School selection - 770 - Enterprenuarship track

[sohrabkalra]

Hi,

I would be applying to b-schools this fall for the class of 2015. Would love to have your inputs on my school list.

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

Post MBA goal
During MBA i want to use the resources available in a bschool to build on an idea and if by the time of exit ,the idea morphs into a product i want to start my own firm right out of b school. but if it does not reach that stage , then i want to move to venture capital industry for 5-7 years and then move into entrepreneurship.

Schools
1)Haas - bay area advantage for VC industry
2)UCLA - like the location, culture and proximity to bay area
3)sloan - great entrepreneurial atmosphere , good location
4)booth
5)stanford - long shot ?
6)tuck

apart from these would you suggest some other schools ? how are yale,darden,kellog,duke when it comes to my career goals and profile?

Much Thanks!

[Bryant@VeritasPrep]

your target schools are well chosen and i think you have a shot at them with your profile. Duke is also a good consideration, particularly with its proximity to RTP and the VC world. Marshall could be a safety school, or one where you could likely get scholarship. Be careful targeting VC/PE world as your short term plan, since these firms rarely recruit freshly minted MBAs. Lots of good b-plan competitions for MBAs out there so definitely make the most of your two years in school to try and get something funded and launched. Another backup plan could be TiGER program at Georgia Tech. Good alternative to Sloan.

[sohrabkalra]

Much thanks for your inputs bryant !

[sohrabkalra]

Bryant,

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. 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!

[Bryant@VeritasPrep]

Option C is the safest bet, but at the very least, you should identify that you know the hurdles as you indicate in option 1. Also look into the west coast schools, as they are beginning to make some inroads into international students getting funded early. There is even talk of an offshore incubator that will be housed on a big ship off the california coast near San Jose. I read about it in the wall street journal a few weeks ago.