Ask Stacy Blackman

Hi Stacy,

I've posted here before, but my question is slightly different this time.

I've already applied to the following schools:
NYU-Stern
UT-Austin
Indiana-Kelley
OSU-Fisher
Texas A&M-Mays

To refresh your memory, this is my profile:

Undergraduate:
Bachelor's in Management Studies - Mumbai Univeristy, India
Specializations: Marketing, International Finance
First Class - but with only average marks
Received an "O" Grade (highest possible) for my University Project (a branding/research based project on a comparison of Coffee Café franchise brands)

GMAT:
710 (94th %ile)
Q.46 (80th %ile) V.41 (93rd %ile)

Work Experience (Almost 3 years now):

* Creative Executive with é Design, a creative agency, in Mumbai, India. Promoted to lead Web Designer after 1 year, and have been actively working on Web and Graphic design projects for both Indian and International clients. Currently handle 4 clients on my own.
Total work exp at é Design: 2 years

* 6 months with Lowe Lintas India (Mumbai) working as a Brand Services Executive for the following brands:
Wheel Detergent Powder (A Unilever India brand)
Active Wheel Detergent Powder (A Unilever India brand)
Hansaplast Plaster (A Beiersdorf India brand)
Harmony Condoms (A Beiersdorf India brand)
Lion Balm (A Beiersdorf India brand)
- Part of the 3 person core team that relaunced Wheel Detergent Powder brand in March '05, which made it the largest detergent brand in Asia (both in volume and value)
- worked actively on innovation and activation projects with the Unilever India Wheel Detergent Brand Management team.

+ Undergrad work ex in Client Servicing, Sales and Freelance design.

Extra-Curric:
* State-Level Handball player: 1999, 2000, 2001
* District Level Football, Volleyball, Basketball and Chess.
* Lowe Mumbai Football team member- Silver Cup runners up.
* Organizing Committee Member + Creative Head + Event Head of my own college festival
* Winner at numerous college festivals in a variety of events (Business Games, Advertising Events, Event Management, etc etc)

Community Service:
A couple of design projects I did for an NGO, Childline India Foundation.

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I was able to visit NYU and UT-Austin over this Fall/Winter and I seemed to get a pretty good response from both.

My applications are all done now, and I'm just in that anxious period of waiting. I think I did a pretty good job with my essays, and I hope my recommenders did their bit.

Anyway, this anxiousness is sort of getting to me, and I was wondering if I should apply to more schools. You obviously understand the financial implications of applying to more than 4-5 schools, so I'd like to know whether I should apply to schools that are "rated" higher than these, or "rated" lower.

In effect, I don't know if my choice of schools is too ambitious or too safe? Any ideas?

Thanks

I guess I'll just wait it out for now