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Help me shortlist B-schools: exp. 6yrsconsulting;GMAT 710

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Help me shortlist B-schools: exp. 6yrsconsulting;GMAT 710

by i045400 » Sun Jul 04, 2010 12:54 am
Hi,

I am currently in the process of shorting listing US MBA schools. I must get into a B-School this year because my GMAT (710 score) expires in 2011.

Experience Summary
Work : 6 years of work-experience. Began careerwith software development, quality management and incremently progressing to business consulting. I now lead a competency of half a dozen consultants at SAP. Over 3 years of overseas work experience in Middle east, Scandanavia, Germany, Switzerland, UK, France and United States(Texas).

Academics: Electronics&Comm engineering with GPA = 7.9/10, which I guess translates to 3.16/4.0. ({7.9/10}*4=3.6).

MBA School focus : Schools that is good in general management, mangement consulting and technology consulting.

I plan to apply to 7 schools in all.

1. Haas - For its focus on innovation, proximity of silicon valley which has numerous big and niche small firms. Collaborative study environment - This is TOP Choice.
2. UCLA(Anderson) - Great Career centre, strong faculty.
3. Cornell
4. Duke
5. Emory
6. Tepper
7. MCCombs

Please tell me my chances of making it ot Haas and UCLA. My colleagues and friends have also recommended me to apply to NYU. What doyou think are my chances.

Do you think the list safeguards my interest of getting into a MBA this year ?
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by Tani » Mon Jul 05, 2010 7:39 pm
Certainly your GMAT is acceptable. The percent grade systems never translate directly to US grades. You might check with your undergraduate institution to see whether it regularly translates grades for its graduates. You can then compare the translated grades with the reported averages for your target schools. If you know your class rank - or even which decile your grades put you in, that can help.

The schools on your list are very competitive and good metrics are not enough to make you a strong candidate. You will need to show managerial and leadership potential and offer convincing reasons for seeking an MBA. Unfortunately, most of the schools you mention have an enormous number of applicants with technical backgrounds. You will need to work hard to differentiate yourself from the competition. Haas and UCLA have the lowest acceptance rates. The others run from 25-35% acceptance, which improves your chances.

It is difficult for me to judge your potential based on the limited information you have provided about your work experience. An experienced admissions consultant could be a strong ally in positioning your experience to date and relating that to your career objectives. Those objectives will also need to be clearly spelled out and strongly supported. Your international experience should help your candidacy if you can position it as relevant to the long-term career you are seeking.

All top-tier business schools will have solid coursework available in general management. Carnegie Mellon and Austin rank highest for information systems. In general, your school list covers an appropriate selectivity range. Much will depend on how well you tell your story and distinguish yourself from the mountain of technology-based applicants. If you must go to business school next year you might want to add one more safety school, but overall your chances of being accepted to at least one from your list are good.
Tani Wolff
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by i045400 » Sun Jul 11, 2010 2:04 am
Hi Tani,

Thank you for your email. It took me a while to respond to your email because after hearing your evaluation and recommendations I decided to give a second look at the business school I intent to apply. I want to get my list of 8 schools right because I must get into an MBA college this year.

My intellectual strength and aptitude lies in problem solving and analytical evaluations to recommend strategies. More importantly, I enjoy it.

Luckily, these strengths are buttressed by my consulting experience. Even though I work with IT Company, my job requires me to interact with retail/trade industry extensively to understand their business & problems and come up with strategies, which involve technology to process transformation.

Over the last couple of year I have developed a domain expertise in the Retail Industry, which is what I am going to use to differentiate myself from the other technology applicants. Moreover my current role as a consulting practice head, which involves responsibilities in people management and business development, which will act a differentiators as well.

Based on my interests and experience I see I can do well in the consulting and strategy space. I strongly believe that as one goes up the hierarchy he must understand and contribute to different areas from HR to Finance to Marketing.

My selection of MBA schools is based on the following Criterions:-

1. B-School which is strong in Consulting, General Management and Strategy
With Strong I mean
(a) School provides concentration options in these areas
(b) Has good faculty and has a good reputation in the industry

I evaluate them by
(a) Looking at curriculum
(b) Placement in the above industry

2. Great Peer Group: It is the 2nd most important criterion for me.
I evaluate by
(a)average GMAT Score, Avg GPA
(b)average experience and Age

My stats GMAT : 710, GPA = 3.2, Experience = 6 yrs

3. Must be in the top 20.
Brand image is very important in today's world. I currently do not have a great unversity brand with me.

4. Acceptance rate
To make sure that I get into an MBA school this year I must select a good mix of schools.

My Big list of schools is

Dream
1. MIT Sloan - AR 14%
2. Kellogg - AR 19%
3. Chicago - AR 24%
4. Berkley - AR 11%
5. NY Stern - AR 14%

Great
6. Darden - AR 25%
7. Duke - AR 30%
8. UCLA - AR 25%
9 Cornell - AR 22%

Safe
10.Tepper - Ar 28%
11. Marshall - AR 22%
12. Austin - AR 23%

A lot of my fiends have recommended Kenan-Flagler and Boston University as well, but I do not know their strengths


Could you help me narrowing down the list above to below :-

Dream come true
1.
2.
3.

Great Schools
4.
5.
6.

Safe bets
7.
8.
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