Profile Evaluation Request

[netflix.our]

It would be great if you could evaluate my profile:

Age: 28
Gender: Female
Nationality: Indian

Education:
M.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Wisconsin-Madison (GPA: 3.96)
B.S. in Electrical Engineering from a good school in India (Equivalent GPA: 4.0)

GMAT Score: 760 (V:45/98%, Q:49/87%, AWA: 5.0)

Planned MBA start Date: Fall 2010

Work Experience:
Chip design engineer in a big semiconductor company in the US (It will be 3 years in Jan 2010). I am also a project manager.
I have been involved in recruiting, giving talks to new hires and interns. I have also been lauded for my leadership and communication skills - I have been invited to the Company's Leadership Summit for Women.

Extra-curricular activities:
I am part of a local organization that promotes adult literacy. For the past 7 months, I have been teaching English to adults (~4 hours/week).
In undergraduate school, I was involved in the bi-annual cultural events.

Why do I want to go B-School:
Although I enjoy my job, I have been increasingly intrigued by the business aspect of projects -> why this project, where does it fit in our current product portfolio, what's the ROI..etc.
I regularly interact with strategic marketers and business unit managers. I would like to get a business degree to return to technology as a business unit manager - this would leverage both my background in technology and my desire to head a business.

Target Schools: Columbia, NYU, London Business School and Oxford.
Why these schools? - They are all great schools. I do realize that they are finance-oriented schools but I have certain geographical constraints: I need to be in NY or London because of family reasons.

What are my chances of getting to these schools?

Is it a good idea to mention familial constraints in the application essays? (I'm confused: while it does show that, if admitted, I would accept, but on the other hand, it might show that I didn't pick these schools specifically for the wonderful opportunities that they provide although I did attend both Columbia's and NYU's information sessions and I liked both places.)

Thanks in advance.

[mbamission]

Hi -

Your academic record and GMAT score are strong - Congrats! Also, having been recognized as a leader within your organization as well as having meaningful community service involvement rounds our your profile. It also seems as though your career aspirations should dovetail off of your current experience. With that said, as you may know, the Indian engineering pool is quite large, so you will need to focus on what makes you unique. Being a female does help in this case, but take a look at our blog entry on some tips on how to avoid "over representing your over representation."

http://www.mbamission.com/blog/2009/05/25/monday-morning-essay-tip-overrepresenting-your-overrepresentation

As it relates to your location constraints, I would not present this as a constraint but rather focus on the positives of each city, meaning highlight why NYC or London are the right fit for you professional and personally.

Lastly, I think given your background, your list of schools seems to be pretty well-balanced.

I hope this helps!
Erin

Erin Schuhmacher
MBA Mission
646-485-8844
Website: http://www.mbamission.com
Blog: http://www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insider’s Guides: http://www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: http://www.mbamission.com/consult.php

[netflix.our]

Thanks a lot for your reply.