Indian Applicant, Education Sector

[ameya_90]

Hi There!!
I would like a profile evaluation. Following is my profile:

BACKGROUND:
Education: Graduated from the University of Mumbai with a degree in Computer Engineering with a GPA of 3.72 in 2012(top 10% of the class)
GMAT: 760(Q50, V42) , AWA: 5.0 , IR:7
TOEFL iBT: 117/120
AGE: 23.5 years

WORK EXPERIENCE:
16 months in a Family Owned Business - Vidyalankar is a test prep organization that trains over 50,000 students every year for competitive entrance exams such as the IIT JEE, CAT, and GATE. The organization, under its Not for Profit arm (Vidyalankar Dnyanapeeth Trust) also runs Engineering, Management and Science Degree colleges and a Diploma college in Mumbai. The total number of students enrolled in these colleges collectively is 5000

Work Related Achievements from June 2012 - Present:

"¢Team Leader - Post Graduate Division and New Initiatives. Developed and implemented a new marketing plan worth INR 4 million for the post graduate division that yielded INR 25 million thus increasing the annual growth rate from 20% to 50% for the year 2012-13

"¢ Team leader of core team that built the business model for training rural students- using Video Conferencing via satellite technology. This new initiative generated additional revenue of INR 7.2 million in the last 3 months

"¢Initiated and developed a program to improve employability of students. The program includes aptitude test training, soft skills training and technical domain expertise training for engineers. This program was recently launched and so I am not sure of the impact that it will have in the future since placement season isn't over yet.

CERTIFICATES:

"¢Philip Kotler Marketing 3.0
"¢Malcolm Baldrige Business Excellence Model
"¢Dale Carnegie Level 2 (Step up to professional excellence ) program
"¢Dale Carnegie Level 1 (Gen next ) program


AWARDS and EXTRACURRICULAR INFORMATION:
"¢Awarded a trophy for Best All Round Student for the batch of 2012 of Vidyalankar Institute of Technology college in (April 2012)
"¢Student Council President -Organized the College festival with a footfall of 5000 people and a budget of INR 1.5 million (March 2011)
"¢Chief Organizer -of my college branding event "Corridors to Revelation" with a team of 6 members for two consecutive years (July 2010, July 2011)
"¢Implemented a Centralized Print Management System in college in 2012. This system is now used to print around 30,000 prints annually (December 2011)
I also helped organise a blood donation drive through an NGO while in college

OTHER PERSONAL INFORMATION:

"¢Attended a conference at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad on "how to professionalize a family business"

"¢Participated in 6 HBS case studies, and 2 IIM- Ahmedabad case study sessions in college to enrich and enhance my decision making skills
"¢Languages known: English, Marathi, Hindi, French (Basic)
________________________________________________________________

My goal is to come back to India after graduation and expand my family business and help diversify in the education field itself.. I want to increase it's reach using platforms such as video conferencing, e-learning etc
I wish to apply this year itself...and am interested in doing and MBA in General Management
I know that I am short on work experience but still wish to apply to schools this year...


Given that I am younger than most applicants, which schools are reasonable for my profile? I think that I will be able to apply to 3-4 schools before the R2 deadline.
Can I consider schools like Kellogg, Darden, Duke and Ross ? Or aim I aiming too high?


Thanks for all the help.......

[Jon@Admissionado]

Hey Ameya,
WOW what a GMAT!!!! I am totally impressed dude. Test preparation obviously runs in the family

You have a great looking profile, but your work experience is a bit (hmmm a bit more than bit) on the low side for an MBA. Wait at least another year or two. I mean ultimately the AdComs will come exactly to the same conclusion. Even if you have a superb application, they are very likely to say to themselves: "well, let's see what he does in the next two years".

So unless you have a fantastic reason for applying in such a rush, I'd say spend a year or two gathering experience and leadership, and THEN apply.

Let me know your thoughts, dude...

[ameya_90]

Hey Jon,

Thanks for the insight. Actually, I have two reasons why I want to go now and not two years down the road:

1. The education sector over here is about to witness a revolution in terms of technology use and scale of operations. If I go in two years down from now, I would have missed the opportunity to be the "first mover" to implement new technology defectively using my business education.

2. My mother, who runs the graduate division of the organization suffers from a brain tumor and her efficiency and hours spent at work are reducing. I need to take over from her as soon as possible.

These are the two factual reasons why I wish to apply this year itself....

So I'm not sure what to do...

[Jon@Admissionado]

Hello there good sir,
Really sorry to hear about your mother. I truly hope that things go as well as possible for you, her and the whole family. So I understand your dilemma, and your reasoning makes sense. Of course I don't want to overstep my boundaries by advising what you should do in regards with your family, so I don't really know exactly what you should do. I am tempted to say, oaky, don't wait two years, but yes maybe till next R1 if it is possible from the family perspective. I think the first reason you give seems to me more of a "feeling" than a reason, although I admit my inner knowledge of the Indian test prep sector is pretty low. But whatever the case, you still need to find a way to make a good balance between your life and your goals and everything. I mean on the one hand, applying R1 with a lot of time to prepare, with 7 months more experience will probably increase your chances a lot. Again, if this is less good for your family or for other reasons, then maybe it's not the right idea, and you apply right now to the schools that attract you the most and see what happens. It depends on the specificities of your mother's condition, how much a difference one year will make, what other options you have, and so on...

I do hope this help, and wish you the best, and your mother as well,
JF