ashish.aagrawal 05-07-2006, 01:52 PM Hellooo,
I have been doing some research on which MBA schools to apply to. As a part of it would like some advise from people who have already gone through the process or have some knowledge to impart.
Would like to share my profile for your advice.
Work Ex: Have completed 2 yrs (as on may 2006) of experience with one of the leading IT firm in india. during this period 1) Have been awarded the process improvement award Q3 2005, 2) awarded the Team Award for the year 2004, 3) Complete Six Sigma Green Belt Certification 4) Got a promotion with the 1 year conformation and have been responsible for complete implementation cycle for major modules in the project.
Have worked as a visiting lecturer for an 'A' grade college in mumbai. Took more than 30hrs lectures for B.Sc. students.
Studies and extra activities: Have a decent 70% in my 10th, 12th (commerce) and through out my degree (B.Sc. - IT).
Have been a caption of a group of students in the degree college for a inter-group competition . The whole college was divided into 5 groups where each group had aprox 800 students. The competition had 22 events in the field of sports, performing arts and fine arts. Also was a part of the committee for the department festival.
During the college and junior college years, Won a silver medal and two bronze medal at national level (all india). Won gold medals for 4 years continuously at state (maharashtra) level. Have won many gold medals at the city level and till date have multiple records standing at city level.
Was also awarded a national level scholarship during my school days.
GMAT: Pending, would be giving the same by aug-sep 2006.
Please suggest from your experience / knowledge
Which business schools should i be applying to?
and
Is my profile good enough to give a shot to the top schools in the world?
Thanks a lot everyone for putting in some time to help me.
Regards,
Ashish Agrawal.
slayterdown 05-08-2006, 09:00 PM Ashish,
I cannot speak for schools outside the U.S., but keep in mind that your profile is very typical of Indian candidates who apply to top schools in the U.S. While the two years of work experience is sufficient, your peers who will be applying will have atleast that much if not much more experience.
Depending on how strong your undergrad record is, you may have a long shot at the top 15 schools in the US. Perhaps you could think about getting more experience and involving in a wider range of extracurricular activities before you apply, unless ofcourse you are willing to compromise and go to a 2nd tier school. Note: The reason why people make such a big deal about going to a top 15 school, is because it is a big deal.
If you are insistant on applying this year, here is my 2 cents on your profile: Your profile is strong, but very cookie cutterish. Think about things outside work and academics that make you unique... trust me, making you unique does not have to be anything extraordinary. When I was working on my essays, I wrote about work I did on my house (that may not seem terribly impressive, but if you can spin it the right way, it can seem outstanding). Hopefully you will get into your dream school. Good luck with your college search and applications.
ashish.aagrawal 05-08-2006, 11:48 PM Hi,
i guess i forgot to mention a small detail the national level medals are all in athletics. The silver medal at the national level is in 100 Mts run, the 2 bronze are in 4x100 and 4x400 mts run. The state level medals are in 100 mts , 200 mts and 400mts in all the years and so are the records at the city level.
i actually thought my extra-activities were better than my academics. i guess i would be able to list down a few more like traveling ( have traveled quite a lot within india) , adventure sports( have done a few like para-sailing, rafting , bungy jumping ) , equity market....
hope this gives different prospective to the profile.
i am not hell bent on applying this year though but would like to start with the process and would like to know where do i stand.
thanks for your precious input, would like you to add some more points taking these new points into consideration.
Thanks once again,
Ashish
slayterdown 05-10-2006, 09:14 PM Didn't realize that your medals were outside academics. That is great.. as long as you have still kept in touch with those sports and are continuing to excel in athletics. The worst situation is when you have done something well and then just gave it up.
By the way, you can forget anything that you did well before college; the business schools don't care about your acheivements before you turned 18 (unless you won a pulitzer prize or played in the final of Wimbledon). In fact to some extent they don't even care about your non academic college life unless you had done something really impressive during your undergrad years or were doing something that you can be proud of during your college years and are continuing to do so.
Apart from athletics, other extracurricular activities that certainly impress schools is involvment in community or non-profit organizations... it is nice for people to know that you give back to the community.
All said and done, I just want to re-iterate the fact that your lack of experience is perhaps the only thing that could hinder your chances at top schools. You are competing with the likes of IIT and BITS Pilani applicants (unless ofcourse you are one of them) with high GMAT sores and 4+ years of work experience. That is the jist of it. The more you can pull out to make yourself stand out, the better your chances.
Good luck.
thatsmyid 05-13-2006, 01:30 PM Hi I'm also from India .. I'm in my final year of undergrad in a top ranked engineering coll in India( Anna Univ.). I'm very serious about doing my MBA in a Top 15 Business School ..... Well , my GPA is around 3.5 in my UG ... I know that it is very average ... but the UG course is all very dry ( not much of practicals) and so i didnt perform all that well due to lack of interest ..... so thats the reason for my low GPA .... But i've great interest in doing my MBA in a Top 15 BS in the US ..... I'm aiming for atleast 720 in my GMAT and am sure to achieve it , so pls assume that my Gmat score is 720 ......
GMAT - 720/800
GPA in UG - 3.5/5
Work Experience - Nil
Extra Curricular - 1) National Medalist in Swimming before UG but still have got Zonal Cetificates and Individual championships during UG representing my college ....... Got trophies for the Individual Championships i got
2) I was in NCC ( National Cadet Corps ) for one year and have Class C certificate .......
So what are the prospects for me ? Pls advice ....... Alsp pls guide me as to which universities i can apply with the above profile ..... And whether i can get scholarship or assisstantship based on my 1st semester performance ?? Kindly guide me ......
Thanks ,
Karthik
slayterdown 06-03-2006, 02:09 PM Karthik,
While it is very difficult to guess prospects for people, I can tell you that applying to the top 15 business schools in the US without any work experience will most certainly hinder your chances. Your GPA is average and your anticipated GMAT scores are also average (even if you got an 800, it would help that much). I would certainly think of working a few years (minimum 3 years... more the better) before applying.
Also if you look at the profile of students who go to top business schools in the US, it shows an average of 5 years of work experience. Which means that if you do happen to get into school with no work experience, you will not gain much in classes and you will have a tough time competing for jobs against people with significant work experience.
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