Request for profile evaluation

[GDular]

Hi Stacey,

My name is Gaurav. I am a prospective MBA student. I am looking foward to start in fall 2011.

Well I would like to get your insight in my MBA candidacy:
Here we go:

Age: 29 (30 when I start)
I am a (medical) doctor by profession. I was born in India and moved later to Germany. I am a German citizen.

GMAT1: 620
GMAT2: 680 (Q: 44 and V: 43)

Education:
GPA: 3.2 (Studied medicine at a Germany top-tier university, ranked as Germany's best university 2009-10), Qualification: MD; fully licensed with the German Medical Council
I would receive my PhD in cardiac surgery by end of this year (from another top-tier German university with magna cum laude)

Work Experience (all in Germany):
1) As an Intern in a university hospital - 1 year
2) Medical advisor in a multinational European pharmaceutical company (one of the biggest 50 Pharma companies of the world) - 2 years (1 Promotion)
Started my own company in Bangalore, India, to market golf yardage books (Sales: around 3000 Dollars per year) (for 2 years)

Extracurricular:
1) Volunteered to vaccinate children in various slums in Northern India (for 3 years)
2) Played in Dutch cricket league (League IV) (for almost one year)
3) Volunteered for buddy program at my university (for almost 3 years)

Pre MBA (what I do now):
I am the project manager for 2 major clinical trials with budgets of 5 million Euros each. Besides I am working in a team as the only Medical Expert to develop an innovative medication for a skin disease in Europe.

Post MBA:
Short term: Strategic management consulting (with major focus on pharma/biotech/healthcare) or going back to the pharma/biotech sector.
Long term: Get into senior management of Big Pharma/biotech

My unique points?
1) Tons of international experience
2) I can speak 5 languages fluently
3) I have a MD and a PhD (soon)
4) Only person in my company to lead 2 major clinical trials at the same time

Schools: (I have arranged the schools in order of MY preference)

1. Kellogg
2. Chicago
3. Columbia
4. NYU
5. UCLA
6. Ross
7. Texas (McCombs)
8. Safe: UCSD (Rady) or George Washington

9. Stretccccch!: Stanford , Wharton

Questions:
Do you think I have shot at any of these schools? Could you please arrange this list in the order that would be doable with my profile?
Do I need to add any more schools or take some schools off from the list? I would prefer to go to schools which have a urban or semi-urban campus.
Could you please also suggest some more appropriate safe schools for my profile?

I am looking forward to your reply.
Many thanks in advance
with kind regard
Gaurav

[Stacey Oyler]

Hi Gaurav,

Thanks for your post. You certainly seem to have an interesting and unique profile. While your GMAT score is a bit below average for the schools on your list, I think it's fair to say you have enough in your background to alleviate any concerns the adcom may have about your quantitative ability.

As far as school selection, in general I think it's best to apply to between 4-6 schools. You may wish to trim your list down a bit. I think it's a good idea to strike a balance between reach schools and target programs. While I won't rearrange your list in the order of best odds (I can't really predict odds of admission) I can tell you that you have a big gap in your list. You have a list of top 10 schools and then a list of top 30 schools, but nothing in between. I suggest you consider schools such as Darden, Duke or UT Austin. These are great programs to consider and they can certainly help you achieve your post MBA goals.

Best,

Stcey

[GDular]

Hi Stacey,

Many thanks for you evaluation of my profile.

I really appreciate your help.

Could you please suggest me some safe schools?

Kind regards
Gaurav

[Stacey Oyler]

Hi,

I would suggest looking at schools ranked 15-20 to find those that might be good "target" programs. I don't like to use the term safety because I don't think there really is such a think as a "safe bet." Find schools that are a good fit with your goals and they should be the ones you target.

Best,

Stacey