Profile Eval Please - Great GMAT, Low GPA, Older Applicant

[vkredi]

COULD YOU PLEASE PROVIDE AN EVALUATION OF MY PROFILE? THANK YOU!

Basic demographic info:

age : 32
gender : M
nationality : India

Educational Background:

undergrad major : Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical & Electronics)
GPA : 67% (I'm not making the coversion, the topper scored 87%)
GMAT score : Attempt 1 - 660(Q46,V35,AWA5.5) ; Attempt 2 - 740(Q49,V42,AWA6.0)

[Jon@Admissionado]

Sure thing sir!
first of all lets start off with your main strengths and weaknesses

Strengths: 1. Career progress - this sounds VERY nice. Push HARD in your essays to show them how quickly and how fast you have progressed.
2. Recruitment and leadership - great stuff here. The actual team building experience is rare and will be very appreciated
3. GMAT, 'nuff said.

Weaknesses: 1. Indian/Male/Tech profile - the largest and most competitive of pools
2. GPA - Not very good. Do you have an explanation/excuse?
3. Age

What does this mean altogether? That for your school list, LBS, Wharton, and Booth will be stretches for you. Kellogg likely between stretch and competitive, and NYU competitive, which means that as far as overall strategy you have a very ambitious and somewhat risky school list.What does this mean? That you need to decide whether you want to go for a "Only top 10 or bust" strategy which is a bit risky in your case, or 2. you can moderate your school list, by opening yourself up to more schools.

Personally, I would suggest 2, but you gotta do what is right for YOU in your life and your goals. After all, the ultimate final goal is not the MBA, but the life that comes along and after it.

Hope this helps,

[vkredi]

Thank you so much Jon!!

How am I addressing my weaknesses -
Indian/IT/Male - I've been living and working in the US for the last 5 years and the exposure/learning was immense.

[Jon@Admissionado]

Very good that you are addressing your weaknesses. And five years int he US will certainly be helpful. And yes, you should use every trick in the book to make your GPA seem as high as you can.

Yet, still, you have a tough school list. If you have your heart set on these schools and don't want to compromise, I can suggest a "third way" which I have seen work out very well for folks but which demands a colossal effort and had a huge time expense, and that is: to apply to LOTS of programs. Not the 4-5 that everyone is applying to, but the 8-10, so that you can include ALL your dream schools plus a few "safer" options just in case.

It's hard, but I've seen efforts like these bear some wonderful and large fruit.