Hi,
i am back to this discussion forums again to start my MBA journey which was cut short earlier in 2015 due to personal reasons.
My profile:
Age:31
Work exp:8.5 years (2 years in USA and 6.5 in India)(Chicago and Chennai)
Working with Caterpillar India Private Ltd -since 2012.
Industry: Manufacturing
Concentrations: Machine Electronics and programming:
GPA:8.03/10.
IELTS:8
GRE: planning to take on December 2018 mock score :315
Current role:Team Leader
Goal: Career growth in same manufacturing and automotive industries
Short term goal :Product manager/ Business development officer leading new products to the market/IT analytics for the products
Long Term: Strategy officer in a big Engineering firm / VP Global engineering etc
Aim:I want to study in a FT times top 50 schools.
Interested:schools with an Technology MBA /Leadership and strategy programs
I did talk to several recruiting specialist from Canada -Rotman school of management specifically told that their courses are designed for student with work exp of 5 -hinted that the application will be rejected for higher work experience.
Since most of the class profile show an average experience of 6 years.i am worried will i get any chance for such full time program and i think with 8 years it is early for an executive mba program most of which run on weekends.
Though i have admit from Cranfield school of Management in 2015,i got married later in 2016 my spouse is pursuing her MS degree in Chicago as
i was working from Chicago from 2016-2018,because of this i am looking at USA and Canada schools.And i have experienced a visa reject for F1 in my spouse's case ,wanted to apply for Canadian schools as a back up.

Should i go ahead with USA schools with avg 6 years hoping that they wouldn't reject .Are there some other programs which i should consider?
kindly provide me your feedback

I don't necessarily think that 8.5 years of work experience would be a deal-breaker. In fact, many business schools look fondly at older, more experienced candidates. The only red flag would be if you don't have a demonstrable career arc yet (ie you haven't gotten promotions, leadership positions, etc. at this stage in your career).

The other issue would be that you'd probably be better off taking the GMAT, and getting a solid, well balanced score. From your message, it seems that English is not your mother tongue, so getting a good score on the verbal section would be helpful (most business schools will not care about an IELTS score.)

Thanks for your reply @RazorsEdge

What you are asking is a life consulting @kumar112. You generalized several US schools into one statement. (Go ahead with US schools).

Specific questions will invite specific answers.

Thanks for your reply@Ayon

Assuming you have US permanent residency, your problem is refining your career goals rather than picking a school. With clear goals those 50 schools quickly reduce down to five. Taking the GRE is a strong signal in itself, and that clarifies things even further.

Thanks for your reply duncan.might be my post is not clearly worded i dont have US permanent residency.i would have to get a student visa similar to my wife(who currently is doing MS ) to study in USA which sometimes is bound to get rejected based on intent to immigrate.I am going forward with my exam with prime focus on US business schools (as advised).if at all i get rejected because of F1Visa. i will try for Canidian schools for 2020 entry.

The student visa is an issue but the work visa is bigger. It is highly unlikely that you will get a work visa. Thus there is little point in studying in the USA. Perhaps Australia is an alternative?

[Edited by Duncan on Oct 18, 2018]

Thanks for your reply @Duncan i was thinking then i would opt for canada as plan B assuming it will be easy for my wife to also transition from usa to canada.Is australia preferable than Canada in terms of quality of b school ?.I did read the article on Australian b school choice and your comment "MBA admissions advisor Duncan Chapple says: “AGSM is going to be the right choice if they [applicants] are more senior and have a stronger background."

Australia is a long way from the USA but visas will be easier.

Because of your work background I think the Toronto area makes sense. There is a lot of Auto between there and London, ON. Ryerson could be an option, perhaps.

Thanks a lot for your feedback @Duncan.
Australia is a long way from the USA but visas will be easier- Really true.
In order to stay closer to family and still opt a good business school.My search for b school has turned in to location based rather than quality based.I am trying hard to some how sttike a balance between both.

To get better quality you will need to consider getting higher scores. The suggestion of the GMAT is also useful, since that is a more positive signal to schools than the GRE.

Thanks for your time and feedback @Duncan