I believe that with that last post, I am entirely up to date. Please let me know if I have missed an inquiry. I look forward to answering more of your questions, as they will inevitably spring up on this thread.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBAMission
www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
Jeremy,
Thanks for all your comments and advice provided to me via email. It was perhaps not of interest to the forum members becuase of my unusual profile. But I want the community to know that you were prompt and responsive.
Thanks again.
Rakesh
Hi Jeremy,
My profile is as follows
I am an IT engineer working with Infosys for the last 3.75 years and I will have four and a half years experience by fall 2007.Before that I worked in a little known tyre company when the IT sector was at its height of recession
My marks are as follows
10th Standard -79%
12th Standard -88%
Engineering (Mech) 69% from Goverment Engg College
National Talent search Examination scholar from India.
I have been deputed in US for the past one year and have received numerous awards and appreciation from the clients.
I recently wrote the GMAT and scored 780 with a 99 percentile in both Maths and English.
I have also been involved in charity programs and recently organised fund raising program in my account for Cancer affected children in US.
Extra curriculars - I have a keen interest in writing and have published articles in college magazines and was a part of the student wing of a prominent newspaper in India.
Before my GMAt score I was reconciled to the idea of trying only for ISB IIMs and the second rung foreign universities. But I see a chance because of my exceptional GMAT score. Honestly do you feel that I should apply for the top 5 now and whether it is worthwhile just because I have a GMAT score, considering that everything else is typical of an Indian IT engineer and my GPA is nothing much to write home about.
I would really appreciate your guidance here.
Thanks
Rajesh
Hi Jeremy,
My profile is as follows
I am an IT engineer working with Infosys for the last 3.75 years and I will have four and a half years experience by fall 2007.Before that I worked in a little known tyre company when the IT sector was at its height of recession
My marks are as follows
10th Standard -79%
12th Standard -88%
Engineering (Mech) 69% from Goverment Engg College
I have received the National Talent search Examination scholarship in India which is awarded to students in India after two rounds of tests and an interview.
I have been deputed in US for the past one year and have received numerous awards and appreciation from the clients. I have been working in Oracle Apps in the Supply Chain Management domain.
I recently wrote the GMAT and scored 780 with a 99 percentile in both Maths and English.
I have also been involved in charity programs and recently organised fund raising program in my account for Cancer affected children in US.
Extra curriculars - I have a keen interest in writing and have published articles in college magazines and was a part of the student wing of a prominent newspaper in India.
Other than that reading, playing the guitar and body building.
Before my GMAT score I was reconciled to the idea of trying only for ISB IIMs and the second rung foreign universities. But I see a chance because of my exceptional GMAT score. Honestly do you feel that I should apply for the top 5 now and whether it is worthwhile just because I have a GMAT score, considering that everything else is typical of an Indian IT engineer and my GPA is nothing much to write home about.
I would really appreciate your guidance here, because with just a little less than two months to go, I am slightly confused.
Thanks
Rajesh
Thanks for your inquiry.
You seem to have excellent scores both GMAT and GPA and some interesting differentiators via your community service and passion for/success in choreography. Your work experience is a bit vague in your post, but if you can provide some interesting nuggets from this experience, I think that you can be competitive at CBS, Wharton and Chicago. Still, I would need to know a lot more about your work.
As for HBS and Stanford, what do you consider to be your wow factors?
Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBAMission
www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
Hello Jeremy,
First of all, a huge thank-you for responding to this query. Also, I am the guilty person who woke you up at that ungodly hour last week.
I hope you won't hate me forever.By the way, I also got my AWA scores.. a 6.0
After going through a lot of posts on this forum, and after coming down from cloud nine (on which my GMAT scores had put me) I evaluated my profile, and recompiled my list of schools. So far, it's Chicago, Michigan and Tuck.
Now coming to my work experience, here are the few interesting things that I can think of:
1. When I joined CSC, the Vantage projects were just being set up. And there were a batch of new joinees (including me) who were unable to attend any of the formal trainings. We didnt know the ABC of Insurance, and even after giving our FLMI level One exams, it was tough to visualize how the Vantage transactions fit into the whole scheme of things. I came up with the idea of a Vantage Policy Life Cycle Diagram I first worked on it myself, making a huge Level 1 Data Flow + Process Flow diagram which showed the entire necessary transactions at a glance, and then put all the other transactions into Policy Life transactions, and Policy Termination transactions. I then went on to build separate diagrams for each set of transactions Loans, Surrenders, Waivers and Benefits, Reports etc. Halfway through the diagrams, I showed it to my manager who loved the idea. He asked the rest of my team to help me, and I gave a presentation of the completed diagram on the First Anniversary of the Vantage projects. I also asked for permission to start a series of trainings for any new person in the Vantage projects, using the Life Cycle Diagram as a starting point. The trainings were a big success. I have left CSC, but the diagram is still used as the start of any training program for people entering the Vantage projects.
2. When I came to my present company, it was because they agreed to transition me from a Tech to BA role. They did not have any BA work as of then, but wanted to bid for a project involving BA work. I did not have any prior BA experience, but I was sent as the BA to work in their US office for three months and then offshore for three months of the six month trial period. We did not have an Indian BA before, so there were many interpersonal issues that needed to be ironed out (both in the BA team there, who were resistant to the idea of an Indian BA, and the Indian Techs, who definitely did not like taking directions from a girl younger than them).
I had to do good work in a very negative environment, and also induce an element of positive thinking, because only then could I bring about the comfort factor needed to inspire confidence. I had to co-ordinate between at least 4-6 departments for even a simple SPR, and often needed to make a brilliant first impression in even the smallest of things. I had to get work done by people over whom I not only did not have any direct authority, but also many of who resented my being there.
Im happy to say I managed to do that. It was a hard road, with high pressure, but I made it work. We got a permanent contract, and the confidence level has increased. I did not stop there. Again, I set about putting into practice a series of trainings for the Unit testing team offshore to raise the competence level. I gave trainings from Business and Product knowledge to Testing practices. At the end of two months, the Unit testing team was delivering items with 0-1 defects, as opposed to 4-5 defects earlier.
Why I think these incidents are interesting is because I feel they show that Im willing to take initiative when I see I can make a difference, and that I dont give up when the going gets tough. I dont stop when Ive won the first round, but think of ways to optimize a good situation.
I dont know whether these things would actually sound impressive or not on an application essay, and I would love your opinion here.
The other thing I am having a bit of a problem with, is how to weave in all these myriad experiences into the various essays and which essay to put what into
Could you please advise? I would be applying to Chicago, Tuck and Michigan in the first round.
Thank you again,
Keya
Rajesh,
Thanks for your inquiry.
Your GMAT score is whopping, so that should help a great deal. Still, you identify the overrepresentation factor, which cannot be under-estimated. I think that unless I am missing something Stanford and HBS will still be quite tough, but Columbia in particular (the worst of the GMAT obsessed), Chicago and MIT may take an interest. It is difficult to analyze as you really play down your differences. If forced, how could you showcase them? Push yourself what makes you different?
Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBAMission
www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
Thanks for your inquiry.
Your GMAT score is whopping, so that should help a great deal. Still, you identify the overrepresentation factor, which cannot be under-estimated. I think that unless I am missing something Stanford and HBS will still be quite tough, but Columbia in particular (the worst of the GMAT obsessed), Chicago and MIT may take an interest. It is difficult to analyze as you really play down your differences. If forced, how could you showcase them? Push yourself what makes you different?
Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBAMission
www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
Hi Jeremy,
My profile is as follows
I am an IT engineer working with Infosys for the last 3.75 years and I will have four and a half years experience by fall 2007.Before that I worked in a little known tyre company when the IT sector was at its height of recession
My marks are as follows
10th Standard -79%
12th Standard -88%
Engineering (Mech) 69% from Goverment Engg College
National Talent search Examination scholar from India.
I have been deputed in US for the past one year and have received numerous awards and appreciation from the clients.
I recently wrote the GMAT and scored 780 with a 99 percentile in both Maths and English.
I have also been involved in charity programs and recently organised fund raising program in my account for Cancer affected children in US.
Extra curriculars - I have a keen interest in writing and have published articles in college magazines and was a part of the student wing of a prominent newspaper in India.
Before my GMAt score I was reconciled to the idea of trying only for ISB IIMs and the second rung foreign universities. But I see a chance because of my exceptional GMAT score. Honestly do you feel that I should apply for the top 5 now and whether it is worthwhile just because I have a GMAT score, considering that everything else is typical of an Indian IT engineer and my GPA is nothing much to write home about.
I would really appreciate your guidance here.
Thanks
Rajesh
Hi Jeremy,
My profile is as follows
I am an IT engineer working with Asia's largest IT organization. My GMAT score is 660. I applied this year in Yale and carnegie universities but got the rejection from both of them
My marks are as follows
Bachelor in computer science -73%
Masters in computer application -75.25% (with distinction)
I have been deputed in US for the past one year and have received numerous awards and appreciation from the clients.
I have also been involved in charity organization fot the last 5 yrs.
Extra curriculars - Average
I am planning to apply for Virginia, Ohio and LBS. I dont know how much chances do I have. So I would really appreciate your guidance here. Please let me know in what all universities should I apply.
Thanks
Aru
My profile is as follows
I am an IT engineer working with Asia's largest IT organization. My GMAT score is 660. I applied this year in Yale and carnegie universities but got the rejection from both of them
My marks are as follows
Bachelor in computer science -73%
Masters in computer application -75.25% (with distinction)
I have been deputed in US for the past one year and have received numerous awards and appreciation from the clients.
I have also been involved in charity organization fot the last 5 yrs.
Extra curriculars - Average
I am planning to apply for Virginia, Ohio and LBS. I dont know how much chances do I have. So I would really appreciate your guidance here. Please let me know in what all universities should I apply.
Thanks
Aru
Hi Jeremy,
I have PMed u my profile,or should i post it in ths thread !
Kindly advise.
Waiting for ur reply !
Hansy
A breif about my profile:
I am from India.
GMAT - 740
TOEFL - 287
ACADEMIC:
I am 25 year old engineer in the field of Electronics and Telecommunication. I have been the top performer at my institute and have been the recepient of scholarships twice in four years. I have also received quite a few other awards for academic excellence. Always ranked either 1st or 2nd in my institute.
Work-Experience:
After engineering I worked for 2 years as a software developer at a multinational. During this I was also posted to US for 4 months for some additional work assignments. I was responsilble for heading a team of 5 people, was involved in security audits and was also the security coordinator for my project. After that for the next 2 years I have worked at a very small manufactuing company as an Assistant Marketing Manager. This is a very small organization with only about 50 employees. I made this change in career as I wanted to shift into marketing and also learn about the manufactuing industry as my dream is to start my own consultancy firm. So since I had the knowledge of service industry I also wanted to learn about manufactuing to complete my knowldege. Though it is a very small organization the roles and responsibilites that I have in this organization are very significant. It ranged from client meetings to presentations to designing marketing mix to creating promotions.
Extra-Curicullar:
I am the founder member and the secretarty of alumni association of my engineering college. I was reponsible for initiating and establishing the committe, setting up the website, creating industry interface for the institute throguh the alumni network, conducting guest lectures and training the students in group discussion, personal interview and presentation skills.
I was also the chair of the Placements committe at my engineering college. Here I had to organize the members in teams and coordinate all efforts of the committee. The committtee was reponsible for establishing contacts in the industry and convincing them to recruit from our campus.
I was also the member of students council responsible for organizing Annual functions, annual sports meets and college cultural festival.
I have been active in a variety of sports from Soccer to cricket and have won quite a few awards for the same.
Social Service:
During college days I have volunteered for organizing a number of blood donation camps. I am currently heading a group of 6 people and together we are trying to edcuate the underpriviledged children in our locality. We also try to spread awareness amongst the parents about the value of education so that they send their kids to school. But it is not an officially registered organization.
I wanted to know based on my profile which are the colleges that I have a good chance of securing and admit. I given below the tentative list of colleges that I was looking forward to applying for Fall 2007. If possible I want you guys to tell me what are the strenghts and weaknesses in my application and also what are my chances in each of these colleges. Also if you could suggest which are the best colleges based on my profile and any colleges that I have missed out in the list. I want to major in the field of marketing.
1. Wharton
2. Harvard
3. Stanford
4. Kellog
5. Columbia
6. NYU - Stern
7. Michigan Ann Arbor
8. Berkley - Haas
9. Duke
10. UCLA - Anderson
Please let me know if I have missed out on any good colleges based on my profile.
Thanks a lot in advance.
Hi Jeremy,
I am Anoop and for the past few days have been pondering with the idea of GMAT and an MBA from the US.
A brief profile of me would go like this:
Academics:
--------------
* 10th - 90%
* 12th - 90%
* B.Tech, Computer Science - 76% (university of Kerala-inside the top 10 in class of 50)
I do not know how to convert my % marks to CGPA. Pardon me that.
Work Profile
-------------
* Have 4 years work experince in IT (5 by the time I apply)
* worked out of locations in India,New Zealand and currently out of Saudi Arabia (with IBM Saudi Arabia at present).
* Last 1.5 years have been client facing roles involving obtaining requirements from the end clients as well as deisgn level work and implementation.
* I work predominantly as an IT Consultant providing highly specialised services.
* I Have received a letter of appriciation from CEO of my previous organization for exemplary work.
* I have a total of 3 organizations in my resume and have progressed from a run of the mill IT professional to a consultant who can offer well placed and higly effective advice (So I feel)
* Have been involved in a public service scheme called NSS during collage days (I have the certificate ) as well as been a regular blood donor (got a certificate for that as well).Not done too much since coming to Saudi Arabia.
* I have some technical certifications as well.
GMAT
-------
Not yet given it, actually about to start preperation but IMHO I feel I can manage a score of 720+.
Sorry for making this long but with this profile what are the schools I can realistically aim on making it to ? I would like to be involved with IT after my MBA and would be looking at Entrepreneurship in the longer term.
Do give your opinion as to where you would place myself with respect to the good BSchools.
Regards,
Anoop
Hi Jeremy,
I work as a software engineer in India and aspire to do an MBA abroad , preferably in a top US B school. However, what concerns me is that I have been working for only about a year now , giving me close to two years experience only by the time of course commencement. I've scored 730 in my GMAT and wonder if i should apply this time. Also, I'd like to change lines and get into something finance related. I'm wondering if i should apply to top B schools or choose an alternate path - thinking of doing a one year MBA from an average place, working thereafter, and thinkin of a top MBA later.
What do you suggest.
Rohit
Hi Jeremy,
Thank you in advance for responding. I need help figuring out where I should apply!
This is my profile in brief:
GMAT:
710 (Q.46 V.41)
Undergrad:
Bachelor's in Management Studies (Marketing) - Mumbai University- First Class, but only average marks.
Work Ex:
2 years with a graphic/web design company as a designer + 6 months with Lowe Lintas - Mumbai in Client Servicing, working on Unilever brands.
+ Undergrad work ex in Client Servicing, Sales and Freelance design.
Extra-Curric:
State-Level Handball player: 1999, 2000, 2001
District Level Football, Volleyball, Basketball and Chess.
Lowe Mumbai Football team member- Silver Cup runners up.
Organizing Committee Member + Creative Head of my own college fest (Bhavan's- Athletica- if there are any BMS grads out there who remember )
Won loads of events in inter-college BMS fests both individually and as part of a team.
Community Service:
A couple of design projects I did for an NGO (for free of course )
----
So that's my profile. And this is coupled with a 710 score. I have a lot of faith in my essay writing + letters of reco (I'm on very good terms with my ex boss, my current boss and my college profs) so I know that will be at the least ABOVE average. Now I dunno where to apply to?!!!
This is where I need help! I'd primarily be interested in Marketing/Branding and/or Consultancy so I need to apply to colleges which are known for these programs. Any suggestions??? I'm not opposed to studying Finance or Logistics, but I'd be more comfortable in a school where I know Marketing isn't the LEAST favoured choice.
I have a few colleges in mind, but I have little or no knowledge about their marketing programs + their expectations from Indian students (which I've heard is higher than from everyone else! Apparently, if a class profile GMAT average is 670, you should add another 30-40 points if you're Indian, since they expect more from us!)
This is what I have thought of so far:
UT-Austin McCombs
Univ of North Carolina - Kenan Flagler
Univ of Indiana - Kelley
Ohio State - Fisher
Univ of Illinois - Urbana Champaign
Michigan State Univ - Broad
Texas A&M; - Mays
Any ideas as to which one of these are good + which ones aren't + ANYWHERE else I should be applying to?!? (US Only) Should I even attempt the top 20? (Darden, Yale, etc etc?)
Thanks again,
Nandan
Hi Jeremy,
I am IT Professional with about 3 years and 9 months of experience. I have already appeared for GMAT on the 12th of August and scored 760 on that. I am yet to receive my AWA score though.
I have a good academic record.
X 90 % (CBSE)
XII 88 % (CBSE)
BE 83.5 % (MNNIT Allahabad)
I am currently working with TCS and deputed to US for the last 15 months.
I had a few questions on the ISB essays.
For the essay on the cover letter, do I need to name the company and does it need to be in the standard format of a letter.
For the question on the changes, does it really have to be weaknesses or its any aspect that I would like to change.
I plan to submit my application in the first round. Please help me with these questions.
Thanks
Sumit
Thanks for your question.
I make public posts my priority as they help more people. I will get to PM posts with time.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission
www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
I make public posts my priority as they help more people. I will get to PM posts with time.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission
www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
Hi Jeremy,
I have PMed u my profile,or should i post it in ths thread !
Kindly advise.
Waiting for ur reply !
Hansy
A breif about my profile:
I am from India.
GMAT - 740
TOEFL - 287
ACADEMIC:
I am 25 year old engineer in the field of Electronics and Telecommunication. I have been the top performer at my institute and have been the recepient of scholarships twice in four years. I have also received quite a few other awards for academic excellence. Always ranked either 1st or 2nd in my institute.
Work-Experience:
After engineering I worked for 2 years as a software developer at a multinational. During this I was also posted to US for 4 months for some additional work assignments. I was responsilble for heading a team of 5 people, was involved in security audits and was also the security coordinator for my project. After that for the next 2 years I have worked at a very small manufactuing company as an Assistant Marketing Manager. This is a very small organization with only about 50 employees. I made this change in career as I wanted to shift into marketing and also learn about the manufactuing industry as my dream is to start my own consultancy firm. So since I had the knowledge of service industry I also wanted to learn about manufactuing to complete my knowldege. Though it is a very small organization the roles and responsibilites that I have in this organization are very significant. It ranged from client meetings to presentations to designing marketing mix to creating promotions.
Extra-Curicullar:
I am the founder member and the secretarty of alumni association of my engineering college. I was reponsible for initiating and establishing the committe, setting up the website, creating industry interface for the institute throguh the alumni network, conducting guest lectures and training the students in group discussion, personal interview and presentation skills.
I was also the chair of the Placements committe at my engineering college. Here I had to organize the members in teams and coordinate all efforts of the committee. The committtee was reponsible for establishing contacts in the industry and convincing them to recruit from our campus.
I was also the member of students council responsible for organizing Annual functions, annual sports meets and college cultural festival.
I have been active in a variety of sports from Soccer to cricket and have won quite a few awards for the same.
Social Service:
During college days I have volunteered for organizing a number of blood donation camps. I am currently heading a group of 6 people and together we are trying to edcuate the underpriviledged children in our locality. We also try to spread awareness amongst the parents about the value of education so that they send their kids to school. But it is not an officially registered organization.
I wanted to know based on my profile which are the colleges that I have a good chance of securing and admit. I given below the tentative list of colleges that I was looking forward to applying for Fall 2007. If possible I want you guys to tell me what are the strenghts and weaknesses in my application and also what are my chances in each of these colleges. Also if you could suggest which are the best colleges based on my profile and any colleges that I have missed out in the list. I want to major in the field of marketing.
1. Wharton
2. Harvard
3. Stanford
4. Kellog
5. Columbia
6. NYU - Stern
7. Michigan Ann Arbor
8. Berkley - Haas
9. Duke
10. UCLA - Anderson
Please let me know if I have missed out on any good colleges based on my profile.
Thanks a lot in advance.
hello jeremy. ur doin a really gud job mate.
i need a pretty generic kinda assistance. i guess itll help many.
most of us are gonna apply to 8-10 odd schools. and all of em require two recos. now asking my referees to fill 10 online forms...which all have very stupid kind of questions... will be a bit tedious fr muh referees. so i was thinking of just getting em to write down one long reference letter and getting it copied signed and sent to many. how gud/bad is dat?
i kno it aint that bad an idea.. so now what i expect from u is to give us a format (like a set of all-encompassing 5-6 questions) that they can answer and which will be acceptable to all the institutes.
cheers: ats
Thanks alot Jeremy for the analsys of ISB essays. Was travelling and didnt check this. It certainly wld be of big help to many ISB aspirants.
Waiting for IIMA analsys.
Regs
Vamshi
Thanks for your gentle prodding -- please see my next post...
Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission
www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
hello jeremy. ur doin a really gud job mate.
i need a pretty generic kinda assistance. i guess itll help many.
most of us are gonna apply to 8-10 odd schools. and all of em require two recos. now asking my referees to fill 10 online forms...which all have very stupid kind of questions... will be a bit tedious fr muh referees. so i was thinking of just getting em to write down one long reference letter and getting it copied signed and sent to many. how gud/bad is dat?
i kno it aint that bad an idea.. so now what i expect from u is to give us a format (like a set of all-encompassing 5-6 questions) that they can answer and which will be acceptable to all the institutes.
cheers: ats
Jeremy, this is a really good question and I too would really like an answer to this.
hello jeremy. ur doin a really gud job mate.
i need a pretty generic kinda assistance. i guess itll help many.
most of us are gonna apply to 8-10 odd schools. and all of em require two recos. now asking my referees to fill 10 online forms...which all have very stupid kind of questions... will be a bit tedious fr muh referees. so i was thinking of just getting em to write down one long reference letter and getting it copied signed and sent to many. how gud/bad is dat?
i kno it aint that bad an idea.. so now what i expect from u is to give us a format (like a set of all-encompassing 5-6 questions) that they can answer and which will be acceptable to all the institutes.
cheers: ats
I think you will anyway go ahead with this and Jeremy is a guru here, but i would think that one should stick to what the school wants. The more you deviate, more are the chances of you not following instructions unless and until the school itself mentions that you can write a letter.
Who am I? I am just another a$$hat applying for Fall '07.
Dear Jeremy,
Have been reading this thread in detail and have found them most helpful.
My Profile in Brief:
Age: 29, Female
GMAT: Currently preparing for it. Am confident of getting 680 but will aim for 700
Academics: School topper. BA Political Science - First Class (60%) Quite bad. Did a Post Graduate Diploma in Tourism Management from Mumbai University.
Work Experience: Started out with a year in a travel agency. Realised early on that I was not suited to working in the travel & tourism industry. The dotcom boom in the late 90s helped me find a foothold in web content. I enjoyed the work, as I am a naturally gifted writer with very good written and communication skills
2yrs as a tech journalist followed by 2 years handling Tech PR at a worldwide PR agency. Did extremely well with quite a few successes. Moved to an operational communication role in a telecom company for a year. Quit as I there was no growth path in the particular role. Moving into a totally different role (i.e. operations) would have meant losing out on my major USP communication. But performed well and had a huge impact on the organisation.
Currently Manager Corporate Communication in an Indian textile and apparel company (wrong career decision!). Not much opportunity for growth here too as corporate communication in this organisation is more service provider role than a proactive image management role. Have some international exposure through International PR, work with our JV partners in Europe. But have never worked overseas
Total Experience: 7 Years (6 years in communication)
Community service: Volunteer occasionally for health camps etc but not on a regular basis
Interests: Skiing and adventure sports, painting, play the piano and the guitar
Languages: Can speak French and learning Spanish
Goals: Marketing and Brand Management. Hope to work overseas for a few years before returning to India.
Universities: Top 15 25 US schools, Mid-tier schools in UK and Europe in Fall 2008 or 2009
Would appreciate it if you could help me with the following:
1. Given that I have performed diverse roles, would my professional background that be viewed as negative by adcomms of B schools? From experience, I know most recruiters have viewed my profile as positive or negative depending on the role (but mostly positive)
2. As I am currently in a role where I am stagnating, should I consider a job change? Or will too many job changes also be viewed negatively? Would better performance and career path balance the frequent job changes? I dont see how staying on in this role will help me.
3. I am working towards strengthening my profile. This includes working really hard at the GMAT and doing a Diploma In Financial Management to ramp up quant ability and offset the bad UG grade. Also plan to do an online calculus course from a US University. Is this the right approach or is there something else I should be doing? I am willing to do whatever it takes and even delay applying (by 2 -3 years) till I build a strong profile.
With my current profile I am realistic enough to know that I wont get into the US Top 10. Is my goal of 15 to 30 realistic?
Look forward to your response!!
Avina
Have been reading this thread in detail and have found them most helpful.
My Profile in Brief:
Age: 29, Female
GMAT: Currently preparing for it. Am confident of getting 680 but will aim for 700
Academics: School topper. BA Political Science - First Class (60%) Quite bad. Did a Post Graduate Diploma in Tourism Management from Mumbai University.
Work Experience: Started out with a year in a travel agency. Realised early on that I was not suited to working in the travel & tourism industry. The dotcom boom in the late 90s helped me find a foothold in web content. I enjoyed the work, as I am a naturally gifted writer with very good written and communication skills
2yrs as a tech journalist followed by 2 years handling Tech PR at a worldwide PR agency. Did extremely well with quite a few successes. Moved to an operational communication role in a telecom company for a year. Quit as I there was no growth path in the particular role. Moving into a totally different role (i.e. operations) would have meant losing out on my major USP communication. But performed well and had a huge impact on the organisation.
Currently Manager Corporate Communication in an Indian textile and apparel company (wrong career decision!). Not much opportunity for growth here too as corporate communication in this organisation is more service provider role than a proactive image management role. Have some international exposure through International PR, work with our JV partners in Europe. But have never worked overseas
Total Experience: 7 Years (6 years in communication)
Community service: Volunteer occasionally for health camps etc but not on a regular basis
Interests: Skiing and adventure sports, painting, play the piano and the guitar
Languages: Can speak French and learning Spanish
Goals: Marketing and Brand Management. Hope to work overseas for a few years before returning to India.
Universities: Top 15 25 US schools, Mid-tier schools in UK and Europe in Fall 2008 or 2009
Would appreciate it if you could help me with the following:
1. Given that I have performed diverse roles, would my professional background that be viewed as negative by adcomms of B schools? From experience, I know most recruiters have viewed my profile as positive or negative depending on the role (but mostly positive)
2. As I am currently in a role where I am stagnating, should I consider a job change? Or will too many job changes also be viewed negatively? Would better performance and career path balance the frequent job changes? I dont see how staying on in this role will help me.
3. I am working towards strengthening my profile. This includes working really hard at the GMAT and doing a Diploma In Financial Management to ramp up quant ability and offset the bad UG grade. Also plan to do an online calculus course from a US University. Is this the right approach or is there something else I should be doing? I am willing to do whatever it takes and even delay applying (by 2 -3 years) till I build a strong profile.
With my current profile I am realistic enough to know that I wont get into the US Top 10. Is my goal of 15 to 30 realistic?
Look forward to your response!!
Avina