Profile Evauation

[RC_2015]

Hi,
I just completed GMAT and plan to apply to schools for 2015 fall. I am looking for full time MBA. Details of my profile:-

Age 28
B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from top 20 colleges in India
CGPA 8.65/10
Nationality: Indian
Gender: Female

GMAT 1: 620(1 year back;Q:46;V:28;IR:6;AWA:5)
GMAT 2: 710(Q:47;V:40;IR:6;AWA:4.5)

Post MBA career interest:Technology,Consulting,General Management

Target Schools: Ross, Tuck,Darden,Carnegie Melon, UCLA Anderson,Emory,Marshall,McCombs,Cornell

Work Experience:
7+years(at time of applying) in IT in top 3 service provider firm of India.
Held leadership positions for last 5 years managing cross functional teams(15-20 team members).
Worked on multi million dollar critical projects.
Worked with pre-sales team to prepare proposals and get projects for the company.
Working in US in client facing roles for last 4 years.
3 promotions in last 4 years.

Community work:
1> Leadership role in Houston Food bank.
2>Working with 2 other non profit organisations for education of children.

Extracurricular:
1>Active member of Toastmasters.
2>Represented state Throw-ball team as a captain in national level championship.
3>Founding member of SPICMACAY club in college.
4>Gold Medalist in National level Art competition.
Several more to add to the list.

Please suggest if the target schools are realistic?What schools would be Fit and Safe schools?Should I rewrite GMAT and aim for a higher score? Lastly,what areas do I need to work on to improve my chances?

[RC_2015]

Can you please help evaluate?

[mbamissionjenK]

Hi and thanks for posting!

It looks like you are planning ahead, and would be submitting applications this fall to begin fall 2015, which is good forward-thinking, because you can work on your essays and applications all summer in prep for R1 deadlines. Much better than trying to pull it together last minute.

Schools are looking for qualified female applicants, and you will have a lot of work experience and quantitative/analytical skills to draw from certainly. There is a large pool of Indian IT/engineering applicants, so it can be tough to stand out, so I encourage you to really focus on/highlight areas that you showed leadership, and how you work with teams, how you motivate and lead and inspire others, communication skills, etc (think beyond just technical skills if possible). Community involvement and other activities and passions are important to showcase as well.

I encourage you to further focus your post-MBA goals, as you'll be competing against others who often have specific concrete goals in mind for short and long-term post MBA career steps. You want to present a compelling case for why you NEED this degree and exactly how you will use it.

I do not feel a GMAT re-take is needed, as you are close to the average at all top schools. I would focus instead on those essays-- those can at times make or break your application in that the schools aim to really get to know YOU through them, lots of opportunity there.

In terms of schools, you have a long list, so you'll want to narrow that down if possible, but overall seems appropriate to your level. Tuck and Cornell would likely be more of the 'reach' schools. None on your list will be easy to get into or 'safe' schools per se, but with strong applications and essays you could have a shot at them. For more on choosing schools, check out our free download at: http://info.mbamission.com/Selecting-Yo ... ram-E-Book

Good luck and let us know if you'd like to speak further!