Hi,

My name is Sridhar. I am an Indian and have 5.2 years of experience with Infosys in SAP. This includes a 13 month experience in Paris for a medical and Industrial gas company. My work there involved technology consulting with business managers of 14 different countries in Europe. I have taken 5 day seminars in Germany and the Netherlands.

I have a GMAT score of 660 (Q48 V33 AWA 5.5). My Engg. percentage is 63% and my class XII percentage is 94%.

I have strong extra curricular activities in fields of Social service, LA Cuban Salsa, playing the trumpet and winning awards at work.

I have shortlisted the following schools in the USA for full time MBA.

1. Texas Austin McCombs
2. UNC Kenan-Flagler
3. Emory - Goizueta
4. Kelley - Indiana
5. Fisher - OSU
6. Purdue
7. SMU Cox
8. Tulane Freeman

Considering I want to do strategic or operations consulting after MBA, please let me know if I can apply to these schools with a chance of being selected by most. Also, if you have other schools in mind, please let me know.

I would like to have preference also in terms of tuition fees/scholarships and placements after MBA.

Regards,
Sridhar

Take a look at:-
GMAT Tiers - strong schools for your GMAT www.find-mba.com/board/27082

How to use LinkedIn to find the best school www.find-mba.com/board/33571

Shortcut to find the best US MBA www.find-mba.com/board/36065

Fees and placement data are easily available. I don't think you're a very strong candidate for scholarships, but generally the private schools have more.

I think your reach schools are McCombs/Emory/Kelley, but the rest are closer in line with your profile.

In terms of post-MBA work options, strategy or operations consulting are very broad functional categories, and "consulting" in general is one of the top placement functions in most business schools today. So I would instead focus on particular industries, and make your choice based on what b-school puts you closer to the companies you want to work with. For example, obviously McCombs will have good placements in the oil and energy industries, while Purdue will put in proximity to research and tech firms, not to mention the wider Indianapolis metro area with its manufacturing/retail/etc. companies. Like Duncan mentioned, career reports are very helpful here.

Since you are a member of one of the most competitive MBA application groups, scholarships are undoubtedly going to be hard to come by. You'll have to ask the financial aid departments of the schools you are interested in for details though.

Thanks for your answer Ralph.

Well, I would like to work as a consultant with companies which are not technology oriented. Specifically, consumer products or Manufacturing in the likes of Caterpillar, Colgate, PepsiCo, Whirlpool etc.

I have refined my list and am looking at the following schools:
1. Emory-Goizueta
2. Indiana Kelley
3. Univ of Washington, Foster
4. Purdue - Krannert (may seem tech oriented, but they also have strong placements from other sectors)
5. University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign
6. SMU - Cox
7. OSU, Fisher

Please let me know what you think of these schools for my profile (660 GMAT and 13 months International work experience in Paris).

Regards,
Sridhar

Read my "shorcut" post which I linked to. You really don't stand a great chance of getting scholarship support from schools where you are not well above the average candidate's profile.

In terms of placements, Purdue's actually a really good choice - good location in terms of where there are many consumer goods firms. But keep in mind that the curriculum is pretty quantitatively-focused - I'm not sure if that will be a dealbreaker for you.

Another reach school for you with good placements in these fields would be Minnesota Carlson. There's also Smeal, which is a better fit for your profile and may be interesting to you.

Hello All,

Thank you very much for your replies. After a lot of rejections (Penn Smeal, Foster, Fisher, Krannert, SMU Cox), I managed with admissions to the following schools.

1. Tulane, Freeman School of Business - 60% scholarship for both years. It comes to approx 56,000 USD which is significant considering my loan/financial situation.

2. Mason School of Business - 40,000 USD for 2 years scholarship.

3. George Washington School of Business - 50% scholarship.

4. UC Irvine - Admit but no scholarship.

Please could you help me choose the best package out of the above. My career goal is to be a strategic consultant in the Technology/Manufacturing industry.

I am focused on placement for International students in these schools, cost of living in/nearby campus and ROI.

Keeping these factors in mind, please could you help me choose. I would be very grateful.

Regards,
Sridhar

Take a look at the FT rankings, and focus on the international mobility score.

There's a trade-off with scholarships.

Also read Shortcut to find the best US MBA www.find-mba.com/board/36065
and
The sad facts about scholarships http://www.find-mba.com/board/37055