Will change in work field affect MBA chances?

[venkatesh.bhimaraju]

Hi,

Hope you are having a great day.
I am quite new to International MBA game and all I did to date about this is concentrate a bit and get standardized test scores first. Gave TOEFL and GMAT and scored 710 (Q-50, V-35), I am guessing that verbal is on the lower side. I am from India and work in IT.

Profile
Grad - B.Tech (Comp Sci & engg) with a not so great 68% in a not-so-reputed university in Hyderabad.
Experience - 3 Yrs in IT as a database developer, able to get into leading small teams(4-5) as module lead in an India based MNC.
Extra curricular - Work part-time writing and/or reviewing script for short films made by my friends(something very passionate about). I don't actually get involved in the shoot much. Involved in few social service activities.

Questions/Clarifications:
1) Where do i stand in chance to get into a decent b-school? and being from India, i definitely would look at my chances in ISB.
2) My interests lie in Finance, so I did my homework and am taking a step towards it by joining a trading firm(Europe), probably in 2-3 months. This is an internship that might last 6 month long. And I have to look at options post that. I would like to continue in Finance after pursuing an MBA as well. So will taking this step affect my chances of getting into an MBA next year? I will be starting from scratch in this new field, but I do have good amount of experience back in IT, would this count? So, finally the question is "how is work experience evaluated?" with cases like mine?
Should I postpone for 2 years to gain good knowledge for this as well?

Please advise.

Thank you.

[mbamissionjenK]

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing your profile and scores. I think the biggest question I need clarified first is timeframe-- would you mind further clarifying when you see yourself applying and then starting business school?

In general the change into finance should not be a problem, as long as you can back that decision up by explaining your rationale and passion, and what your long-term goals are, and how an MBA fits into that plan. In fact if you are able to build up more time/experience in that field it would appear stronger, as opposed to say applying now/this fall as you will have just changed fields.

If the position is actually based in Europe that would also be a plus, to have international work experience as part of your profile.

With your current stats, you are basically average among a common profile group-- applicants from India with IT background, GMAT in the 700-720 range, 3-4 years of work experience. And you noted your academics were not ideal so small weakness there. While your GMAT is respectable for top schools, including ISB, it's also a common GMAT score for those in that applicant pool with similar background. So you'll need to figure out how you can stand out from the rest of those applicants with similar backgrounds. That may be partially with this international, finance experience you are beginning; but additionally you'll want to really brainstorm and identify-- what makes you unique? What traits and experiences will YOU bring to the program that no one else will? How can you convey all of that, along with 'why the MBA' and 'why this school' within your essays?

Certainly plan to spend a lot of time and effort on the essays whenever you apply, as that may be the main place to try and differentiate from the crowd.

Let us know how else we can help, and good luck to you!

Jennifer Kedrowski
MBA Admissions Consultant
www.mbamission.com
jen@mbamission.com

Visit the mbaMission Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog

Follow mbaMission on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mbaMission

Like mbaMission on Facebook: www.facebook.com/mbaMission

Register for a free 30 minute consult with an MBA Admissions Consultant: http://www.mbamission.com/consult.php

Read the mbaMission Insider's Guides (16 individual school titles): www.mbamission.com/guides.php?category=insiders