Profile Review (Entrepreneurship and Loan limitations)

[caughtoffside]

Hi Stacy,

Following is my profile:

GMAT - 730 (Quant 49, Verbal 40, AWA 6.0)
TOEFL - 115

Work Experience: Overall more than 5 years in IT
- 2 years in an entrepreneurial setup designing products
- more than 2 years part time teaching experience to international students
- Current role of team lead (though the designation says Sr. Software Engineer) in a middle level company for the last two and a half years
- Captain of company cricket team
- Completed a Radio Jockeying course and offered internship by a top Radio station in the city.

Aim: Do an MBA, work for two-three years as a consultant / in strategy planning and start off own firm.

Now the problem. When it comes to US, I can only look at universities which can give me non-cosigner loans in the US as I can only arrange loans upto US $40,000 from here in India.

I am looking at following non-US universities:
1. ISB
2. NUS
3. Nanyang
4. Oxford (a problem with the loan here as well)

For the US universities, I want to give a shot to two of the top 10 schools - Harvard and Sloan.

As for middle tier universities - could you suggest universities which would be good for my profile and where I could get a decent amount of scholarship?

Warm Regards,
Sudip.

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear Sudip,

I think your profile is competitive for any MBA program. The quality of your overall application will determine the decision, so you will need a strong set of essays conveying your rationale for an MBA and why that school is a good fit. Likewise, your essays, recommendations, and interviews will need to distinguish you from the large number of similar applicants.

With regards to scholarships, I would encourage you to apply to schools that are the best match for your career goals. If a school understands why you have chosen to apply there, and you add something interesting to the class, then the school is more likely to want to have you in the class and perhaps try to persuade you with a scholarship award. Research schools with strong general management/strategy/consulting curricula and ties to the consulting industry to identify some solid middle-tier options.

Good luck,
Lisa