Please Evaluate my profile

[vik123]

Hi,

I would greatly appreciate if you could evaluate my application:

Term: Fall 2009
Target Schools: Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Sloan, Columbia and Stern


Age/GMAT: 27 years (by Fall 2009), Male
Nationality: India

Background: Engineering/Technology

GMAT: 770 (Q50, V46), AWA: 6.0

Undergraduate: Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, GPA 9.1/10 (Ranked 3 in the class).

Masters: Electrical Engineering, Georgia Tech (Top 5 school), GPA: 4.0/4.0 and full-time research assistant which payed in complete for my masters.

Experience:

3 Years (by Fall 2009) in a high-tech wireless communication company. Systems Engineer working on research and development of advanced wireless communication systems. Embedded SW/HW design and development. Promoted after just 1.5 years. I am not in a managerial position, but work with multiple groups and have developed a good reputation as a good communicator. I think I can get a strong recommendation from my manager.

2 summer internships in Europe in the telecommunications industry during my undergraduate years. IAESTE research fellow for one of these internships.

2 years as research assistant at Georgia Tech working on a project for NASA and Georgia Tech. Featured in the school magazine.

Publications/Patents:
7 Pending Patent Applications filed in my current job.
4 research papers (wireless comm) in reputed international conferences

Recommendations:
Supervisors at my current job, my professor at grad school and supervisor in my European internships. (Most of these I think would be strong)

Extra-curricular:
Founded and managed to date the tennis and cricket clubs at my current company.Unfortunately do not have a lot of community experience. This I think is a weak point of my resume.

Also, do you think I am a little late for the first round? I have a month to go but it might be difficult to get everything together. Do I stand a chance if I apply in the second round?

Am I being overly ambitious with the school choices? What do you think should be my "safe" school?

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear vik123,

You are a strong candidate for your target schools. Of course, you will need to put together a compelling application with well-written essays and resume. You need to positively distinguish yourself from the other Indian engineers, so leverage your European work experience and managerial skills. There is no disadvantage to the second round versus the first round as long as you meet any stated deadlines for international applicants. Perhaps try to make first rounds for your top 2 choices?

As for safety options, I don't really think you have one in your list. All of the schools you mention are comparable in statistics and competitiveness. Perhaps look at a school ranked in the 10-30 range? I think you will find many viable options there.

Best of luck,
Lisa

[vik123]

Hi Lisa,

Thanks for the response. I am a pemanent resident of the US and have been living in the US for the past 5 years. Will I still be considered an International student?

Vikram

[Lisa Anderson]

Hi Virkram,

If you are a permanent resident, then you will not be considered an international student. Sorry for my error--I thought you were in India since your company is in India.

Best,
Lisa

[vik123]

Lisa,

As I prepare my essays, I am fretting more and more about my extra curricular activities. I am definitely talking about the tennis club I run at my company.

Also I am generally a politics junkie and follow domestic and international politics very closely. Recently I have also volunteered for the Get out the Vote (GOTV) effort in NJ and PA, for one of the presidential campaigns. Although short, about 4 weekends in Oct, it was a great experience. However I am not very comfortable talking about this for two reasons, 1) because its politics and 2) because I do not have any references because I worked at different field offices and sometimes from home.

What do you suggest? Should I talk about it?

Thanks,
Vikram

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear Vikram,

I don't see a problem if you choose to note your involvement in your applications in an activity list. However, I don't think it is enough to write about in an essay as you only spent about 4-6 weeks working on the GOTV initiative. Of course, you can leave it off altogether if you are concerned, but your political views will not impact your admissions decision either way.

Good luck,
Lisa

[vik123]

Lisa,

I have drafted essays for one school. But for most part all my examples are taken from my work, or internships in Europe and my Masters at Gerogia Tech. I do convey my leadership skills and also my ability to communicate effectively and work well in a team. Is it necessary to talk about my extra-curricular activities in my essays? Or could just leave that to the section in the online application?

Vikram

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear Vikram,

It is best to use the strongest examples in your essay, and professional experience is always a good thing to highlight. So, if you have used the best examples, then I think you should be confident and submit your applications. I would not try to make an extracurricular example "work" in an essay just to have it in there. The schools will see your involvement in your application and you can always talk about it in your interview.

Regards,
Lisa

[FamilyGuy]

Hi Vikram.
I was just going thru your profile, and your education and work ex seem similar to mine. I also am an IIT Btech grad, MS from US, (although My GMAT is lower thanyou- 730). I am also a permanet resident and.
My question is - Since you have applied (or planning to) same schools as I have, did you get an Interview from Stanford/HBS?
Which all schools did you get an interview/admit?
I will highly appreciate your reply.
Thanks,