Dfferent Profile Evaluation

[skorrrp]

Hello, I would be glad if the admissions consultants can evaluate my profile.

I am a 23 year old Indian female.

GMAT 1st attempt 680 Q 49, V 33 AWA 5.5
GMAT 2nd attempt 710 Q 49, V 38 AWA 5.5

Work experience - 2 years by July 2010

Okay extra-curriculars, one way i am different is that in college I took part in theatre, especially stagecraft i.e. backstage work.

I am a civil engineer and want to pursue MBA with major in finance and real estate.

The only top school that offers such a good program is Wharton.
Can you tell the chances I might have?

Two things to consider:
1) GPA = 2.6 It si not due to my poor acads but a poor grading system used by my college. I am in my class's top 10%.
2) I changed my job thrice in 2 yrs.
At first job, I was supposed to work on a civil-engineering related software but eventually given work in programming(JAVA) due to recession. So I quit after working for 3 months. After that I found work in local construction firm, worked there for 3 months.
then I got dis dream job in an infrastructure multinational so took that up. currently completed 8 months over here, and will complete about 16 mnths when i join da MBA program.

I will mention these things in the essay, but will it hamper my choices?
I want to set up my own company in the future.
I specifically want finance as my major.

What are my cahnces in Wharton, as well as top schools like
1) chicago
2) Harvard

also schools like
Michigan
Carnegie Mellon

Which schools do you think I should apply to?
Please help me out.

[mbamission]

Hi -

Thanks for the inquiry.

A couple of things as it relates to your questions...I would not worry about your 2.6 GPA if in fact you are in the top 10% of your class. The Admissions Committee understands that grading systems differ across the globe and will look at your grades in the context of the grading system under which you studied.

At it relates to your GMAT score...Congrats on breaking the 700 mark! A score of 700 with 80th percentile in V/Q is the benchmark for success.

It seems as though you have well-thought out reasons for the fact that you have changed jobs three times in 2 years. It will be important to connect your past experience with your decision to pursue an MBA and your plans for the future. You also may want to consider using the optional essay to briefly explain the factors driving the job switches.

You also mentioned that you lack extracurricular experience. This will be a weaker part of your application; however, since you are only a couple of years out of school, you can rely somewhat upon your college extracurriculars in your essays.

i think your list of target schools seems a bit heavily weighted to "stretch" schools, i.e. Wharton, Harvard, Chicago. I would suggest trimming the schools of this caliber to 1-2 and then adding schools like UNC, Georgetown to your list.

I hope this helps.
Erin

Erin Schuhmacher
Senior Consultant
mbaMission
www.mbamission.com