Executive MBA | Profile Evaluation

[mbakumar]

Hi Amy,
I have been finding lot of your evaluations and suggestions very useful. I have provided my profile and I guess a host of questions.

Personal
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Age: 33
Profile: Male, Indian
Based in: Boston

Education
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Bachelor of Engineering, Mumbai University, India
Grade - Avg of 63% ( 8 semesters/4 years) - Not sure the GPA that translates to

Career
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Current title: Director Technology

Acheivements in summary
- 12.5 years of experience in Business and Technology services industry
- Over the last 4 years have been a Delivery Manager for 100+ teams. At present I am the Directory of Technology for the company's Enterprise Applications.
- Extensive participation in proposal creation, client presentations, account building, and budget management.
- Overall 12 years of industry experience of which 7 years has been in leading and in managing globally distributed teams.
- Have worked in US, UK and Germany

Career goals
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My goal in doing a MBA program is to first develop into a senior technology executive and then move into overall company operations. In the past 12 years I believe a MBA program will help me develop business skills which are crucial to be a strong leader in any organization.

Colleges
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I am considerng Executive MBA programs; specifically Chicago GSB ,Ann Arbor or Kellogg programs. I am in the process of preparing for GMAT.

My next favorite list of programs, Columbia, USC and UCLA requires a GMAT. Hence can apply for those only after I take the GMAT which will be early March.
- After evaluating my profile, can you please provide your opinion on what my chances are in these colleges?
- What would a good GMAT score be for these programs?
- Am i correct in going for Executive programs or should i be looking at Part-time programs as well?
- I believe my applications will go in only by R3 for these colleges. Should I wait for another year before I apply or is it worth a try?

[Amy]

Hi mbakumar,

It sounds like you are absolutely on the right track. Your experience is heading towards management, and as a senior professional you will want to understand where the other managers are coming from, which an MBA will help with.

There is no specific GMAT score required for those programs. I think the better you do on the GMAT the stronger your overall profile is, but it's only one part of the application. I would study and see how you do, then you'll have a better idea if you want to improve your score or not.

I think either executive or part time would work for you. Executive programs are for fairly senior people, but it sounds like your experience is at a fairly senior level, so that should work for you. Part time programs could serve your goals also, so it's really your preference for programs.

It varies by program, but often the rounds are a bit later for the executive and part time application process. I think it's worth trying for now to see how it goes, if you are comfortable re-applying next year if you need to.

Good luck!

Amy

[humeixia]

Good luck.