vishal.pathak wrote:Hello Stacey,

I have been reading your posts here and I want to thank you for all the effort you put in examining individual profile. Your replies not only help the person in question but are also loaded with info for the rest of the guys with similar profiles

I want to appear for GMAT in March 2012 and I want to know the right things which should be done stand out. I believe that there are tons of Indian IT professionals and its difficult project oneself as a potential candidate. My profile is as follows

1. I have a technical blog. (13 posts, some 5-6 guys have appreciated my work. John Minkjan, who has approx 2 dozen blogs, is following my blog)
2. I have written a white paper
3. I have written a review for a technical book on the request of an international publication and they have put it on their website
4. I have cleared CFA Level 1 exam . I failed in Level 2 last year and haven't given it a 2nd try yet.
5. I have Oracle and Java certifications (These are technical certifications. These are not too tough to get)
6. I have 4+ years of IT experience
7. I am an Electrical and Electronics Engineering from an elite engg college in India (I understand that this won't factor in getting me to good places)

I want to know the kind of things that I should be doing now, apart from studying hard to get a good score.

Thanking you in anticipation of your kind help.

Regards,
Vishal

Stacey Oyler wrote:Hi Vishal,

Simply put there are two things you can do to help boost your chances of getting into a top MBA program. The first is to earn a high score on the GMAT. A 720 is the minimum I would aim to score for a top program. The second thing you should do is get some outside activities. You have some interesting activities related to your profession, but you don't appear to have any hobbies or other volunteer type of activities in your profile.

I strongly encourage you to seek out opportunities not only to boost the personal side to your profile, but also as means to gain some leadership experience. Outside activities will not only help you stand out in the applicant pool, but they will also likely lend to some potential essay topics.

Best,

Stacey