Ask August Academy

Hello

I am looking forward to apply in international MBA programs for fall 2017 session. Could you please give me insight which programs I should choose for a career in management consulting post MBA.
My Profile:
Nationality/Gender/Age - Indian/M/27
GMAT- 720 (50,38)
Academic qualification - BTech, IIT Roorkee
CGPA - 8.43/10
10th- 88%
12th- 88%

Work experience:
A total of 6.5 years experience in manufacturing an engineering sector.
Currently working as Senior Engineer in engineering department of the one of India's largest manufacturing company. This is a public sector company as well.
~6.5 years experience in thermal power plants set up, plants operations, manufacturing of various components and selection of their materials.
- Consultant to Design group for material selection
- Responsible for quality control of incoming material.
- Vendor development and material inspection.
- Review various metallurgical processes like steel making, forging, casting, weld repair, heat treatment.
- Part of material management team.
~ Done number of projects as a leader as well as member to enhance productivity or to save money for the company.
~Done a course on project management

International Exposure:
Did internship in Germany for 3 month during BTech
Worked with people from diverse nationalities and ethnic backgrounds.

Extra –Curricular activities/Achievements:
Published a research paper in an International journal of high impact factor
Won various awards in paper presentation contest during BTech
Received DAAD scholarship to pursue internship in Germany
Organized various events during college festivals.

Post MBA plans:
Work in management/strategy consulting


Kindly evaluate my profile and let me know which schools Should I target. I have shortlisted some colleges like Emory, Hass, Darden, Anderson, Tuck. Pls tell me what are the chances in these colleges and some practical colleges as well. I will also be applying for indian clgs like ISB and IIMs.



Look forward to hearing back
Thanks
Panbhl

Hi Panbhi,

We seem to have missed this post.

You have an interesting profile, but based on what you've mentioned the inside stories in your profile are not coming out clearly. The average Indian applicant will find it difficult to get into some of the schools that you mention. Having said that you might have some leadership experiences in your backstory that will make it possible for you.

If you wish, please reach out to us for a consultation, and we can chat further.

Regards,
Karthik

Hello Kartik -
I gave my GMAT a couple of days ago and got a score of 720(Q50/V38). I need advice on the schools that I can apply to with my score and have a realistic chance of admission being an Indian applicant. Below is a brief on my profile:

Graduation: Mechanical Engineering(Passed out in 2013) - GPA: 3.5(according to WES)
Work Experience: 39 months in sales and marketing at ExxonMobil Corporation and currently working as an operations manager at NEED(Network for Economic and Entrepreneurship Development ; It's a non-profit organization based out of Lucknow, India)
Extra-Curriculars: school and college Football team, Squash and Swimming school teams ; Acted in and directed Choreos during college ; Part of organizing committee of a number of college fests and led the marketing team during a couple of fests.
Volunteer work: Part of a number of volunteer activities during college and work at EM(house building, teaching, roadshows etc).

Interest: Marketing and Strategy

Thanks.

Hi August Academy

Could you please help me in evaluating my profile?

Indian male
GMAT Score 700 Q49V35 IR5, AWA 5

X th : 92.4% out of 100%
XIIth : 94.6% out of 100%
Undergraduated ( NIT Hamirpur) : 8.51 out of 10 on CGPA scale.

Work Experience : 3 years+ in sales & marketing analytics
1. Business Associate in Sales and Marketing firm
2. Leading a team of 4 and in dialogue with clients on a regular basis.

Not impressive extra-curriculars

Target Schools : Kelley, Purdue, Tepper, Kenan-Flagler, Johnson, UCLA Anderson and other 10-20 ranked schools.
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I have applied to Kelley and Purdue in R1 but I am not sure of if I'll get the interview call. I am now comptemplating of waiting for one more year to improve on my GMAT score and profile in terms of work-experience, and extra-curricular activities.

Is it worth waiting for one more year to try for my target schools or settling for a lower ranked school (if I get selected this time) would be just fine given that my primary focus is job opportunities after MBA??

Best
Naval

Hi Naval and Rohan,

We seem to have missed out on answering your questions - apologies. Busy with R2 applications.

I am assuming you guys have found answers to your questions - else let me know and we can set up a time to chat.

Regards,
Karthik

Hello Expert,

GMAT - 710( QA 49 VA 36 IR - 7/8 AWA 6/6 )

Ethnicity- Indian
Male , 25 years old
Btech (Mechanical) - 2013 - 69% [ Under grad]
12th - 2009 -87%
10th (ICSE) - 2007 - 75%

Work Experience - 43 months as on Date will reach 48 months by August ( At the time of applying will have around 49-50 months work experience)

I am currently working as a business development executive at a startup and have worked with a government agency to design some training programs for their employees to effectively use social media for better E-Governance and have worked on building an android application along with successful launching of a online platform designed for certain companies. ( working for about 2 years here).Working alongside here , My father owns an advertising agency in which i play a role too because it is a family business and i need to look after when he is away and have helped create logos for the Government of Telangana. I am from Hyderabad , India and Telangana is the State. So i do not know how to leverage this work because in my own personal opinion I think it is great to have worked on a few government projects and design logos for it. The logo is evident on their websites and posters and all over the city . So i think i can give me some edge but any opinion regarding this will be considered. Prior to this i worked with Google for a year via a third party. I worked there as a business analyst.

EC

Sports - Swimming, basket ball , kabbadi , table tennis and badminton , Boxing .
Won the 1st Place in basketball at College (team event) .
Participated in multiple university and state level competitions . (table tennis)
Participated in a national level debate and Adjourned best speaker in a debate at a college level event.
Winner of an Extempore at a national level technical fest
Participated in multiple public speaking events and debates
The president of a Student Body in college for 2 years until the end of graduation undertaking lot of responsibilities and conducting multiple events
Organiser of the Sports Fest for 3 years along with a team under me and successfully organised multiple events. Along with Organizing as a sports player had to participate thus managing both organizing and playing.

I was the anchor for the Annual Day for 2 years and conducted the event in a splendid fashion
Class representative and event organiser for the college Fest for 4 years
Musical instruments learned - Keyboard , Guitar
Performed in the annual day and formed an own band during the college days and participated in college events.
learnt Classical singing for over 11 years and still learning
An active member of NSS during college and couple with the other activities i had , went on to form events to distribute food , books , clothes to the needy and have taught maths and physics to the needy .
Associated with an NGO as well , hope this help in application process


Academic Projects and Achievements

Always in the reckoning of the class - top 5%
95th percentile in CAT ( Management Exam in India) a neccesity to get in the reputed IIM’s ( Indian Institute of Management) and 90th percentile in XAT ( Management Exam for XLRI - Xavier School of Management)
Multiple projects in Robotics and designed various prototypes using basic principles of robotics and have done an internship in a PSU regarding steam engines

Final project in College related to Robotics – 6 degree Stewart Gough Platform
I have been to multiple industries such as steel pant , iron ore plant and a couple of thermodynamic industries to see the functioning of machines and an automobile industry as well to see the understanding of manufacture of components.
Softwares learned - CAD/CAM , Catia , Solid Works , Pro-E , Ansys (taught during academic rigour ) along with the normal C , C++ , Blue Java , MS office etc.




Q) Do you have a specific Company to work for? - I do not have a specific company to work for. My areas of interest are marketing and consulting . Of course every aspirant desires to be in the best of the best companies. Rather than working for a company would love to have company of my own down the line

Q) what do i want from my MBA? - I want my MBA to provide the knowledge n specific skills to run a business. It comes with experience i am sure but an MBA adds value and can make one think better in terms of the business. I would like to start a company of my own. My father has his own business and i want to diversify its services . A marketing related MBA would help me to make my company more reachable to cater to the needs of clients. At this stage my answer isn't clear and might be vague but i still haven't put a thought to it . Mostly like i wish MBA helps me better to run a business

Q) Mba full time/part time - I would want to do an MBA full time (2/1 year is fine) . I turned 25 last week so at the moment thinking i could use 2 years for an MBA unless a one year MBA suits me more. I am willing to relocate and looking for schools in India , US , UK , Singapore

Areas of Interest - Marketing / Consulting
Dream School – Kellog (Marketing)

What schools would you suggest to apply to based on this Profile assuming i still score a 710 in my retake . Targeting R1 this year , want to join a school in 2018

Other schools on my mind - Yale , Oxford , NUS , NTU , ISB . Also do i stand a chance at Harvard/ Stanford / Haas ( the elite ) if not what can i do to solidify my application for applying to these schools. I would like to apply to 6 schools One in India (ISB) , 3 In the United States , 1 in UK , 1 in Singapore , i haven't given much of a thought but any advice here would help

Target Score for Retake - 740 (QA 50 VA 40) , owing to my poor academics , i thought of giving the exam another shot and I represent a demography of very high scores

Regards,
HK


P.S - sorry for keeping it long , i might have missed out anything , feel free to ask something if it is missing

Hi HK,

You have an interesting profile.

Family business experience is always a mixed bag. When you get to work in a family business, you are given the opportunity to work on game-changing projects, and when you do a good job of it, that adds a lot of value to your profile. Unfortunately, very few candidates actually do this. Many candidates treat the family business job as a holiday, and come up with a resume where they take credit for work that they might not have done.

It is difficult to make this out at the resume stage. But it comes out in the open at the interview stage.

Now if you are confident that you can showcase and defend work/management output for 48 months in August at the rate of 50 hours a week, then you have a good application. Even so, the top tier will be closed to you because of your academics. But if you can improve your GMAT to 740, then we can look at a top 20 - 25.

Email us/set up an appointment to chat more.

Regards,
Karthik

Hi experts, can you please evaluate my profile:

Background and nationality - Indian
Undergrad Information - B. Technology, electronics and communication, Non IIT/NIT, 69%
GMAT: 730

Work experience and leadership - More than 5 years in total.
Electrical engineer incharge in offshore industry with experience on vessels and in shipyard. During my training period, I was recommended to be promoted to an independent role before the actual time period. Was first one in my company to get promoted that soon. As an electrical engineer I was incharge of everything electrical and electronic with a small assisting team. Job included operational management, maintenance, installation and repair of electrical systems. Was a part of major offshore operations such as rig towing, platform service/support, underwater oil pipeline inspections with help of underwater robotic vehicles for different clients such as Exxon-mobil, GSPC, Reliance, ONGC etc. Was electrical supervisor/inspector for construction and commissioning of multimillion dollar platform support vessel from a Chinese shipyard to Nigeria. Passed numerous classification surveys by independent bodies such as DNV, ABS etc. Never had a single electrical downtime in my career. Have taught and supervised interns, and reported their performance.

Last year I quit to join an IT startup to get hands on business experience. Joined as an intern and got promoted to product strategy role after 3 months. Company is very fast growing and has over 15million users now. Managing product strategy now. It's been one year here

Community and others - Coordinator in a local NGO dealing in awareness campaigns and free medications in rural areas. Coordinator of college youth fest fund raising team. Won and participated in several art competitions during schools and college days. Won annual inter-school quiz competitions twice in a row.

Have completed 2 coursera courses by UPenn in Marketing and financial accounting.


International experience(if any) - Areas of work include: India(2yrs), China(6 months) and Nigeria(15months). However, for few months was in involved in projects in Singapore, Cape town as well.

Post MBA goals - Work in a consulting/ strategy (in sustainability if possible)

I relate everything thing to creativity. I am an art buff since childhood and have participated, won several art competitions during college and school days. Be it my learning process or troubleshooting methods I try to find different ways to do so. However, lack of time has slowed me down. I don't devote much time to art now. Still, last October I organised an art exhibition with a theme of Human emotions. It was covered by local media. I am not sure how relevant this hobby, still i will write it here to get some feedback.

My concern- I am not able to relate my past with present and present to future. My experience and qualification in electrical sets me up to understand major sustainable technologies, but I can't vividly think of how to lay that out on paper. energy/power--IT business role--sustainability. I don't want to risk my admission because of lack of clarity in goals, so even if you suggest me something about altering my goals a bit I'm all ears.

I am targeting top 5-15 US b-schools or Insead. Or please give your suggestions.

Hi,

You have an interesting profile - in operations in a traditional heavy industry, and in product management at a high tech startup. I would be curious to know how that transition happened.

And yes, you are right, moving from there to consulting seems to be another switch in function.

Too many switches like this could result in you appearing confused. At the same time, if common thread can be identified, then you should have your path set.

In terms of colleges, while we don't exactly list out the colleges without talking to you first - I would say the lower down the list you mention, the easier it will be. You need a few safe colleges as well.

Best wishes,
Karthik

Hi,
So, I did my MBA in HR from one of the borderline premier institutes in India.
Currently am a HR Manager working with a major sales and distribution firm in India. My role is of HR Business partnering for sales division of an entire state.
Prior to this, post my engineering I had 2 years of solid work ex with a major battery manufacturing firm in the role of product development.
I plan to take the GMAT and go for a second MBA with the sole purpose of transitioning my career out of HR, preferably into general management or strategy.
My query is, would my workex in HR be a major hurdle in getting admitted in the top B schools? Are professionals with work ex in HR given a differential treatment?
Also, will my workex in HR be detrimental to the career transition that I am planning to make while getting a job post the MBA?
Please help!

I havent found any examples of people with HR workex getting into the top B schools. would be great if someone shares such profiles.
Also can anyone guide me regarding whom or where should I talk with regarding my queries?

Here is my profile:
X-92%
XII- 85%
Btech from National Institute of Technology India - 7.31 CGPA
2 years of work ex in New product development role in major battery manufacturing firm. (Market Leader)
MBA in HR from borderline premier institute in India
3-4 years of work ex as HR manager in HR Business Partner role.


TIA

Hello,

I would appreciate it if you could evaluate my profile and provide feedback. Thank you!

Currently, 26yr old Asian American Male. 27 at Matriculation.

College- 2 yrs at community college (3.8 GPA), then 2 years at UC Riverside (3.15 GPA). Combined GPA ~3.5. GPA fell at UCR due to familial obligations of taking care of a sick relative. Will use optional essay to discuss this.

GMAT: GMAT Prep Test Score of 740 (49Q 41V) Let's assume I will score between 720-740 on the real test.

Work Exp
1.5 yrs- Wealth Advisor at Guardian Life. My team and I specialized in working with business clients on insurance and investment programs, corporate tax planning, and business succession planning. I took this role out of college to really strengthen my soft skills (boardroom presentations, relationship building, communication, etc..). I am a huge believer in working on my professional skills and at the time, my soft skills were lacking in my opinion.

What will be ~3.5 yrs (at matriculation) as a analyst in Product Management at a Top 15 P&C Insurance Company (~$4B in revenue). I love the work I do. This role marries two interests of mine- data analytics and leading cross functional executive level projects within the company. I have plenty of quantitatively-backed examples of the impact I have had. The P&C insurance industry is going through a transformation and it will be heavily disrupted within the next 10-15 years by autonomous vehicles. I aspire to be a leader of a top 5 insurer in the long run and guide the industry through the changing landscape.

Extracurriculars: Vice Chair of a Young Entrepreneurs non-profit organization for 4 years. I was brought in to grow the membership base, and I was able to grow it from ~300 to now over 2,400 members. We provide entrepreneur education and community to grow and collaborate. I also started a volunteer program within this organization and we have volunteered over 3,000 hours at local food banks, beach clean ups, Easter egg hunts, soup kitchens, local libraries, etc..

Organized a basketball team through work. We play in a local men's league. I will somehow incorporate the importance sports (and basketball, specifically) has had in my personal and professional development over the past 18 years.

United Way Rep for 2017. Organized fundraisers and food drives at work. Launched our first Annual Silent Auction which raised more money than any other event.

Short-Term Goal: Join MBA Leadership Development Program at Liberty Mutual Insurance

Target Schools: Columbia, Yale, Kellogg, Ross, Fuqua, Darden, Cornell, NYU, UCLA. I will shorten this list but those are the schools I have an interest in.

Hi August Academy,

I'm considering applying in round 1 this year for full-time MBA programs enrolling fall 2019 and would love to get a profile evaluation and general thoughts on my potential career path. Any evaluation or advice you could give me would be much appreciated. Also curious if I'd gain anything from waiting another year, getting some more experience in my current role and getting some more community involvement.

White male, 26 years old

Education:
"Southern Ivy" (Duke, Emory, Vandy, etc.), graduated in 2014, Mathematics and Economics BA, GPA: 3.25 (started out pre-med which did not go well. Started to do better when I switched to math and econ, but suffered family tragedy fall of senior year which hurt my grades and recruiting as well)

GMAT:
770 (50Q/46V/8IR/5AWA)

Work (all at private, family-owned diversified holding company with $20B+ revenue):
-1 year as a business analyst in the Operational Excellence department in the automotive division. Acted as a liaison between business operations and IT development for the development of enterprise mobile applications, completed heavily statistical analysis to complete the business cases for these applications as well as justify a multi-million dollar acquisition, created operational tools for field use and trained several GMs on their use.
-2 years as a manager in the Financial Planning and Analysis department in the same division. Promoted to manager 3 years ahead of schedule for being recognized as a top performer. Managed a contractor and intern. Currently in charge of budgets and forecasts for several smaller portfolio businesses and on the leadership team of these businesses to provide insights that drive strategic decision-making.
-2 years (at matriculation) as a senior analyst in an elite corporate strategy & development group at the holding company level responsible for portfolio management, M&A, diversification strategy. So far led primary due diligence for several minority investments as well as played an integral role developing a strategy for the Company's extension into the clean technology industry (renewable energy, food and agriculture, water conservation, etc.). Interface regularly with C-level leaders, board members and external parties (banks, PE firms, Consultants, VCs)

Extracurriculars:
-Pro Bono consultant at an eCommerce retail store, creating the business plan, social media marketing strategy, and pricing methodology
-Half marathon participant in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training program. Raised $2000 for cancer research
-Finalist in my company's internal StartUp business plan event
-Mentor at Big Brothers/Big Sisters Atlanta

Post-MBA Goals:
Ultimately I want to become the CFO of a well-funded start-up in my current industries of expertise (Cleantech, Auto). To get there, I want to work in Finance at one of the external parties I regularly interface with (PE or VC if possible) unless the opportunity presents itself to be a finance leader at a start-up right out of my MBA. I think working in M&A at a particularly flexible, family-owned Strategic provides a different, interesting perspective.

Schools under consideration:
I have two routes I'm considering, since I actually really like my current job:
-Shoot for the stars (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Chicago) where I think the the value would justify leaving my current role and paying the tuition
-Go to the one year MBA at my local university (Emory, where I think I can get close to a full scholarship), continue working part-time or take 1 year off and come back to my current role.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Posted from my mobile device

Hey there,

Looks like you have everything working for you, profile wise. Everything from this point on depends on good execution of your plans. Both route 1 and route 2 should be possible - get in touch with us (using the link to schedule a free appointment below) for more details.

Best,
Karthik

Like many others, my first choice for B-School is HBS. and I'm definitely looking to partner with an admissions consultant ASAP to help with my application for this specific school ASAP. I'll make a choice based on the initial evaluations I get, and decide based on who has the best advice/insight into my profile. I'm also applying to MIT, Haas, and a few others.

My main concern is my low GPA and jumpy career history (circling around the sales/PR/marketing drain, and switching industries from toys to SaaS (tech), before settling in Sales/SaaS 3-4 years ago). I've accomplished a lot at the companies I've worked for, received 5 promotions and held leadership roles for the last 3 years, but it's still not very impressive.

During undergrad, I was seriously ill, once homeless, and worked full-time while studying, so I'm hoping this will shine a brighter light on my dim academics and inconsistent profile. I want my themes to be 1. failing, and then picking myself back up again to show tenacity, and 2. overcoming obstacles, and now wanting to start my own company to make the world a better place.

Academics:
- 3.29 GPA, social sciences
- 730 GMAT (RETAKING aiming for a 780)
- Completing HBX CORe (Harvard business 'prep' course) soon with a goal of an A (4.0) average
- Undergrad was at Harvard Extension School (I'm not sure how this is regarded at HBS? It's part of Harvard University, but obviously much less impressive than Harvard College or any other Ivy League college)

Work Experience:
- American, 3 years of international experience (Germany - working language proficiency)
- 8 years of professional experience, 4 years in people management/leadership roles
- Managed 15 people at maximum, now managing around 5 people (switched companies, and now growing the team from 0 to 5)
- 5 promotions, from intern >associate > senior associate > team lead > senior manager > head of sales
- Starting my own company, in the very early stages

Life Background:
- Aged 30
- Experienced a life-threatening illness and homeless during undergrad - hence the low GPA
- Also worked full-time during all of undergrad, taking classes at night
- Decent amount of volunteering experience
- "Theme" of my application is overcoming hardship/life threatening illness/and homelessness, and now wanting to start my own company and make the world a better place

Hi berliner,

Great to hear from you.

Let's break your profile down:

1) Academics - good. Not great. Will this be a disadvantage? For Harvard - which receives applications from several top-notch candidates, every little bit will matter. As also for Stanford, Wharton, Booth and the other M7 schools. So yes, let's call this a negative. But we can rest assured that this is a minor negative, considering that your GPA and GMAT are not too far away from the average scores.

2) Work experience and progression - excellent progression. It's clear that you are a high performer. It also looks like you are trying to find your way. Given that you've settled down in Sales/SaaS - is this something that you can say you are truly happy with? If not, what is the next step? You are starting a company now - is that a moonlighting effort, or do you plan to go all in? How does this relate to your business school plans and your general life goals? Tying this bit together will be the trickiest part of your application. But once this is done (and it can be), the rest of your application will be smooth sailing.

3) Personal stories - yes you have some stories that display real strength of character here. You need to find a way to tie it in seamlessly with the overall narrative. (Meaning - don't make it sound like you are trying to make them cry their way to giving you an admit. Rather, talk about it because it reflects strength. And also show how this has both influenced your goals and helped you do well in your career. Talk about how this has changed your worldview? Talk about how you will make the world a better place. Then come back and tell me how you've been doing that through your jobs so far, and how your short-term goals relate - both to your present and to your future.)

If you are able to do this, you should have a competitve application. I would urge you to apply to a few other top 10 programs - for safety's sake. A higher GMAT will help overall. It doesn't have to be a 780. But a 740+ should be ok.

Feel free to set up an appointment using the link below - and we can find a time to chat.

Best,
Karthik

Hi!

I'd be grateful if you can evaluate my profile.

26 M, Indian. Looking to get into a top US business school.
5 years WE
GMAT - 720, 48Q/41V
Expecting 110+ on the TOEFL
Undergrad: 3.0 GPA in Engineering from a not-so-popular Indian university.

Very passionate about startups and entrepreneurship.
Battled my way through severe anxiety and depression.
(would be) First in the family to study abroad.

Work Experience:

Current:
Ø Entrepreneur. Bootstrapped an ed-tech startup from scratch to a $150,000 ARR business in 3 years. Still running it with positive cashflow. I know $150k might not sound that impressive to US adcoms, but the company is based in India, it's in a small niche, and it is growing y-o-y.
Ø Grew the business from 0 - 10,000 paying customers from over 150 countries.
Ø Singlehandedly built and grew the company's blog from 0 to 2 million annual readers without spending a dime on ads. The site is currently ranked very highly in the test prep niche.
Ø Helped over 1000 students improve their test scores, through one-on-one personal interaction and mentorship.

Previous:
Ø Director of Support for 2 years. First hire at a SaaS startup company funded by top global VC firms.
Ø Helped scale the company's online support system from 0-10,000 B2B customers.
Ø Worked with the CEO and the engineering teams to improve customer experience.

Previously, I also co-founded an offline test prep company straight out of undergrad. It did really well for a year or so, and we gave the major players (the likes of Princeton Review and Manhattan Review) a run for their money, but had to shut it down due to lack of funding (needed to expand operations). Used this experience to pivot the service into an online platform (the aforementioned ed-tech startup).

Extra-curricular:

Startup Festival - 3 years
Ø Organized the first ever startup festival in my home state (which is also one of India's largest entrepreneurship events) with over 2500 delegates attending from across the country.
Ø Led a team of 20 managers and 60 volunteers, and played a key role in raising funds, partnering with the state government, and managing over 100 speakers, startups, corporate, sponsors, and partner companies.
Ø The event kickstarted innovation and tech in our state.
Ø Not sure how relevant it is to my application, but I have a letter of recommendation from our State Minister for IT & Entrepreneurship (similar to Secretary of State), as I worked closely with the state government on building a startup ecosystem.

President and Regional Head at a major national level non-profit - 3 years
Ø Built and lead the city chapter of one of India's largest non-profits (on the lines of Teach for India) from scratch to the city's largest and the fastest growing non-profit org.
Ø Recruited, trained, and mentored over 250 young volunteers to teach, train, and mentor over 300 underprivileged children across 5 shelter homes in my city.
Ø Helped the organization expand to two new cities in South India. Recruited, trained, and managed over 30 young leaders and over 300 young volunteers, who in-turn impacted more than 500 underprivileged children in 10 shelter homes across the region.
Ø Although this was a few years ago, it wasn't just another community service activity. I actually worked 10-15 hours a week for 3 years straight.

Other details:
Ø Was a founding member of my university's student magazine.
Ø Was also a member of a couple of clubs in college (entrepreneurship, speaking).

Hobbies:
I'm a fitness enthusiast. Have done freelance modeling, and was also a Mr. India 2016 quarter-finalist.
Also an avid reader and debater.

LORs:
Can get strong letters of recommendation from my supervisors.

Cons:
Ø No recent community service experience.
Ø No international exposure.
Ø Although I've built a successful business, I haven't worked for big brand corporate companies.
Ø Indian male. Although I'm not in the IT sector.
Ø Low GPA?

Post MBA Goals:

Long term goal is to build a global business (ed-tech SaaS company). I plan to use the business acumen and the vast network from my MBA to achieve this. To get there, I believe I need experience in the SaaS domain. My immediate post MBA goal, therefore, is to join a growing SaaS company in the US. Over the past couple of years, I've had a growing interest in the SaaS revolution in the US, and I very much want to be a part of it.

Can you please evaluate my profile? Since I have a relatively unique background (and experience), I'm having a hard time understanding how competitive my profile would be at a top school. I'm also looking for schools where my profile would be very competitive, so I can secure a handsome scholarship (half-ride, or GA). I'm planning to apply in Early or Round 1 this year.

Please suggest what schools I would be a good contender at. Whether they would be among the Top 10 (Haas, MIT, Ross), Top 30 (Duke, UCLA, Cornell), or Top 50 (Indiana, UT-Austin, Carlson), etc. Thank you very much.

Qualifications
Xth :-64%
XII th:- 82%
Graduation :- 65% English (Hons) Humanities
Current work:- income tax inspector
Age:- 24 years
Nature of work:- not related to corporate work experience in anyway, it is government sector work. The work is divided into two categories

Assessment Section 
A job in this section includes work related to desk job details that come with the title of Income Tax Inspector.
You will be responsible for assessing income tax that people, company or partnership firms are liable to pay.
You will also have to handle refund claims and TDS (Tax Deduction at Source) queries Non-Assessment Section 
A job in this section will subject you to field work.

Inspectors employed in this section can be a part of the rapid response team that conducts raids.

The ITIs who are given non-assessment duties usually have to perform only clerical duties.

Their job is limited to filing official paperwork and occasionally accompanying raid teams

My query:- I always wanted to do an MBA as it was my dream to work for a private company. Due to financial constraints, I was not able to apply for MBA in foreign universities. I had no interest in Indian MBA as I always wanted to work in a foreign country. Also Indian MBA had very low chances to get me placed in a foreign firm. Private firms in India without an MBA gives very less salary and high load which would not have given me time to make my profile for foreign MBA.
Therefore, I decided to pursue a government job and finance my future MBA from that money.
I intend to do an MBA after 5 years. I can score score very well in GMAT and TOEFL from official mocks that I have given. I am interested in doing MBA from Canada so that I can get permanent residency. I am aiming for "average" b schools in Canada only.
Please I am in dire need of help. I have 5 years at my disposal. Please guide me on how can I make my profile in these 5 years so that the adcoms don't reject me. Also honestly tell me whether I am eligible of doing MBA from an average Business School in Canada only.
Thank you and God bless you !

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