Hi,
I would like to know which schools would be a safe bet for me....
I have graduated in 2006 with a very avg grad score of 65% and have been working since then.I am at present the National Channel Sales Manager for my firm in India. I have also worked briefly in Dubai. I would like to look at a school whose Marketting Dept is strong. Also Though my acads at the grad level are not great I have loads of medals and certificates in various co-curricular and extra curricular events. I was also the elected head of two student bodies and the captain of the college Table Tennis team. I have also received a gold medal as the Best All-Rounder for my batch.I recently gave my Gmat and got a score of 710.
From what i have seen most schools are looking for very strong acads at the grad level for an applicant with less than 2 years of work ex.I would like to know whether I would stand a chance if I apply to any of the top 20-30 B-Schools and if so which ones?

Hi Suneel,
it is a bit early after 2 years of work exp. to apply for an MBA. Usually three years are requested at least, but you can also find programs asking for only 2 years, or even less, but few.
You often have the chance to apply also if you don´t fulfil the work exp condition, but in this case the school will have a close look at your results which should be far beyond average to be accepted. Since there are many other applicants fulfilling the work exp condition AND having achieved good results, you have to proove that you are still better than them, you have to sort of balance your lack of work exp with other achievements.

But if you start now - or wait some months more - getting information on which program would suit you, then prepare your application, in the end of the process you will be close of the 3 years of work experience, no? You GMAT result is good, and you have extra credits, but you already have to balance your average GPA - don´t put an additional pressure on your self just because you are too impatient to wait a bit more before b having enough work experience.

In which country do you want to do your MBA, any preference?

thanks a lot for the rep....Well I haven't yet decided but I am at present hunting for schools with good Marketting programs.......The way I see it most of the people from India who are at present looking for an MBA are from the software industry and they have very little Domain knowledge as far as business goes......I do realise that my work is not exactly extensive but I was kinda counting on my job profile to pull me through....since i am at present handling the entire channel for my company throughout India and have also helped establish the Office in Abu DHabi. Also I was looking at the joining for programs starting in Mid 2009 and by then I would have close to 3 yrs of work ex.One of the prime reasons I was worried about my GMAT score was because I was recently told that the general GMAT avg score for Indians was close to 730-740 and I guess when I apply to any school they would first pit me against other apps from my region..........at present I am looking at ISB here in India.....Northwestern,Michigan, and Duke....wishful thinking I guess.....

"I was recently told that the general GMAT avg score for Indians was close to 730-740 and I guess when I apply to any school they would first pit me against other apps from my region"

Are u sure it works like that? i mean, maybe in India its true, but on an international level? - since these are international programs, surely they will not be looking at you're Gmat compared to other applicants from India, but will be comparing them to all other applicants!

I maybe wrong about it though....

Andy

No, I'm sure you're right. I would be very surprised if profiling applicants on the basis of nationality like that were legal, especially in Europe.