Need advice guys...been pre-MBA since June 2009..GMAT done

Hi siddaggarwal,

You're going to need to take control of your message in order for any of the top schools to understand why you need an MBA. What we mean by that is, right now your background is a little scattered. You've done a number of assorted things but there's no overarching theme. The most important question to answer for most schools is WHY DO YOU WANT AN MBA? In other words, what are your career goals, and why is an MBA important to them?

Once you've got that identified, then you'll have a better time of figuring out how to position your career history within that context. For example, if you want to go into finance/i-banking, then you'll need to focus on the work experiences you've had where you've developed your analytical skills. Leadershp skills are also important to demonstrate, as is teamwork. These elements will be demonstrated to the adcom by the stories you choose to present in your essays.

But rather than worrying about your background, it's more important to start with the future state: what do you want to do when you graduate from bschool? Then, work backwards to figure out how to get there. It would probably be easier to gain acceptance to a top school -- and to get a competitive finance job afterwards -- if you have a more cohesive work history coming into the picture.

If you're not currently working full-time, then absolutely, you should go get a full-time job right away. It's much much easier to get into bschool when you have a job then when you're unemployed (they prefer to see people who are proactive and taking control of their lives); plus, if we're talking about applying to bschool in this upcoming admissions season, then in most cases, the actual MBA program won't even begin till Fall 2012. That's an awful long time to be sitting in the waiting room. It's best to be actively building skills right now, and a regular full-time job in a relevant field or industry is the best way to get you ready for bschool and the transition thereafter.

Hope this helps!
EssaySnark

Wow essay snark thanks for the great advice and you're absolutely right. The most central theme to my application is why I need an MBA or how will and MBA contribute towards my goals. Also what I can provide to the respective program and its students in terms of my own experiences.

Thank you I will give more detail to my application as I can.

Siddharth