Regarding your career, remember that for MBA Admissions the work that you did is more important than the company that you worked for.

Q) I am a 26 years old Indian national , done Bachelors in Technology with 60% marks from a tier-2 school in India and Post-graduation(marketing & operation) from Symbiosis college(distance education) with 70 % marks. I am working as an import manager in a Steel Plant - Uganda(East Africa) for the last 5 years. The company I work for is not a well known brand. My job profile in this company is to procure the necessary raw materials for the plant from different parts of world. I deal with suppliers from almost 10 countries. Additional I know multiple languages- Hindi, English, French and Spanish. I have given GMAT and scored 760. What are my chances to get top business school like LBS/HBS. Will my low scores in grad school and the brand value of the company I work for affect my admission?

Stacy Blackman: I hope the following is of help. Regarding your low undergraduate record, I recommend you read the following case study of a candidate who had a low GPA and was accepted into several top programs. It should give some insight into how you can address your grades.

CASE...

Q) I have a 670 in GMAT, 1 year research experience from a renowned company and 2 years consulting experience from a top Consulting firm. I have first class with 62% for my undergraduate. Although my academics are not great, I have many relevant Extra-curricular experience. Is MBA from Sloan School of Management possible?

FutureWorks Consulting: If you wish to apply to top business schools then one of the prerequisites is having significant work experience. Generally candidates have around 4-5 years of full time experience in spite of several term time projects or jobs; so you may be competing with other candidates who have 4-5 years of full time experience and have started significant initiatives at college.

Hence, we would advise you to gain some full time work experience before you decide to apply for an MBA.  Academics are not the only thing that counts beyond academics and your work exp plays an equally important role.

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If you received low marks in important quantitative subjects, you can take classes now and perform well to prove your abilities.  Calculus is the most important class.  After that I would suggest Accounting and Statistics.

Q) I am from India. I have average academic score in schooling and in graduation. (59.2%). I am worried about my low academic performance. I would like to know whether this will create difficulties in getting admission to top Canadian and US universities. How I can compensate this. I have 8 years of experience in project Management, now working as a senior project coordinator. What needs to be done to get admission?

Stacy Blackman: Yes, a low GPA can make it more challenging to gain admission to a top school.  Here are some things that you can do to mitigate this risk:

1) How did you perform in quantitative subjects specifically?  If you received low marks in important quantitative subjects, you can take classes now and perform well to prove your abilities.  Calculus is the most important class. ...

Community involvement is very important to the application process because MBA programs pride themselves in training future leaders, not just educating a bunch of people who know how to calculate an IRR.

Q) I've read that extra-curricular activities (ie. leadership via community involvement) is an important part of the assessment. As a consultant/auditor I have little time for activities outside of work, however I have good leadership experience of many teams in the work environment. Could you comment about the weight placed on community involvement in the application process? – Jay

Stacy Blackman:

Hi Jay,

Community involvement is very important to the application process because MBA programs pride themselves in training future leaders, not just educating a bunch of people who know how to calculate an IRR. They look for individuals who are concerned about doing great work and improving the world around them.

Although some younger candidates feel that even though they have not prioritized “extracurricular” activities early in their careers, they will definitely focus on these activities...

GMAT alone won’t determine your chances of admission; academics, beyond the academics will and your work experience plays a vital role as well.

Q) I am a PHP Web developer with 4+ years of experience. I would like to pursue MBA in US or UK. Please suggest if it is a good idea to go for MBA.

Information about my work experience: My company is not a CMM level company. I had been here for 1.5 years and working as a Team Lead (with 4 team members). I know that MBA might not boost my career opportunity, but I would like to change my entire career path. I am very much interested in doing MBA as I am not satisfied in my career right now and I need to change my career path ASAP.

I would like to give GMAT in Aug 2012 ( I am getting 710 in GMAT practice tests). Please suggest me of any course or any improvements I need to do (starting from now) in order to get into MBA. Please suggest my chances of getting into top universities in US.

FutureWorks Consulting: Generally people who want to change their career path and move towards managerial sides of thing go for an mba. If your score is above 700 you can aim for top schools. However GMAT alone won’t determine your chances of admission;...

Q) I have an engineering degree from a top university in India and I have been in the technology industry for 15 years in the capacity of a software engineer, engineering manager and architect. Though I made few feeble half-hearted attempts for MBA in US/India, I am not really sure if I should pursue a full-time program or a part-time program.

India doesn't sound too good with part-time programs as not many companies sponsor due to lack of budget. In your experience, what should a person of my background do? I am a strong technology oriented person but I understand that to get a better perspective of business, I need to experience the other side too.

FutureWorks Consulting: It would be beneficial if you could  speak to your superiors and colleagues at work to see if doing MBA(online or full time) boosted their profile in the aspects that you are looking for- better salary  or job position .  If you get a positive response than here is what you should consider while weighing your option.

Full time: In general most of the Indian applicants are from engineering background with a good 4-5 years of work experience. So you would...