to increase your chances.

Undoubtedly you have a pretty interesting mix of work and ECs out there. You have displayed strong effort to work towards a completely unrelated industry and that will make for good essays.

The issues is something that you are probably already aware of. The GMAT score will make it super tough to get even within striking distance for the MBA courses. Anyone can mention that they'll retake the test - so schools do not attach much/any significance to such statements. If you want to do it, you should have done it before the deadline is the assumption they have.

The dual degree programs may be more suitable or maybe even a MS program. But do bear in mind that Media Marketing will be very tough (next to impossible) to break into for an international candidate (assuming you are current in India?). So difficult to justify from a feasibility perspective.

In short, a bit more reflection, research and rethinking is recommended.

Hope this helps

Cheers

ammanish wrote:Hi Sandhya,

Your profile is quite interesting, nice to see that you shifted from IT to entertainment media. Your decision to do MBA at this is point makes sense. Since your GPA is below average for the B-schools you applied, you need to focus on GMAT and score anything above 670 to make your case more competitive. also look at some safe school options, ideally you should look at applying to 5-6 schools to increase your chances.

Hello Ammanish,

Thank you for the evaluation and suggestions. I have a clarification to make, my GPA is about 3.75 on 4 when converted to the world standards because in our university 70% above is considered as distinction.

Also, for an entertainment focused MBA it made sense if I chose universities near LA or NYC. Could you please suggest any other good university that offers a good entertainment MBA course other than UCLA, USC, NYU, Boston and Syracuse.

Thank you.

Sandhya

mcbMcK wrote:Undoubtedly you have a pretty interesting mix of work and ECs out there. You have displayed strong effort to work towards a completely unrelated industry and that will make for good essays.

The issues is something that you are probably already aware of. The GMAT score will make it super tough to get even within striking distance for the MBA courses. Anyone can mention that they'll retake the test - so schools do not attach much/any significance to such statements. If you want to do it, you should have done it before the deadline is the assumption they have.

The dual degree programs may be more suitable or maybe even a MS program. But do bear in mind that Media Marketing will be very tough (next to impossible) to break into for an international candidate (assuming you are current in India?). So difficult to justify from a feasibility perspective.

In short, a bit more reflection, research and rethinking is recommended.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Hello,

Thank you for the detailed feedback. I would like to mention that mine was a special case that my GMAT score went down as there was a curfew at the center and we were unable reschedule the test. Since, there is 31-day retake policy, I couldn't retake my examination before the admissions deadline and the Universities have been well informed about this.

Another point I would like to add is that I am looking at the changing industry to the digital space and that's an advantage for a former IT industry professional. I completely understand that there are many Media Industry professionals in the US but, with an analytics background is limited. Also, I believe the reason for not hiring International/ Indian Media professionals is that this field is slowly gaining popularity among the International crowd. And I see that as an opportunity to cut through especially, lot of corporates like Disney are expanding their presence in India.

Kindly, correct me if I am wrong. This is my perspective towards succeeding in the course.


Regards,
Sandhya

The GMAT point does hold in your case then and I am assuming you are already working towards a re-take. It will be great if you can send an updated score before the final decision dates to add weight.

A bit more perspective on the Media industry here. The reason locals are preferred is not because of availability or anything you've mentioned. It is because any job that requires understanding the local population, their culture, their likes and dislikes, in general requires you to be well aware of the local culture and traditions. For an international candidate, this is very difficult to prove / exhibit. Companies like Disney are doing that but if they want someone to work for the Indian/Asian/non-US market, they will hire in those geographies, not in the US!

Hope this helps.