Profile Evaluation

[gaurav.joshi06]

Hi,

I am planning to apply for Classes starting in 2011/ Jan 2012. I have a few places on my radar, let me start with my profile first.

I am a 29 year old Indian male. I have 5 years of IT Consulting experience. My specific focus area is IT Consulting for Capital Markets. In my capacity as a consultant i have worked across geograhies: India (3 years), Europe (1 year) and North America (1 year), led teams and brought in new business. I had a pretty decent career graph with 2 career jumps (promotions) in the past 4 years. I have some very good references from Executive levels from Europe and US. I have an engineering degree from India. I have also done my MBA from a top rung (ranked in Top 10 - admission rate .1%) Indian school.

I have pretty consistent acads as well. Top 5% student from graduating MBA class. Honors from High School through Engineering graduation.

My E.C. are a sore point though. I have won competitions in School and College on Debating, Essay Writing etc, however since the past 4-5 years I havent been involved with anything substantial.It has been primarily work dominated only.

My GMAT score is 740 with Q51 (98%) and V39 (83%).

Reason for 2nd MBA: Career Change into pure play consulting from IT Consulting (Targeting The Big 4)/ IB (I would like to keep my options open).

My target schools are in that order:

1. INSEAD (1 year super intensive program is the most attractive for an older guy like me)
2. IMD (Again a 1 year program with the best placement office in the world)
3. MIT
4. HBS
5. LBS

I want to know if I have a realistic chance of making it into one of the above mentioned schools. Also, should i be expanding my scope to include a few others as well.

[mbamission]

Hi gaurav,

Thanks for writing in and sharing those details. You may want to check each school's policy on applicants who already have an MBA from another country; it would be a shame to waste time applying to a school who won't consider you as an applicant.

For schools that will allow you to apply, your biggest challenge will be to explain why you need to get a second MBA. You don't want to put your previous school down, but given that you say it was very competitive, you will have to explain what a second degree from a competitive school will offer you that you can't get now.

I understand your wish to only look at highly-ranked schools, but I'm also concerned that because these schools are so competitive that your desire for a second MBA is going to draw scrutiny.

Academically, you should be competitive at the schools you listed. Your extracurriculars will be a weakness, so if you can demonstrate any leadership anecdotes through work that could help offset those concerns. Since you are several years removed from college, those activities will not hold much weight and I don't recommend focusing on them in your essays.

You may wish to expand your scope to include more in the top-20 range, but I suggest you also research if the post-graduation payoff will be there to justify another 1-2 years in graduate school.

I hope this was helpful advice, and best of luck!

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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[gaurav.joshi06]

Hi Daniel,

Thank you for your response. I have given quite some thought over the list that I had mentioned (all the mentioned schools seemingly do have a few 2nd timers).

I feel that the learning tools that the professors at these schools provide, the potential global network and the career pay-off in terms of professional satisfaction and monetary rewards are something which are unmatched.

While I do understand the challenges that I would be facing, I wanted a validation of the list that I provided.

It is a well thought out decision on my part and the C/B (Cost to Benefit) ratio, NPV and IRR that I had computed pointed to a go decision. :)

I feel that its better to try and not succeed that not to try at all.