Ask MBA Crystal Ball

Thanks for the reply. Picked up a copy. Thanks.

I am not sure because I do think I can jump into a larger VC (1st choice) without an MBA. I haven't started fully to look for that job yet. I am currently just evaluating my options, and MBA is one of them. I take your comment on diluting brand very seriously and that's probably only reason I am looking into the MBA: The brand and network. Unfortunately, I don't think retaking the GMAT and scoring higher is gonna be possible. The 690 is the score I got when I went to Master's program and do hate standardized tests. I am pretty sure I gonna be score a lot worse if I take it now haha.

Yes, I was talking about the 1 yr programs at Kellogg and Cornell. I looked into current student profiles of schools like IMD, Oxford, Cambridge, HEC Paris and truthfully wasn't particularly impressed. I picked Oxford and Cambridge because of the brand value those carry especially in Asia. Here is the reason: Although, I went to decent schools in undergrad and grad schools these schools are practically unknown in most circles in Asia unless you are taking to an American. So, really as you can probably see I am only interested in an MBA on a purely branding perspective. So do you think schools like Cambridge, Oxford and Cornell assuming I get in would dilute my brand? Thanks.

Ophelia wrote:

Thanks for the reply. Picked up a copy. Thanks.

I am not sure because I do think I can jump into a larger VC (1st choice) without an MBA. I haven't started fully to look for that job yet. I am currently just evaluating my

<<snip>>

interested in an MBA on a purely branding perspective. So do you think schools like Cambridge, Oxford and Cornell assuming I get in would dilute my brand? Thanks.

In Europe, I'd rather look at LBS/INSEAD than those - again purely from a brand perspective. Cornell is definitely a good brand globally.

I know it can be painful, but trust me, it is worth it - the re-take I meant. Think about it. If this was your one and only attempt, maybe you can take it 30 or so points higher? If you think you can, do it. Else, focus on the applications.

Cheers,

Thanks for the help. I will think about the MBA issues and GMAT issues.

Hi Admin

Kindly evaluate my profile and chances of getting a call for PI to get into IIM Indore EPGP. I have bad GMAT score.

GMAT Score: 340 (6%), Quant 21 (8%), Verbal 16(12%), IR 4(38%), AWA 4.5 (44%)

Education :

SSC - 2000 Pass out - 79%

10+2 - 2002 Pass out - 66%

B.Tech (Electrical & Electronics) - 2006 Pass out - JNTU Hyd - 65%

- Won 1st at 7 National Level Paper Presentations on Topics ranging from Electrical, Electronics and Computer Science

- Published 2 Papers at International Conferences on Topics related to Rural Development using Technology and Solar Grid's

MBA (HR) - 2008 Pass out - ICFAI Business School - 6.75 CGPA on Scale of 10

- Published various papers and articles in management magazines

- Editor of college magazine

Work Experience: (Total Exp - 86 Months Till Date ( 7 Years 2 Months))

Hitachi Consulting (Aug 2008 - July 2011)

- Worked on Manufacturing, Life Sciences, Electronics Domains in Oracle Consulting

Infosys (Aug 2011 - Feb 2014)

- Worked on Retail Domain Oracle Consulting

- Travelled UK and European Countries (Netherlands, Spain & Sweden) for 1 Year as part of Oracle Consulting

Accenture (Feb 2014 - Till Date)

- Handling offshore Consulting Oracle Team in Banking & Financial Domain

- Initiated Diversity Magazine and heading the Editorial Team which is an Internal Org Magazine

- Analyzing Business Requirement and mapping requirements

- Resource Management and Resource Engagement

- Functional level analysis and testing

- Leading a team of 10 members.

- Organizing and scheduling Internal & Client level Training's managing Customer Success

- Handling Unit level Interviews for laterals

- Handling Employee Engagement activities

- Moderating Performance

Entrepreneurship :

Knowledge Avenues ( May 2009 - June 2012)

- Founder and CEO which focuses on Knowledge Networking and Educational ERP

- Won best idea awards from BITS & NMIMS

- Received Invitation from XIV WORLD CONGRESS - WORLD COUNCIL OF COMPARATIVE EDUCATION SOCIETIES (WCCES) to present our Concept

- Travelled entire India as part of research with TATA JAGRITI (Dec 2010 - Jan 2011)

- Re-branded as Resultica Education Pvt Ltd and bought product categorization to K-12, Higher Education and Skill development

- Had 24+ Clients with monthly turnover of $30,000 per month

CloudicaLabs ( Mar 2015 - Till Date)

- Founder of Cloud & Mobility Product based startup

- Working on Mobile App based Recruitment application which reduces spamming via mails and calls.

Free-Lance Consulting

- Helping and supporting start-ups as Advisor (Dazin, Localwire, Pangeo)

- Attended various conferences and sessions of successful Business models which transformed India

Non-Profit :

- During my stint as Entrepreneur, we got associated with multiple NGO's in Hyderabad and used to focus on Education improvement at Slums

- Part of BOSF (Birds of Same Feathers) - Supporting and counselling Divorce women

- Actively involved with CSR activities of Hitachi, Infosys and Accenture

- Initiated Green Connect at Infosys, which brings various engineering college fraternity on single platform to work on Green Initiatives

Please suggest me further.

lalithvlk wrote:

Hi Admin

Kindly evaluate my profile and chances of getting a call for PI to get into IIM Indore EPGP. I have bad GMAT score.

GMAT Score: 340 (6%), Quant 21 (8%), Verbal 16(12%), IR 4(38%), AWA 4.5 (44%)

Education :

<<snip>>

- Initiated Green Connect at Infosys, which brings various engineering college fraternity on single platform to work on Green Initiatives

Please suggest me further.

Lalit,

Consider the following points:

1. Before getting the profile, that GMAT score will be a HUGE non-starter, likely to put you out of contention right up. So leave everything and do a re-take. There is time. No use wasting an attempt. With an improved score (>650?), you can also look at the other IIMs! Dont undersell yourself and do such injustice to your profile.
2. Your profile is interesting and the arc is good. It is not clear however if you've really used your previous MBA as the work seems more on the technical side. Be prepared to explain the reason for a second MBA. You have not mentioned anything about your goals - that will be critical given your eclectic experiences.
3. Finally, the entrepreneurial gigs will be pretty good - provided you can connect the dots well and explain how they help or will help you in future.

Go for a re-take and then crack it up.

Cheers,

Hello,

Please have a look at my profile

I am planning to write GMAT early next month(I know it may be slightly late).
I have 40 months of workex till now, working in a fortune 500 French Energy major.

Personal : Indian/Male/25

My scores are :

10th - 92.8% (ICSE)

12th - 92.5% (ICSE)

B.Tech (CSE) - 8.36/10 from VIT University, Vellore

My GMAT practice tests scores are:

Princeton Review Test 1 - 650 (Q47,V34)

Princeton Review Test 2 - 720 (Q48,V42)

GMAT Prep Test 1 - 700 (Q49,V36)

Kaplan CAT-1 - 740 (Q50,V42)

I am hoping to improve my score and score above 710 in the actual GMAT

April 2014 - Present : Senior Functional Analyst
April 2013 - March 2014 : Technical Analyst
July 2012-March-2013 : Graduate Engineer Trainee

I have received 2 promotions in 3 years and have participated and won in several company wide competitions

I have completed Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification and ITIL Certification

I have also published 5 research papers which include 4 publications in International Conferences archived by IEEE
and 1 publication in a peer reviewed journal on topics like Knowledge Discovery, Data Mining, Network Security,
Supply Chain and Sustainable IT.

I have also worked in a startup as an intern during the final semester(Jan-May) of my college studies where I worked with product development
and testing and had another stint as an intern at HCL Infosystems for 2 months during which I worked on sales and tendering process
with Goverment agencies

I am interested in knowing about colleges that I should apply to given my profile as I have started my GMAT preparation quite recently and have
not been able to gain much insights about colleges that would suit me best.

Thanks

bazookabanger wrote:

Hello,

Please have a look at my profile

I am planning to write GMAT early next month(I know it may be slightly late).
I have 40 months of workex till now, working in a fortune 500 French Energy major.

<<snip>>

I am interested in knowing about colleges that I should apply to given my profile as I have started my GMAT preparation quite recently and have
not been able to gain much insights about colleges that would suit me best.

Thanks

Dear bazookabanger,

Consider the following points:

1. Your work related achievements sound great. Excelling at research in your job shows your commitment levels. Even so, you have not mentioned any post-MBA plans. That will be critical to ensure you get leverage of this experience and don't end up squandering away the advantage here.
2. There is no mention of life outside work at college or your job. If that's amiss, that might be a bit of a handicap especially at the top schools. Another thing not mentioned is any international experience. This won't be a handicap but something that can add to the profile.
3. Finally, for reasons mentioned here, we do not provide gut-based school suggestions. Even so, with the right GMAT and factors above, you should be in a decent space in terms of schools.

Cheers,

Is ISB still worth the money and time?
It has been 20 years since the idea of the Indian School of Business (ISB) was conceived. This is puny in comparison to say a Harvard that has a 105+ year legacy or even our home grown IIMs (IIMC being the first ever) that have been around for over 50 years now.

It has been less than 15 years since the institute actually came into being. There is no denying the fact that the school has achieved a superstar status in this short time span. But is it still worth it?
Read more

Please evaluate my profile and provide me guidance on which B-schools should I select.

My MBA interest: FT, 1/2 year program in Marketing.

GMAT 1(on Sept 2014) - 570 (Q47, V21)
GMAT 2(on Dec 2015)- 680 ( Q49, V34)

Total Work Exp: 3 Years 6 months ( Product based PLM company in QA role)
Sex – Male
Age – 24 yrs
Nationality - Indian

Current Responsibilities:
QA specialist -Performance testing

Education:
B. Tech (ECEs) from deemed clg Rajasthan 73% marks
XII – 74%, RBSE board
X – 86%, RBSE board

ECs: 
1. Founder and Coordinator of the clg club with 150 members and more than 10 events across UNIV
2. Volunteering in my company events

Questions
1. Are there any chances of getting scholarship/ admit with this score ?
2. Do I need to retake GMAT?
3. How to shortlist colleges ?

ambitiousnerd wrote:

Please evaluate my profile and provide me guidance on which B-schools should I select.

My MBA interest: FT, 1/2 year program in Marketing.

GMAT 1(on Sept 2014) - 570 (Q47, V21)

<<snip>>

3. How to shortlist colleges ?

Jumping into your questions (and some more) right away ambitiousnerd:

1. It is near impossible to predict scholarship chances but in general, lower you aim, better the prospects. It really depends on how low you are willing to go.
2. This depends on multiple factors. The first is whether you have time - assuming you are targeting R2 this year. Next is your confidence level - unless you can boost that score by 20+ points, wouldn't really help. And finally, also depends on your target schools. On that count, it seems you are thinking of a career in marketing? Be aware that that is nearly impossible to break into for most international candidates - let alone with someone as your profile which is completely unrelated to marketing.
3. Not directly relevant, but the post here may give some start.

Cheers,

MBA Time Table - the time to start is now
So you’ve decided that the coming year is going to be the year for you; when you finally take charge of your career and make it happen for yourself. If your New Year resolution is to get an MBA application (or two?) in next year, this article would be a good place to start.If you went back to see if we wrote ‘next year‘, you saw it right the first time, planning and preparing for your MBA application has to be ideally a year-long thing; maybe even longer.

The post is an attempt to apprise MBA wannabes on when to do what as well as give a quick overview of the main components involved in the application.
Read more

Hi Sameer,

I have 5+ years of work-ex. Started from Wipro Call Centre Agent and was last associated with Maersk as Team Manager. I'm not working since 10.10.2014. I am about to appear for my GMAT by 10th Feb 2016 (I know that it's too late and am in the Round III loop now) - and not sure where my score will end up because in mock tests I haven't scored more than 470 yet (Highest Qu: 45 and Ve: 21). However, I would be investing all the time I have in the next 10 Days - Ver (SC is major challenge for me).

10th: 69%
12th: 64% (both CBSE) and
B. Sc. Mathematics: 51% (2004 Pass-out)

Note: In School and College, I have participated in almost everything apart from studies*

I was also in the top performers in NCC in the Tamilnadu/Pondicherry and Andaman Nicobar Directorate (during my college years). Have won some awards and possess NCC 'C' Certificate with Grading 'A'. I have represented Tamilnadu Directorate in the Army Attachment Camp conducted in Indian Military Academy/Dehradun. Was also selected for FP (Flying Pilot) for Indian Air Force in 2003 (2AFSB {Air Force Selection Board} Mysore - 2003) and another instance in Bhopal for OTA Chennai - could not join due Medical Unfitness declared by AFMC Pune.

Sir - I am targeting to get into a college outside India (DOB: 22/06/1983 - Currently not working anywhere)

Low Shaded Areas:
(1) No Social Work Experience
(2) Poor Academic Record

Highlights:
(1) Was good in sports and have participated in School Nationals Volleyball and Javelin
(2) Was Awarded Best Performance - as an Employee and as a Manager in Maersk
(3) Some achievements in NCC

would request your feedback on the above and would also like to thank you for such posts which helps other aspirants. I also find your way of writing and the entire article in itself - Very helpful.

Regards,
Debargho Bhattacharjee

Debargho wrote:

Hi Sameer,

I have 5+ years of work-ex. Started from Wipro Call Centre Agent and was last associated with Maersk as Team Manager. I'm not working since 10.10.2014. I am about to appear for my GMAT by 10th Feb 2016 (I know that it's too late and am in the Round III loop now) - and not sure where my score will end up because in mock tests I haven't

<<snip>>

would request your feedback on the above and would also like to thank you for such posts which helps other aspirants. I also find your way of writing and the entire article in itself - Very helpful.

Regards,
Debargho Bhattacharjee

A few important points for your consideration Debargho:

1. You have not mentioned the reason for the break. Read here to see why that huge potential hurdle.
2. The GMAT can be another stumbling block. Perhaps this could be the starting point for your target schools.
3. 2 of the 3 highlights you mention are too far back in time. So as an overall strategy, I would strongly recommend playing it on the safer side.

Cheers,

Master’s degrees that pay the highest salaries
Doing a master’s or another graduate degree has its advantages. It teaches you more about your favorite subject. It helps you build upon the knowledge and skills that you acquired during your undergraduate course. It may open up more job opportunities. It may even bring you more respect.

But does it fetch you a bigger salary? Well, a few graduate courses do; many others don’t. Enrolling for a master’s course is a major investment of money and time: the tuition fees are high and a graduate course will delay your entry into the job market.
Read more

Hi Sameer and Team ,
Hope you guys are doing well . Below is a snapshot of my profile and it would be very kind if you guys could evaluate my chances of getting into ISB for the coming year .
Age : 26
Gender : Male
Education : X 72.5% CBSE
Xll 75% Tamil Nadu State Board
Note - gave my 12th as a private candidate as was detained in my 11th in school . didn't want to waste a year , so just went on to write my 12th as a private candidate .
B.com , university of madras , 6.2 CGPA
CFA , Charter holder

Work Ex :
May 2010 - Jul 2011 - Family Business
Jul 2011 - Dec 2013 - Bed ridden for 6months and limping around for the rest of the time due to a back injury . this was a defining moment in my life . I realized I loved finance and loved trading in the market . while at home , I was trading the markets with a small capital . had a 112% return in 1 year and in Dec 2013 , I gave my CFA level 1 exam and cleared it . (started with a capital of 25,000)
June 2014 - Feb 2015 - worked as an associate at a mid-market IB in Chennai .
Worked on total of 3 M&A deals .
7 Valuations of conglomerate and private companies .
Feb 2015 - June 2015 - took a break for CFA level 2 preparations
June 2015 - Present - Senior Equity Analyst at a mid-sized firm which does research on the US stocks and sells the reports to its US based clients

Extra Curricular :
2014 - Alumni Representative / Board of Study Committee member for my college
2015 May - Formed an NGO , where we treat injuered animals like stray dogs , cats etc ..
We provide them shelter till they recover and raise money to operate them or treat them .
We have treated till date over 4 dogs and 2 cats . Also , we had treated 5 other dogs before forming the NGO (not sure if
this would be counted ) .
Reason we started the NGO ? 1. it was costing us 4-7k INR to treat per animal and having a registered NGO would/could
help us raising funds .
2. It would help us attract other youngsters too who could give us a hand and help more aniamls
2015 July - Formed a partnership firm/fund , where a few of my friends invested and asked me to trade it for them . My performance is comparable to well renowned Hedge funds , but my capital is on the lower side . (below 5 lakhs). My employer is fine with this .

I would like to your your views on :
1. keeping GMAT aside , how would my profile fair and what is the probability of me being selected
2. what would be a good GMAT target ? as of now i have taken a mock without any preparation and scored a 580 , hopefully after preparation i can boost the score by a 100-120 points .

Looking forward to your reply ,

Fudge wrote:

Hi Sameer and Team ,
Hope you guys are doing well . Below is a snapshot of my profile and it would be very kind if you guys could evaluate my chances of getting into ISB for the coming year .
Age : 26
Gender : Male

<<snip>>

2. what would be a good GMAT target ? as of now i have taken a mock without any preparation and scored a 580 , hopefully after preparation i can boost the score by a 100-120 points .

Looking forward to your reply ,

A few thoughts on your profile and a few clarifications Fudge:

1. First up, I am not sure I totally understand the chronology of events here. Did you complete undergrad before starting in the family business? If yes, only then will have you close to 3 years of experience. Pre-undergrad experience tends to get discounted.
2. The private exam is something you should check directly with your target schools. They may or may not be ok with it and best to get this out of the equation early on.
3. Multiple career breaks are the biggest hurdle in your case. While the medical one could be reasoned, the CFA one is more tricky. Read here why. It might be better to build a more consistent profile by working another year - else your profile and career decisions can come across as very fickle, both to adcoms and to future recruiters.
4. Finally, for reasons mentioned here, I am afraid I cannot really predict your chances. But there are definite handicaps you need to be aware of. So work towards parrying the blow as much as possible. GMAT in that sense becomes something that you should make an asset - so aim for something ideally clearly north of 700.

Hope this helps some

Cheers,

Hi Manish ,

thanks for taking time to reply back . I realize the gaps on my resume seem/look really bad , but below are some disclosures
The first gap of almost 1.5yrs was out of my control . But i guess , it worked out well towards the end with my CFA and knowing what i wanted to do .

Regarding the second gap ,
1. The 4 month gap was used for CFA preparations
2. I did some freelance valuation and consulting work for 2 start ups . (1 is still running strong , but not a multi-million dollar company , but yea they have a turnover of over 500k $) . I got paid for this , I can ask them to write a receipt or show my bank account transaction if needed .
3. I established the NGO and my Trading firm during this time .

Would this be a good topic to write an essay on during the admissions ?
And I am seriously thinking of delaying my MBA plans till 2018-2019 .
Kindly , let me know in the additional year or so , if there is anything i can do to improve my chances ?
Regards,
Fudge