Dear Mr. Duncan / Mr. Ralph,

I have been reading many of your post and find them very useful. I need a advice / feedback from you , if you could oblige.

I am keen on doing an 1 year full time MBA program.

My Background

Indian / 32 years old / total 10 year Work Exp / Have done a prior 2 year MBA from India - have a 8 yrs work Ex- post my first MBA - Banking & Financial services - Business development profile - presently in a leadership role for last 4 years. GMAT 560 ( Q36, V 32), . Currently earning USD 50k per annum.

Objective to be achieved of Second MBA

1. Move out of India professionally - basically location is flexible
2. Getting a JOB post MBA is a high decision making factor. so looking for good career services / placement records

Need advice on

1. Schools which i could apply in terms of getting an admit and achieving my objective.
2. Also keen on fellowship program like sloan masters by LBS - they offer career services, not sure if other fellowship programs offer career services - viz. Nanyang fellowship etc do not offer career services - so not considering that as an option.

Restrictions : Cannot give the GMAT again :(

Pity you can't retake the GMAT. With your score you can forget fellowship programmes. For MBAs, I would expect you to be a strong candidate at Rutgers, Howard, Florida State, Oklahoma State, Pace, Clarkson and Kansas. For strong placement, I'd also look at Houston, San Jose State, American, San Francisco, Delaware, Hofstra and USC Fullerton.

Unless you really improve your GMAT, it will be hard to get into a top 100 school.

Hi Duncan,

I am looking for a 12 months full time program. I agree with 560 GMAT, I am on a weak platform - i did my bit of looking around and reading....I have been communicating with various MBA schools admission office sending my profile and details...here is some information


1.University of Cape Town ? GSB ? Avg Gmat in 550 range
2.Ashridge MBA ? Prefers more experience candidates ? people with GMAT 560 have been admitted in earlier batches
3.Durham Business School ? can waive GMAT requirement ? I have mailed them my profile and got a confirmation on the same
4.Cranfield ? Though needs minimum 600 GMAT ? I had mailed my profile for a GMAT waiver ? they have asked me to appear for their internal test
5.CBS ? Denmark ? They have agreed to waive GMAT requirement.
6.MIT Fellowship program ? have received a GMAT waiver based on earlier Qualifications. (this is a long shot)

While I understand the institute encourage people to apply, i wanted to know how realistic these schools are for me both in terms of admission and placements. Also based on these if you can suggest some other options where in I can try to get a GMAT waivers etc.

Thanks

Placement is not strong at Ashridge or Durham. Cranfield and Cape Town will be better. If South Africa is interesting, look at Wits too. If its the Sloan Fellows at MIT then I would be really curious if you were a competitive candidate. I think you have to imagine that you are a stronger candidate that your highlights suggest, and that it's a buyers market.

4.Cranfield ? Though needs minimum 600 GMAT ? I had mailed my profile for a GMAT waiver ? they have asked me to appear for their internal test

Yes Sir, I agree...MIT is a long shot...too ambitious.

How about a program that is ranked nationally in entrepreneurial management (CSUSB's was ranked #4). AACSB program, ranked #18 in the world by CEO Magazine. Check it out:

mba.csusb.edu

The applicants in this thread are looking for one year programs with easy admissions. Your MBA is two years, and most applicants are rejected. Please try to be more appropriate with your suggestions. The answer to every question is not on University Parkway.

Hi Duncan,

Our program is 12 courses, which is possible in one year, but most take it part time, so go two years.

I looked at many threads and only tried to respond to those applicable to our program.

Really ? Isn't it 48 credits? That sounds like more than a year to me. How many students are able to carry that workload?

Yes, 48 credits, which 12 courses at 4 units is 48 units. Most of our student base is part time, so they take 1.5-2 years most often, but we do have those that have limited employment that will carry a 3-4 class load. It is possible, though we hope that students will engage in many of our clubs, organizations, and networking opportunities.

Dear Duncan,
I have found this thread useful in exploring answers to many of my questions till date and I really appreciate your efforts in providing concrete responses. I have accumulated some information about the MBA course I am planning to pursue next year but still there are few points I would seek your kind response on.


I started my professional career as a faculty in an MBA coaching institute and after that I have worked in IT project development/management field of 7 years almost (it would be 8 by the beginning of the next academic year in 2013). I aspire to specialize in Operations through an MBA course.

I got into Purdue university/Krannert Business School last year but couldn't make it because of few personal reasons.
I have gone through the list mentioned above in this thread, the list which points out B-Schools from which most of the Operations Managers have passed out. I am targeting few schools out of this list. I have also investigated these B-Schools through their websites. However, may I please request you to suggest me on below concerns:

1. How is Operations as a specialization in MBA applies to service Industry. I mean what are the options for IT professional with 9 years of work-ex after specializing in Operations. What kind of companies accept and what kind of roles are offered to these profiles post MBA.

2.Please also suggest if my scope of placement is limited because of number of work-ex years I have(most B-schools in US have avg. work-ex bwn 3-5).

3. Considering the fact that I wish to work in US post MBA, are there any other B-Schools outside US which can suite my purpose. I mean migrating to US post-MBA. I would mention that I am open to both 1 year and 2 year MBA programs.

4. When we mention a school is good at Operations as field of specialization, does that straightway mean that it can be a target school for IT professionals( or its just my misunderstanding)?

5. If you could please point out few TIER 1 or TIER 2 B-Schools in US (or abroad), considering all above points I have mentioned about my profile, which I can target in terms of my career aspirations.

6. Can you please recommend some B-Schools which suit my purpose and where I have better chances of finding financial aid. Arranging funds for an MBA has really been a challenge for me till date.

I know I am asking too much at a time, but trust me I urgently need your professional guidance. Your guidance would help me target right schools as I am about to begin the application process.

Thanks and Regards

Hi there,

I don't have the time to answer all your questions in depth. Purdue is a great place for operations and generally all the top schools in the US have a strong service operations capacity, especially because of the hunger in the healthcare industry for OR. Your age is fine: it's a plus. Operations and IT don't fit together perfectly. Most IT people have no interest in OR, and OR people don't use IT strategically.

A good clue to the schools with generous financial aid is to look at the ones which have strong doctoral programmes. Look at www.INFORMS.org for example to see the leading schools. Private universities have better financial aid.

Duncan.

Based on her lack of English and low test scores, I would recommend some sort of executive education program for non-native speakers before applying for a one-year MBA.

There are also numerous one or two semester long 'pre-MBA' foundation courses which combine support for academic and spoken English with management training.