profile evaluation - property developer from pakistan

[imranasghar1979]

HI,

Went to Purdue for Undergrad - things didnt workout - came back after two years.
Started undergrad all over again back home in pakistan - did reasonably well - after two years transferred to Middlesex University UK and graduated in Bsc(hons) Business Information Systems with IT with First Class Honours in Jan 2003.

2003 to 2006 - Property development in pakistan.building and selling houses.
2005 to 2008 - Partner in development of 100,000sft multistorey office building.
2007 to present - Partner and Project Director in the development of a major shopping mall on a 'public private partnership basis'

GMAT - 680
AWA 5.5
retaking again next month...might get 720-740 lets see

Post MBA Goals:1) Expand current real estate business by improving familiarity with more advanced real estate finance techniques currently available in Pakistan e.q REITS (not commonhere yet but on the horizon)
2) Diversify info other businesses. have a few ideas to discuss on essays etc.


Schools im interested in (and reason as i understand them):

1) Stanford
(dream school but not sure abt applying...might be aiming too high)
2) Columbia
Thinking of applying ED here instead to improve chances. Great Real Estate and entrepreneurship curriculum!
3) Dartmouth
Great general management program with interesting curriculum.
4) Berkeley
Great entrepreneuship program and who wouldnt wanna be in SF

Maybe one out of: Kellog, NYU


ANd one or two out of : Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, USC (backup schools)

What do u think my chances are specially with first 3?
Only Stanford higher onmy list than Columbia...should i forget abt stanford and go for ED or give it a shot???

Thanks a lot for reading this long profile :)

[mbamission]

Hi imranasghar,

Thanks for sharing your details. While it sounds like there could be some interesting details in your background, you'll probably want to clarify in your essays the non-linear path in your college background, as schools like to understand the story behind any "gaps."

With your current score, I believe Stanford is probably a far reach. If you do manage to get it up to the mid-700s, you may be in the mix but will need to tell a very compelling story about how an MBA will help you bridge the gap from past experience to future goals. Keep in mind that besides being very competitive, Stanford's class is also quite small, which just makes everyone's chances at admission tougher.

My same general advice as above applies to CBS (except for the small class). I do believe, however, the ED deadline is approaching so I am not sure if you'll be able to take the GMATs again before that deadline.

I hope this was a helpful start, and good luck!

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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