Hi

I had taken my GMAT in 2009 and i did not pursue with my mba admissions due to lack of clarity then. However, after 5 years in the telecommunications industry working in the wireless sector, i have hit the roof. However, i do not have any management experience in the past 5 years, this may work against me but that's also a reason i intend to go for a formal MBA. Please help me get out of the confusion i am embroilled in.. should i consider retaking GMAT... How can i distinguish myself from the indian pool of mba aspirants.. How good is my profile and what's the range of universities i can be ambitious of.. I am open to US, Europe and Singapore. I am married am sure it's not of any importance nevertheless..

GMAT score - 700 ( march 2009)
Verbal - 40 (89%)
Quants - 47 ( 79%)
AWA - 5.0

Expired TOEFL - 111 (26 speaking) will be retaking soon.

Undergrads - B.Tech IT
College of Engineering, Guindy, India ( premier institute)
C.G.P.A- 8.73

School passing examinations - 96% and 94%

Work Experience - 5 years with 3 years in a telecommunication research center (CDOT Alcatel Lucent - a JV between Govt of India and Alcatel Lucent).
International experience - 1 week in Alcatel Lucent, Nanjing, China to transition know-how of a product.

Regards,
Arthy

Hi Aarthy,

Thanks for writing in. Your questions are exactly the things you should be evaluating at this point, so it sounds like you are on the right track.

While you may not have formal management experience, you should look for examples in the past five years where you have had to persuade your peers and managers, led a team through a tough time, or achieved superior results, as these can serve as proxy anecdotes for management roles.

The best way to distinguish yourself is to find the points that make you different -- this could be in your work experience, career goals, extracurricular involvement, or even why a certain school is just the perfect fit for you.

As for schools, I think you can look comfortably in the top-20-25 range. The European/Singapore options could be better fits for you as the top U.S. schools seem to be looking for extreme differentiation points among Indian candidates with technical backgrounds, and in the details you wrote I haven't seen those points yet. It's hard for me to name specific schools without knowing more about your post-MBA plans.

Lastly, your marital status should have no real impact on your profile, but you may opt to consider programs in geographic regions that can support your spouse's career as well.

Best of luck!

Best of luck,

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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