Need help in Profile Evaluation

[ramitagrawal]

Indian Male
Age - 25
GMAT - 740 (Q-50, V-40)
GPA - 3.2 (Telecom Engineer)
Work ex - 43 months as network engineer for leading telecommunication equipment manufacturer. (The hiring was extremely selective and I can get this fact certified in the recommendation letter from the services head who was instrumental in the hiring process- 400 were selected from 140,000 candidates competing for the position)

Responsibilities:
Configuration, troubleshooting and operations for leading telecom operator in India. The work is very critical and challenging.
Received a couple of awards at work. One by the CEO of operator.

Extracurriculars:

Young professional ambassador with Teach for India
Author with PEOI (United Nations Volunteering organisation)

Why MBA:

Short term goal: Post MBA I want to work as a management consultant for 5-6 years
Long term goal: Want to work in the strategic team of an organisation

Target Schools: Kellogg, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Virginia Darden, UCLA, ISB, Tepper, Cornell

Thanks for your time.

[mbaMissionJenK]

Hi there,

Thanks for posting. I would very generally say you have an average to slightly-above-average Indian/male/engineering profile. The 740 GMAT is exceptional, congrats, although in the Indian engineering profile group scores also tend to be high. The job you secured sounds like it was very selective as you mentioned and you can include that info in your application/interview where appropriate, certainly.

Your biggest challenge still will be how to STAND OUT from the other Indian engineering applicants. You also want to ensure you demonstrate more than just quantitative skills, since those are very evident... but see if you can also include people skills, communication skills, people management experiences, leadership, teamwork. Those types of experiences show you are more than just a "numbers/analytical guy" and also help distinguish you from the rest of the applicants with similar backgrounds.

Your application essays will be critical in your admissions decision and your ability to demonstrate what I mentioned above, as well as why you want the MBA, and why you feel the schools you apply to are right for you. Be sure you don't underestimate the time and effort you should invest in your essays.

You may also want to build out your goals further if possible and include some rationale and passion to further differentiate from others with common goals.

In terms of schools, Kellogg will be the biggest reach on your list, followed by Cornell. You may have better chances at Tepper, Ross & ISB, from your list. Be careful about how many programs you apply to, because you do need to tailor your application to each, so most applicants find they have time to apply to 3-5 schools on average. Don't sacrifice on quality of applications for quantity, if that makes sense.

Let us know what other questions you have and good luck to you!

[ramitagrawal]

Hi Jen,

Thanks a ton for the precious advice.

I must tell you that I am putting much more efforts in my essays than I did in my GMAT.
I totally get what you told about the leadership, communication and people management skills. I am working for a telecom company as an O&M engineer. On daily basis I get to coordinate with different teams. This means I have to coordinate with the support guys sitting in Finland for technical support, to communicate with a manager of our customer, to work with my team to ensure that a project is completed on time. Thus even though a b school might bucket my work in IT, it is not that. I work in the customer premises and on the physical infrastructure. I have also lead some of the projects in the past and continue to do so.

All said, may I please request you to give me a better understanding of my selection of schools. Will you suggest me to subtract a school and add another? I would be really thankful for the same.


Thanks and Regards.

[mbaMissionJenK]

Yes I think all of those customer-facing interactions and various ways of managing people including international contacts are so key to feature in your application, spot on.

You may have already made these decisions by now, but I would suggest choosing 3-4 of your schools to target for R1. Maybe only one that is more of a 'reach' program for you. Good luck to you!