Hi,
I am Male, 29, Indian IT professional with 6 years of experience (programmer/team lead) :
4 Years in Computer Sciences and Corporation(CSC) for a fortune 500 US client (1 year from TN, US) and 2 years in top Indian IT company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for 2 big Indian clients.
Prior to this, I did B. Tech. in Computer Science engineering from a premier institute (NIT) scoring 7.2/10. My Community service and extra curricular are good.
I want to move into strategic consulting with specialisation in IT.
After preparing 3 months on my own, I wrote GMAT this Feb end, got just 640(Q49, V29) but applied nevertheless (R3 Fall 2013) to McGill & Schulich in Canada and (owing to my low GMAT,) some Tier II US schools. Two US schools I have got admit from are not really of my priority and are on the expensive side too. So, for US, I would have to wait another year for better schools/scholarship there.
Since financing my MBA is a concern for me, the only offer I can consider is from McGill with $8000 entrance award.
Now, any suggestions on my below queries would be highly appreciated:
1. [Most Important] My dream schools are some of the high end Tier II schools from US (Fuqua, Darden, Tepper, Owen) but they have an average GMAT approaching 700 or more. I want to go to either of these schools not just for the brand name, but because I really want to study with the best out there. I have studied in one of the top engineering colleges in India, and know what kind of incredible people you see in the top schools. But since I am 29 already and will turn 30 this sept.(already above avg. age at most schools), Would it be worth waiting another 1 year and applying next year with GMAT 680-700? (this seems achievable in 2nd attempt with better verbal score as I was getting 35 in Verbal Mocks.) I don't think there will be any other significant addition to my profile in the coming year other than around 50 points in GMAT and one more year of IT experience.
2. Please throw some light on how Canada can prove out to be equally good/better (if at all) MBA destination than US? (4-5 years down the line, I plan to either head back to India or move rest of my family with me.)
3. How about job prospects after graduating from McGill with twin specializations in either of below combinations:
a) Technology & Innovation Management, and Global Strategy & Leadership.
b) Finance and Marketing (I might consider a career switch after completion of 1st year of MBA).
4. McGill definitely is a great brand as a university but their b-school doesn't rank that well and I am not sure if one should go for a parent university brand or a prestigious MBA brand. Can you share your ideas on this?
Thank you very much for your time. I would really appreciate your advice and guidance.
Cheers,
Munish
I am Male, 29, Indian IT professional with 6 years of experience (programmer/team lead) :
4 Years in Computer Sciences and Corporation(CSC) for a fortune 500 US client (1 year from TN, US) and 2 years in top Indian IT company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for 2 big Indian clients.
Prior to this, I did B. Tech. in Computer Science engineering from a premier institute (NIT) scoring 7.2/10. My Community service and extra curricular are good.
I want to move into strategic consulting with specialisation in IT.
After preparing 3 months on my own, I wrote GMAT this Feb end, got just 640(Q49, V29) but applied nevertheless (R3 Fall 2013) to McGill & Schulich in Canada and (owing to my low GMAT,) some Tier II US schools. Two US schools I have got admit from are not really of my priority and are on the expensive side too. So, for US, I would have to wait another year for better schools/scholarship there.
Since financing my MBA is a concern for me, the only offer I can consider is from McGill with $8000 entrance award.
Now, any suggestions on my below queries would be highly appreciated:
1. [Most Important] My dream schools are some of the high end Tier II schools from US (Fuqua, Darden, Tepper, Owen) but they have an average GMAT approaching 700 or more. I want to go to either of these schools not just for the brand name, but because I really want to study with the best out there. I have studied in one of the top engineering colleges in India, and know what kind of incredible people you see in the top schools. But since I am 29 already and will turn 30 this sept.(already above avg. age at most schools), Would it be worth waiting another 1 year and applying next year with GMAT 680-700? (this seems achievable in 2nd attempt with better verbal score as I was getting 35 in Verbal Mocks.) I don't think there will be any other significant addition to my profile in the coming year other than around 50 points in GMAT and one more year of IT experience.
2. Please throw some light on how Canada can prove out to be equally good/better (if at all) MBA destination than US? (4-5 years down the line, I plan to either head back to India or move rest of my family with me.)
3. How about job prospects after graduating from McGill with twin specializations in either of below combinations:
a) Technology & Innovation Management, and Global Strategy & Leadership.
b) Finance and Marketing (I might consider a career switch after completion of 1st year of MBA).
4. McGill definitely is a great brand as a university but their b-school doesn't rank that well and I am not sure if one should go for a parent university brand or a prestigious MBA brand. Can you share your ideas on this?
Thank you very much for your time. I would really appreciate your advice and guidance.
Cheers,
Munish
