Profile Evaluation

[arjun_r81]

Hi ,
I would like to get my profile evaluated.

Education:
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati.
M.S., Civil Engineering (Structures), 2006 - CGPA - 3.8/4
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India - Top engineering Institute in India.
M.Tech, Infrastructural Civil Engineering and B.Tech, Civil Engineering, 2003 - CGPA - 7.8/10
(Finance Management -Minor)

GMAT: 730 (96%ile) 50Q (93%ile), 38V(83%ile)

Experience: Licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.)
Senior Engineer at one of top engineering and construction companies in the US, Miami, FL. (over 4.5 years) Feb 2005- Present
- Involved in design/construction of infrastructure projects including bridges, airports and ports.
- Developed design/construction criteria for bridges by coordinating with consultants involved.
- Managed and scheduled construction tasks for transportation projects, including bridges, by the working closely with the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the contractor.
- Designed several large scale interchange bridge projects (Cost - $400 million to $1 billion)

Graduate Research Assistant, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH Jan 2004- Jan 2005 (won two scholarships for merit - one to waive my tuition and other is the research assistantship)
- Worked on a large scale bridge research project for the client Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to investigate the cracking of bridge decks on steel bridges across Ohio.

Intern, at an Engineering Giant in India, May 2002- May 2003
- Involved in the design of the Railroad composite truss girder bridge.

Interests/activities:
Member, Engineers without Borders, a non-profit humanitarian organization. (involved in a project in Haiti)
Volunteer for a dog shelter - involved in rescuing dogs and in rehabilitating them.

I am looking at top ten schools including Kellogg, Wharton, Haas and Duke.

Thanks for your suggestions....

[erin]

Hi -

Thanks for the inquiry.

As it relates to your profile, your academic marks and GMAT are strong. Further, it sounds as though you have some interesting community service involvement. Both of these position you well as a candidate.

With that said, your challenge will be to distinguish yourself from other Indian engineering applicants. The fact that your background is in civil (versus IT or perhaps EE) is a bit unique; but I would focus on the personality traits, extracurricular achievements and professional accomplishments that will help differentiate yourself from the pool. You will also need to be clear in why B-school and why now.

Check out our blog entry for some tips in this regard:
http://www.mbamission.com/blog/2009/05/25/monday-morning-essay-tip-overrepresenting-your-overrepresentation/

Lastly, as it relates to your targeted list of schools...I would suggest creating a balanced list with 1-2 stretch perhaps from top 10, 1-2 middle tier and perhaps one "safety school" (although it is hard to say any of the top programs are really safe.)

I hope this helps.
Erin

[arjun_r81]

Some excellent suggestions right there. Thanks a lot for the advice.