Ask Stacy Blackman

24-year old female

Indian Passport Holder settled in the UAE for the past 1.5 yrs

Undergraduate GPA - still in the process of getting it done from an accredited agency. However, I reckon it would be in the 3.5-3.6 range. Stood amongst the Top 10 in my Batch. Did my majors in Commerce (business studies) from a small university in North India.

Certificate holder in mutual fund trading, derivates and options trading, capital market trading from the National Stock Exchange of India

Impressive academic track record (Merit holder throughout school).

Work Experience - Cumulative 2 years. 8 months in a Business Research Firm in the capacity of a Research Trainee. Offered a promotion, but had to resign and relocate after marriage. 1+ year in a prestigious Hospitality Consultancy firm based in the Gulf in the capacity of a Research Analyst

GMAT - 710 (AWA 5.0, Quantitative 48, Verbal 38, Aggregate 94 Percentile)

Languages known - Fluent in 3 languages English, Hindi and Urdu. Basic knowledge of French and Arabic

Extra-curricular involvements - Active volunteer with MSF (Medicins Sans Frontier) and Emirates Environment Group. Head of an alma mater mentor program. Was the head of a local community program directed towards the education of slum-dwellers in school.

Regularly write columns for MSN India. Other interests include photography, blogging, cooking and gardening.

I am planning to apply for NYU Stern, Kellogg, Haas and Stanford. What do you think are the chances?

WOW! simply WOW!

certainly a good (great) profile.
however as Stacy said, ...would like to read more about your career progress.

still you've many factors in your favour write good essays.
all the best.

Dear Stacey....Sorry to revive this dead post, but I had some other doubts....

On the work experience front, I will have a cumulative of 3 years of work experience by the time I start my course in Fall (if everything goes according to plan)...Would this be enough for a top school? I am ready to forego an MBA for the time being and garner some additional work-ex, rather than settle for a low-rung school...I want to do a specialisation in Finance and I am keen on Wharton, Columbi and NYU Stern....Thus I want to steer clear of the so-called "safety net" schools...

Secondly, my current job has been extremely enriching because the Hospiality sector is undergoing a major boom in Dubai...It's fascinating to be a part of a growing sector....The cultural experience has been awesome...I work with a team of 11 people - 2 Aussies, 1 Greek, 2 Swiss, 1 Pakistani, 1 Philipino, 3 Brits, 1 Indian and 1 Swiss-Finnish....Lots to learn from such a multicultural environment....However, I want to move to greener pastures because my lack of a hospitality background is limiting my growth prospects....The only problem is that I don't want my resume to appear "fidgety"...Moreover my current job affods me the time to invest in drafting applications, extra curriculars and community services (writing, blogging, volunteering)

Do you think it's better to stick around or move ahead right away...Or should I try to get better at my current job (which means better reco's)...Since my company is small (11 people), and my background is limiting, there are slim c hances of a promotion (even though they're very happy with my work!!!!)

Thirdly, I have a post graduate diploma in International Business and Finance, which I completed in 2005...I performed excellently and got a GPA of 7.8/10 (top 5% of my class)....Does this detail add to my resume or is this better off being omitted?

Also, what kind of activities can be bundled into my routine, which might strengthen my resume?

Please help.