Career Gap and MBA

[Skapila]

Hi Paxton,

Hope you are doing good. I am a prospective MBA applicant and would like to request for my profile evaluation.
I am an electrical engineer and have worked in Information technology sector for four years with IBM and Infosys.
I have had a good career progression and have performed at different roles within the firm. Worked at client locations in the UK and Switzerland in both technical and functional roles.

I have a GMAT score of 720 and a GPA of 6.7/10.

I had to move to US after I got married and since there were several limitations of VISA and other issues , I wasn't able to get a full time job in US. I was working part-time with a tutoring service and have worked as an instructor for GMAT and CFA for last year and a half.

During this period volunteered my services to American Red cross and The FreeGirl Foundation and contributed a lot to their marketing strategies .

It would be great if you can evaluate my profile and let me know if the career gap of two years would be a major stumbling block in my candidature for the B school.

I have shortlisted the following B schools:

1. Ross school of Business, University of Michigan ( Reapplicant)
2.Fuqua school of Business, Duke University( Reapplicant)
3.NYU stern
4.Yale University
5.Darden
6.Tuck
7.ISB ( Indian School of Business)

Thanks so much for your help,

Regards,
Shilpa

[Paxton Helms - Kaplan]

Hello and thanks for your note.

It's a little difficult for me to answer your question because the importance of your year and a half of "not working" (you were, of course, still staying busy!) depends on the amount of other work experience and the like that you have.

But, generally, speaking, as long as you have three or so years of good solid work experience either in the US or in your native country, then I don't see this as a major stumbling block. In fact, I think you can make the case that you are uniquely persistent, scrappy, and able to make adverse situations work for you.

Now, one thing that I did notice is that you are applying to some very high-powered schools. Might it make sense to apply to some places where --with your strong GMAT and techincal background-- the chances of your getting in might be a bit higher? This is not to say that your chances at those schools are low it just means that at each of them there is a certain "lottery" quality in the sense that they have more qualified applicants than they do slots.

So...it makes sense to apply to some of the non-elites, especially if you are interested in fellowships, etc.