Profile Evaluation

[mbaaspirant2014]

I am 28 year old Indian female. I have 5 years of work exp and planning to give my gmat next month. I have done my BE in computers from Mumbai with an aggregate of 55%.
Request you to evaluate my profile.

1. Currently working as a PMO for a year and a half with Business Unit lead of one of the world's largest outsourcing company.
2. PMO (6 months - Customer Operations Mangement - BPO unit) : My role was to program manage focused initiatives towards achieving key business priorities. I was responsible for tracking, monitoring and reporting on key business indicators / KPIs. I also worked on articulating our overall achievements, plans and updates to the appropriate audience and worked on special projects such as branding of our program.
3. Now I work as a PMO to the sector development executive for Manufacturing BPO sector in my firm. I help drive marketing campaigns at all stages, manage account development by tracking and monitoring of all accounts, building strategies to bring in innovation in the sector, do considerable amount of research on manufacturing industry and market analysis and trends to build insights, helping drive bringing vertical solutions to the industry, connect and coordinate with people in different business units for synergies, build decks for meetings and client visits related to manufacturing. Help in developing road maps and designing strategies for sector innovation
4. Have 3 years of work experience as a web developer and designer. Automated the build process and led a 15 member team for 6 months as a Rnd lead in parallel to the development and designing work.
5. Shifted to program management because of my keen interest in management
6. Can get good recommendations and show leadership in managing tasks.
Extra Curricular : Quite sporadic
1. Keen Interest in classical music and playing instruments for 4 years
2. Fundraising for NGO
3. Active member for fun team and CSR team at work
4. Won prizes at school and college level for elocution, UN examination prizes, elocution competition, singing and dance competitions

My aim is to do MBA from Ivy League colleges.

I request you to let me know if I should consider doing some certification to overcome my low GPA score. I am planning to give my GMAT next month. How much min should I aim for. Which colleges do you think I can aim for. Also I have a 8 months gap before I switched over to new firm so request to guide me how to overcome this as well.

[Jon@Admissionado]

Hey there!

So first of all regarding your GPA... I think the BEST thing you can do at this point is get a really high GMAT. Now to be honest it doesn't "wipe away" your low GPA, BUT it does help dispel any doubts about your abilities. Now, even if you do get a fantastic GMAT (say 720+) I guess that Ivy Leagues will probably be out of range for you. The thing is that they have enough people to choose from with fantastic GPAs AND fantastic GMAT from IITs, so unless you have something so phenomenal that they have never seen it before, your chances are not likely to be very high.

Soooo, of course do your best on your GMAT anyhow, cause it IS really important, but the best piece of advice I can give you is to be a wee bit more realistic about your goals...

I would hold out on giving specific advice until you get your GMAT score, so let's say good luck on your test! And once you have your score, come back and post it here, and we can begin to discuss schools.

Hope this helps!