Please evaluate my profile + some queries

[yashish]

Hi All,

I am planning to apply in R2. Please review my profile, all your comments are welcome.

Academic
========
Graduation : Engineering Computer Science & Engineering 72% (among 5% in college)
Higher Secondary : 72% (among top 5 in class)
High School : 77% (Topper in English Medium and 2nd in whole school)
I am an Certified Associate in Project Management (Project Management Institute, US)

Achieved the highest grade for Leadership and Team Management competency at Brainbench assessment test (my firm following this international assessment framework)

GMAT
======
Yet to appear targeting 700+ (Test date 22nd November)

Work Ex
=======
-Work Ex 3.yrs (by the time I will join 2008 session) with Asia's Top Software consultancy Services
-Got a role of Back-Up Project Lead with in 12 months of my career (lead the team of 12)
-Currently Priming Process related activity (streamlining the whole process cycle) at the group level (where I have a team of 2 people under me) along with being a module lead of my project.


*May be joining one of the world's leading firm as Senior Project Management Consultant by December (still in the process of selection though)

Extra Curricular
============

-Member of Green Peace India, CRY (Indian NGO for Children) and MatraChhaya (NGO working for Abandoned child)
-Won few prizes for Athletics and Debate, Technical Paper presentations at school, college and state level
-Involved in office level HR event organization.
-Guiding many CAPM aspirants through one to one discussions and online forums.

My social/family background
============================
I belong to a lower middle class Indian family with both my mother and father working as Government Employee. Whatever I have achieved in my career till date is a great success for me considering my social setup.

Queries
======
I want to specialize in Consulting and strategy , although I am aware that it requires many years of experience.And I am very much depended on scholarship. Could you all please guide me which all colleges I can target (mainly from US)?
If in case getting scholarship for consulting specialization is difficult (or because of lack of consulting experience) which colleges I could target for Finance?

I apologize as I am demanding too much from you all. But all your words help me a lot.

Regards,
Ashish, CAPM

[Amy]

Hi Ashish,

In my experience it is much more likely to receive loans than to find full scholarships for MBA programs. Because they are professional degrees assuming some level of upward mobility afterwards, students tend to pay almost full price. If finances are a concern, it may be helpful to apply for European or Canadian programs that are accelerated - Oxford, for instance, has a great program that's more affordable and a bit shorter.

I think your volunteer activities and background sound interesting, and I would focus on highlighting your leadership abilities and management potential. Having a consulting background is not required prior to business school in order to find a post-MBA job in the industry, although researching your target career path is very helpful.

Good luck!

Amy

[beatthegmat]

Posting on behalf of yashish:

***

Hi Amy, Thanks for your comments.

I too agree that its near to impossible to get full scholarship, but could I think of atleast of getting 50% schol + assistantship. I thought of European and Canadian schools, but either they expect more experience or ROI is not up to the mark for most of the schools. I have short listed few of the colleges with good reputation for consulting specialization.

All of these schools have attracted the best consultancy firms with good job roles for recruitment.

US == Tuck
Anderson
Kellogg
Ross
Fuqua
Haas
Darden
Cornell
Smith

Non-US ======
Ivey
Canada
Insead

Which all schools I could target as per my profile and would there be any chance of getting schols from these schools (mainly US one)? Could I consider few high ranking schools too(I have purposefully not listed them here)?Do I stand any chances? (It seems very vague question)

Regards, Ashish

[Amy]

Hi Ashish,

Without knowing what your GMAT is, I think your volunteer activities and background could provide interesting material for your essays. Your work background is fairly typical of applicants from India, and it will be important to highlight any leadership experience that is above average.

Good luck!

Amy

[yashish]

Hi Amy,

Thanks again for your inputs.

I will post my GMAT score, as and once I am done with it.

As I am cosistantly scoring above 650+ in mocks, so I am targeting something above 700+. Could you provide some inputs, assuming 700 as my GMAT score.

Regards,
Ashish,CAPM

[Amy]

Hi Ashish,

My previous input still holds - aside from GMAT studying you should concentrate on highlighting your management, leadership and interpersonal skills in your work and really showing what is unique and above average about you in those areas.

Good luck!

Amy