Ask mbaMission

Hi,

Request you to analyse my profile. I am applying to top B-schools in the first round, please suggest what kind of schools might be a good fit.

Gmat - 710 (Q - 50, V - 35, AWA - 5)

Undergrad and Post Grad - Good academics with 3.6 GPA and 2nd rank in the batch (not mentioned by the university though). Bachelors and Masters in information technology from Indian Institute of Information Technology (an autonomous Govt of India Institute)

Work Experience - By the time of joining would have 3 years of experience in a tier 2 consulting firm. 1 year consulting research experience and 2 years of client engagement experience. Type of work is technology consulting centered at business i.e. IT strategy, IT transformation, portfolio rationalization etc.

3 team awards during the first year. 1 for best individual performance (team of 25). During the second year also mentored (not directly managed) 4 individuals for a period of 6 months.

Additional International Experience - 2 internships (1 in Australia and 1 in UK - 3 months each)

1 NGO internship back in 2005 in India.

Extra curricular activities - Active in the college community and during school but not so much while working. Part of 2-3 clubs and organized multiple events.

Would LBS, Wharton, Tuck, Ross, Darden, IESE, Chicago, Kelloggs, Duke, Sloan be good fit. What could be the chances?

Thanks.

Anuj

anuj -

Thanks for your posting and request for a profile evaluation.

I will cut to the chase: you are in a tough situation as a male, Indian, IT consultant, with a 710 GMAT, and very little differentiation in terms of your personal story or extracurricular activities. Wharton, LBS, Chicago, Sloan, and Kellogg will probably all be considered "stretch" schools for you. Ross or Duke may be slightly easier, but if you are 100% sure that you wish to attend business school next year, I would add some true safety schools to your mix.

I am sure this is not what you hoped to hear. If you can differentiate yourself in terms of your career goals or something, it may also improve your changes.

Good luck,
Jennifer

Hi,

Thanks a lot for your reply.

What do you mean by differentiate through career goals? Can you please elaborate. After completing my MBA I want to work in consulting itself but more on the business side. How can I differentiate my career goals?

Would be grateful if you could provide some inputs.

Regards,
Anuj

Hi Jennifer,

Let me also elaborate my experience here:

Multiple roles. 1 year industry research, 4-5 months of business development and rest is client engagement experience.

Some extracurriculars post graduation: photography club (though no awards or achievements here), participated in annual running marathon event twice

Could you also suggest some 'safe schools' as you mentioned in the reply. Once again thanks a lot for your help and response.

Regards,
Anuj

Anuj -

What I mean about differentiating yourself via your career goals: Your goals will not really differentiate you because there are SO many Indian male engineers who want to move from software development and engineering into strategy consulting. For example, if you have an industry focus (say energy or transportation) that is interesting to you and you might be interested in doing in-house strategy work and maybe even a leadership development program within one of those industries, this is much more unique and thoughtful. Be very specific about your industry of choice, region of the world and long-term career aspirations. I am not trying to tell what to make for your goals, but the engineering-to-consulting "track" is extremely over-crowded and you will not stand out from that group.

As for safety schools, I encourage you to do some research! Maybe the University of Washington, Indiana, or possibly Emory? Again, there are a lot of schools out there, and they all have fabulous website and student and alumni groups that will be eager to talk with you. Reach out to them to learn more.

Good luck,
Jennifer

Dear Jennifer,

Many thanks for your inputs. I really appreciate your help.

Let me also clarify a bit about my experience. My education background is IT, but my experience is not in software development or engineering. Its purely consulting, its just that its on the technology side, for ex. defining technology strategy, rationalizing IT portfolio for fmcg company, change management for telecom, developing technology transformation diagnostic tollkit and industry/market research in verticals such as banking, telecom, auto etc.

And thats why I find a close match with an MBA, to learn the business, economy concepts so that I can relate business and technology better. There are strategic consulting areas such as competitive strategy, market entry strategy or technology strategy that I want to work in, post my MBA and thats where I see the match and differentiation in my profile.

Hope you think its a bit different from the software development and engineering area. But I agree that I need to be specific about my goals and background.

I thank you once again for your inputs and request you to share your views on this. And what could be the chances for Darden or Tepper?

Kind Regards,
Anuj

Anuj -
Thank you for the clarifications. I am sorry that I did not recognize the differences. While I am not sure that it makes a huge difference either way, the relevant links to and reasoning for business school are improved. I think that Darden still might be a reach for you, but Tepper is attainable. Again, be very specific and clear about your goals and specific professional development needs that each school will meet.
Best of luck,
Jennifer

Dear Jennifer,

Many thanks for your inputs once again. I will give it my best. Thanks

I really appreciate your help. Do let me know if I could contribute to MBAmission in any way.

Kind Regards,
Anuj

Hi Jennifer,

Can you share your inputs on my profile?

I am a Software engineer having a total of 3.5 years of experience. My experience basically was technical one for a major Credit Card Company and also as a system analyst for a financial institution. My main task involved in understanding and maintaining the business logic. I have a clear picture of the working of credit card industry

I have a GMAT score of 640 and AWA 4.5.

Acadamics: Average of 72%

I have obtained a certificate for D&B for "Foundation course in Banking-Part 1"

I have shortlisted the following schools depending on the average and range of GMAT score displayed in the class profile of their website. I am basically looking to specialize in Finance

I want to know my chances in
1. W.P. Carey Business School, ASU
2. Mays Business School, Texas A&M
3. University of Wisconsin, Madision

Please let me know your inputs

Thanks