Goals Query!

[sohrabkalra]

Hi,

Before i go to my query . Let me provide a brief background to myself

Profile in brief
GMAT - 770 ( Q51, V44)
GPA - 7 ( on a scale of 10)
Undergrad Major - Computer Science
work ex(at the time of applying) - 2 years in technology in a reputed telecom software firm , built a team there and got appreciation awards twice . 1 year in a business dev role with a startup driving one of the products.
extracurriculars -
1)head marketing , annual cultural festival for the university - revived the fest after a gap of 6 years and raised 3 million INR
2)Lot of involvement in other clubs like documentary club etc
3)running a program with a startup group to create and enhance ink between startup ecosystem and fresh graduates in my area
Nationality/age- Indian/26

Question
ideally , i want to leverage my startup experience and technology background and the resources at a bschool to try and get something funded and launch the venture right out of school(the experience and essays solidly back this goal). However , being an international applicant the visa regulations or not being able to secure funding makes this a tough but not impossible goal to achieve. I understand this fact and as a fall back option( with equal interest) i would want to work in a general management/rotational leadership role in a tech company like intel/amazon/apple.

To describe this situation in my app story : which approach would you suggest
a) describe entreprenuarship as the short term goal and also put in the fact that i understand the difficulty and thus rotational leadership/general management is a fall back option in the goals essay itself
b) explain the situation if there is an optional essay allowing to add 'any other information' and ot just extenuating circumstances
c) describe rotational leadership/general management as short term goal alltogether and put entrepreneurship as something i would do once i have the network to go around the legal hassles of starting up in US.

Look to hear from you

Cheers!

[milimbamission]

Hello again!

Great profile. I'd suggest that the most credible career narrative you have is the entrepreneurial route. I wouldn't worry too much about the financing issues -- you can always say in your essay that you want to return to India to launch your start-up. In this case, you may want to have a short term goal that helps prepare you for your long term goal: so, for example, if in the long term you want to launch a tech education start-up, but you have no education experience, maybe your short-term goal is to gain education sector experience in the U.S.

I honestly think you could ignore the financing/legal question all together in your application, but be prepared to answer it in an interview or something. (You could also get financing from abroad for your start-up, couldn't you? I'm not sure on all the details, but for a friends/family round, that's definitely an option at least!) I don't think the ad coms are going to sweat the details on your career narrative. But probably best to say your short term goal is to work at a U.S. start-up in xyz sector and then launch your own start-up after that.

Hope that helps,
Mili