Profile Evaluation .. please

[Rajesh]

I am an indian IT engineer, 30 yrs old.

I have a undergrad Computer Science degree from a university in India. My undergrad GPA is on the low side (equivalent of a 3.2 overall and 3.5 in the final year of my undergrad. My university gives degrees based on the performance in final year alone.). Graduated in Fall 1998.

I taught a programming language course for 3 months, and then worked as a software engineer for 6 months before pursuing a Computer Science graduate degree from Univ of Alabama in Huntsville.
Finished graduate degree in 2001 with 3.65 GPA.

I worked as a Software engineer for a financial services startup in chicago for the next 3 years. This is where i developed interest in Finance. Since then, i have always been trying to learn about business processes rather than just implementing them with software applications.

To get more breadth, i started working as software consultant. In these 4 years as a consultant, i have done 4 different contracts with top clients across different industries. My managers have recommended me highly and i hope to get good recommendations, highlighting good interpersonal skills.

Although, i have played a senior developer role in many occasions, i have never been able to play Tech lead role due to working as a consultant.

I scored 590 when i took the GMAT the first time, and scored 660 when i took it the 2nd time. I have been considering taking the GMAT a 3rd time to target 700, but my scores have been varying widely in the 580-680 range, that i am afraid it would look very bad if i dont reach the target or worse, score lower than 660. (If i take 2 weeks off, i would probably be in better shape.)

Apart from work & academic experience, i have done lot of volunteering. I am also leading a non-profit group. we have conducted to 2 fundraising events so far. I also have done some projects to demonstrate innovation and entrepreneurial nature.

I would like to go to a business school ranked 5-15. Earlier, i was interested in pursuing full time MBA so that i could dedicate myself fully to the program. But lately, i have started leaning more towards a part-time program.

One young dutch manager i worked with, advised me to start working on my MBA, either Part-time or Full-time, right away without wasting anymore time.

Given, my profile, what do you suggest ? I am trying to figure out what is within reach and what is not.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

[MBAApply]

I would suggest applying sooner than later if you are looking to transition into a business career.

And focus on doing the best you can on the GMAT. Other than that, I'm not sure what I can tell you because I'm not sure what you're asking for -- you posted your profile, and left it with an open-ended question.

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com