Ask Stratus Admissions Counseling

Hi,
I apologize for a long profile summary. Please find the details below:

Age = 30

Academics:
PGDM (Equivalent to MBA) - marketing and systems (2008 - 2010)
"¢University - Among top 30 B-schools
"¢CGPA - 3.27/4
"¢Awarded a Gold Medal for outstanding performance in the Systems Specialization

B.Tech - Computer Science and Engineering (2001 -2005)
"¢University: SASTRA University
"¢CGPA - 8.2/10
"¢Received a scholarship of Rs. 5000 during 2002 and 2003 for being in Top 10% - Dean's List for academic excellence

GMAT : 710 [Q48,V38], AWA 6/6

Work Experience:
I am currently on a break owing to personal reasons.

Industry verticals: Manufacturing, Banking, and Embedded Systems
Total Experience: 43 months

1. Infosys Technologies - 8 months - After PGDM (April 2010 - Dec 2010)
Role: Associate Consultant - Siebel 8.0 CRM

Significant Contributions:
"¢Successfully led an end-to-end implementation and deployment of a mammoth Siebel Service 8.0 Change Request as a single offshore business analyst
"¢Received appreciation for my articulation skills, team management, and achieving cost optimization of around $100,000
"¢Infosys Siebel internal certifications

2.Honeywell Technology Solutions Lab - Before PGDM - (Jun 2007 - May 2008)
Role: QA Engineer

Significant Contributions:
"¢ Initiated a LEAN implementation at Honeywell QA Lab, thereby fetching a Team Achievement Award
"¢ Took an initiative to design the installation work-flow logic for a Security Management Solutions Software upgrade based on customer experience captured by Sales and Delivery Teams
"¢ Earned a Six Sigma Green Belt certification at Honeywell for increased product test coverage by 11%, cost savings of $23,000/annum and, reduced testing time by 10.2%.

3.Wipro Technologies - (Jul 2005 - Jun 2007)
Role: Project Engineer/Module Lead

Significant Contributions:
"¢Successfully lead a team of 3-4 Testing Engineers to complete testing and certification of Toshiba e-STUDIO printers and supported Document Management Solutions
"¢ Improved product and/or processes by implementing DSM (Dependency Structured Matrix) - a process tool to model and analyze the dependencies among the entities of a system. This resulted in reduction in testing time by 12%.

Promoted after 12 months

Summer - Internship:
-I headed a 4 member student team and worked towards creating 'CINDEX - India's first ever Comprehensive Index on customer experience at country level and regional level' - May - Jun, 2009
-The CINDEX project report was published in The Hindu - India's National Newspaper (https://goo.gl/52pRv) on Jul 16, 2009. The CINDEX findings (https://goo.gl/IM1Uh) are revised every 3-6 months and closely monitored by the industry experts
-In the essays, I can write about my leadership experience.

Extra-curricular Activities:
"¢Event Manager for a a cultural week (People week) for the TOSHIBA Embedded Systems domain at Wipro Kochi, Jul 2006 - Was awarded PES Excellence award
"¢Active participant of the 6th National Youth Parliament competition conducted by Government of India , Oct 2003
"¢Secured Ist place in the MBA students paper presentation contest in an International conference in Mysore, Jul 2009

Volunteering:
"¢Socially relevant project - Worked with Mysore Dasara (a 10 day state festival of the state of Karnataka) team
-Closely worked with Mysore District Commissioner, Journalists, and Tourists - to understand event management, identify operational issues while organizing a state-level mega event, and propose solutions based on research, survey report collected from tourists and residents, and interviews from residents, police officers, and government officials.

-No other volunteering experience

Target schools for MBA:

University of Maryland
Louisiana State University
University of Colorado - Boulder
University of Cincinnati
University of Missouri: Trulaske - Columbia
University of Utah - David Eccles School of Business
Texas A&M University
University of Georgia - Terry School of Business
University of Wisconsin Madison
Georgia Tech

Purpose:
Although I already have an Indian MBA, my real purpose of doing another MBA is to leverage my skills and further my capabilities to enter in Financial Analytics.

Goals:

Upon graduating, I would like to work in Financial Analytics Consulting, banking vertical with an IT services/consulting firm. After 4 - 5 years of solid experience I will be targeting Big 4 Consulting firms to work as a Practice Consultant - Financial Analytics - Banking

Concerns:
1. I have taken a break for 2.5 years and I can explain it in my essays. Would this hamper my chances of getting an admit?
I have utilized my break for GMAT and some online courses in coursera. I am currently working on the role of statistics in big data.
2. Since I have taken a long break, I cannot get a recommendation letter from my previous supervisor as he travels frequently and is currently unavailable to write a letter.
So I have requested:
-My professor who supervised my research thesis on 'Study of Saas - ERP in SMEs' during my PGDM
-Summer Intern Supervisor who monitored our CINDEX project - After my internship, he offered me a full time position with the firm
-My professor who supervised the socially relevant project

Questions:
1. Kindly evaluate my profile and suggest whether the listed universities are safe or long shot
2. I am planning to apply in Round 2 and I am unsure whether my profile is competitive for an admit+scholarship
3. Is my age a factor while applying for B-School?

Your suggestions will be very helpful.
Thanks in advance,
Maanasa