Ask Personal MBA Coach

Will the top B schools have more women leading them over the next few years? As long as they all don't combine admissions with financial aid, this sounds like a great idea. Let's keep admissions separate though so the dean can focus on that.

Read this article for some great questions to ask during interviews (if you are interviewing with a woman that is)

https://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2012/08/02/b-schools-send-women-up-the-ranks/

Good luck on the applications!

Scott Edinburgh
scott@personalmbacoach.com
https://www.personalmbacoach.com
--Free application strategy discussion & initial essay review
--Insider tips and mock interview preparation

Hi Scott,

Would be great if you let me know what you think of my profile. Here is a very brief summary.

WORK EX
~4.5 years’ experience in cloud computing, virtualization and security domains.
3 years in McAfee, 1 year in Citrix as Software Quality Assurance Engineer.
IT Skills – Responsible for overall product quality, collaboration with global teams, test execution and reporting
Non IT skills - Sales enablement, project management, hiring and mentoring, setting up new processes etc. Indirectly leading a team of 5 members. Have mentored 9 people.

ACADS
GMAT: 700 - (Quant - 49, Verbal – 36), yet to receive AWA scores
B.TECH - 83.3% (CS)
12TH - 70%
CFA Level II candidate PRINCE2 foundation certified - Project management
ITIL v3 foundation certified- IT Service Management
CompTIA Security+ certified - Security domain

ACHIEVEMENTS
rated >4 (out of 5) for 3 years of operations in McAfee
‘Employee of the Quarter' award in McAfee
Stock Grant Bonus for outstanding performance
Spot Bonus for outstanding performance
Promoted within completing 1 year in McAfee

EXTRA CURRICULAR
Freelance test mentoring for a 2 year old tech start-up, also gave a talk to its employees
Service-lead, managing CSR activities for my present team of 20.
Program-manager for McAfee's CSR initiative for 2 years, managed team of 50 volunteers.
Elected student representative - Mess committee in college
Prefect/ House Captain in final year of school
Editor of school magazine in 11th standard

AREA OF INTEREST
Management consulting, general management, strategy

TARGET COLLEGES
Kellogg, ISB, NUS so far.
Looking for colleges in US or APAC region mostly.

QUESTIONS
1. Which 2 colleges should i choose as backups for my area of interest?
2. Which 2 colleges do you think I have a fair chance of getting in?
3. Which 2 colleges do you think I can get in with a bit of luck and carefully crafted application?

Thanks for the help!

Rajat,

Thanks for the information. What undergrad did you go to? This will help in my evaluation as you have a good GMAT, not amazing, but pretty good considering the high quant and English is not your first language I imagine. Clients that I have worked with that are like you really need to focus on spinning yourself as a non-techy given your background screams tech of course. I think your school choices are good, but I wonder why Kellogg. Kellogg will be a stretch for you given your profile and while it is an amazing school, it may not be the best suited for you. I am happy to give you more detailed help offline, but to answer your 3 questions:

1. Which 2 colleges should I choose as backups for my area of interest?
Nanyang, Notre Dame
2. Which 2 colleges do you think I have a fair chance of getting in?
McCombs, UNC (or Ceibs)
3. Which 2 colleges do you think I can get in with a bit of luck and carefully crafted application?
Carnegie Mellon comes to mind, not to box you into a more technical school, but they would appreciate your app a bit more, and its a great school. or Indian Business School


-Scott Edinburgh
scott@personalmbacoach.com
https://www.personalmbacoach.com
--Free application strategy discussion & initial essay review
--Insider tips and mock interview preparation

Profile Eval-Indian female/Marketing/640/4yr WE
I am a 26 year old female from India and applying to US business schools in 2012. I have a GMAT of 640 (Q:45 / V:34 / AWA:4) and a TOEFL score of 96. I have worked for 4 years as a marketing executive in India in the hospitality industry. I have worked for two different hotel groups 1) 1 yr at a large single hotel located in the commercial center in the capital city of India 2) ~3 yrs at a large multi-national and multi-brand hotel chain, with responsibility for nationwide (India) marketing. I had hit a ceiling at my company and without an MBA they were not willing to promote me further or give me additional responsibilities. So I quit and for last 2 months, I have been working as a full-time volunteer for an NGO for differently-abled and underprivileged children. By the time I join a business school (hopefully), I would have worked at this NGO for almost 1 year. I am passionate about dance and was part of a professional dance group for 5 years (alongside my college and job). Both at college and as part of this dance group, I have performed at multiple shows with audiences of 1,000+ people and won many awards. I have an undergraduate degree in English (Hons.) where I studied English, History and Philosophy. I was very active in my college’s dance and theatre society. Indian colleges do not have a GPA system. I would consider myself a firm mid-tier performer academically.
I am very keen on continuing a career in marketing. Can you kindly advise which schools will best suit my profile? I am keen on Duke, Haas and Cornell.
Thank you very much in advance.

Winds,

It is always great to see someone else in the hospitality industry, I have a hospitality background as well. While your detailed overview helps, it would be further help if you let me know which college you went to in India and what your GPA was. You mention schools don't have a GPA system; I work with lots of applicants from India and I am very familiar with the system so if it is similar to IIT for example, I will know how to compare it. That said, you gave me a ballpark range so that is helpful to understand.

I would say Duke is a real stretch for you given your profile. If the GMAT was higher and you had some great leadership experience at work, it would help. I do believe Cornell is a reach for you but a good program, especially given your hospitality background. (Not that you are studying at the Hotel school but it is nice to have it there). Haas is also a bit of a stretch, I might recommend UCLA or even USC (for more of a sure bet). In addition, McCombs could be a good option, and you may want to look at UNC as well. I am happy to chat about these and other options for you. Please reach out for additional help with your applications. Good luck!

-Scott Edinburgh
scott@personalmbacoach.com
https://www.personalmbacoach.com
--Free application strategy discussion & initial essay review
--Insider tips and mock interview preparation

Hi Scott,

Great post!

I am thinking of applying to HBS, Kellogg, Sloan, and Haas in round 3. Can you please tell me whether it is doable? Or I am out of my mind?

My profile is:

Academic:
(1) 3.0 undergraduate GPA in a top Australian university.
(2) 3.86 GPA from Boston College, Master in Finance, Beta Gamma Sigma member.
(3) GMAT: not yet, first mock exam is 700.

Work experience:
(1) 3 years audit at KPMG China
(2) summer intern at a top investment bank in China
(3) currently co-founder of a small e-commerce firm based in Seattle.

Extra curriclm:
(1) professional athlete with provincial champion and national award
(2) student ambassador, founder of a student club during undergraduate study.

Purpose of MBA:
-- I want to do MBA because I feel in love with marketing side of the business while i was running this e-commerce firm. I love doing marketing things much more than running the whole firm. I want to concentrate on marketing, get an MBA, then get into big companies and become a marketing expert.

Thank you very much for your time. I'm glad that I found this post.

Thanks for the post and apologies for the delay. I usually respond within a few hours. Your profile was complete so that was very helpful. Here are some initial thoughts. If you would like to discuss this further, please reach out to me. I have worked with folks who had a similar background to yours and could discuss some options for you.

Overall: Very ambitious schools that I would not apply to in round 3. Round 3 isn't recommended for anyone really, so I strongly recommend round 2 if you want to apply. Given your GPA, you are a bit behind there, though GMAT could make up for it depending on how good you do, though a 700 would also put you below average but not by much. I am intrigued to hear more about your startup as that could certainly help your candidacy at these schools. Please reach out privately if you'd rather not publicize it here and we could discuss more. Overall that is a good list, though depending on the startup and how successful it is, I may recommend adding some options and doing a bit of substitution to increase your odds.

If you are seeking additional support, please reach out. Best of luck.

Advice and Tips: What to do if you have too many recommenders to choose from?


I recently had a discussion with one of my clients about his recommendation strategy because he faced some tough decisions. Like many of you, he had multiple people he could ask for a recommendation and did not know where to choose. Summarizing our conversation, here are a few things to consider when deciding who to ask.


1. You don't have to ask the same people for all schools: While this may seem obvious, you can ask different people for different schools. Asking someone very familiar with Columbia Business School (an Alum, NYC executive, etc) may make sense for CBS, while they may not be the best person for Stanford if you know someone out west who is better connected. Also, since these take a lot of time, you will be doing folks a favor if you ask for 2-3 schools instead of 4-5.

2. Don't ask the highest person in your company: The MOST important thing about a recommendation if the quality of what they write. You are much better off asking a mid-level executive for a rec if s/he will write an amazing, kick-ass letter instead of the President who may not know you as well and thus may be less confident writing something so great.

3. Ask them how strong of a letter they feel they could write: This may seem weird, but hearing the response will tell you something. If they think you are stupid for asking since they would blow people away with their letter, that tells you something different than if you get a lukewarm response.

4. Make sure they know how to write!! Writing these letters is tough, especially for people who are used to writing business proposals all day. Don't be afraid to coach them if you feel necessary.

5. Ask far ahead of time: If you have not asked for R2 yet, start now! I am sure your boss is busy so the more time the better

6. Give them some info about you: I always tell my clients to prepare a packet for their recommenders to remind them of your accomplishments, the reasons you are pursuing an MBA, and a theme for their recommendation. Ideally each letter focuses on something slightly different about your candidacy so the school sees a complete picture after reading all of them.

Not a bad idea in some respects, business school that lasts forever! Certainly worth the read

https://tinyurl.com/mhftrcg

For anybody from Texas, don't forget about MIT Sloan's scholarships this year...

https://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... for-texans

If you want to find out how hard it is to get support, send me a note. Its not as hard as you may think.

The latest business school ranking...not surprising for the most part, though notice the European schools creeping up in the rankings. Take each ranking with a grain of salt. You won't often see LSE, LBS and Oxford all in the top 15.

https://www.businessinsider.com/top-25-b ... rld-2014-7

Want to lead business in China? Don't think you necessarily need a H/S/W degree to do so. Stay in China and network with other local business leaders. I only recommend this if you are certain you want to make your career in China, otherwise a more globally recognized program is probably a better fit for you.

https://www.businessbecause.com/news/mba ... ess-school

I have been getting a lot of questions lately from folks early in their careers...good for you! Its nice to plan ahead as truly most people do not and its hard to turn back the clock on some parts of your application (though we can do a lot!).

These questions often center around whether certain jobs will get them into HBS/Stanford/Wharton. I can definitely give you advice on which career moves will improve your chances of getting in as I regularly do career coaching like this. That said, I urge you to consider your job as only one part of your entire application. While it is one of the most important parts, don't forget about over performing at the job (salary raises do matter!) and getting great reviews. I have seen too many folks from top firms who think they don't need extra currics or large raises because of the brand names on their resume. Don't be fooled, great feeder companies help a lot, but you have to carry yourself over the finish line. After all, you are likely in a class of 15-30 consultants trying to get the same spots at the top B schools and while the best companies send the most people, you all won't get in, despite coming from a top firm.

For those who don't work at top companies, there are plenty of opportunities for you to stand out from the crowd and strategically finding those opportunities early in your career will make the application process that much smoother. Go for the challenging role/project. If you fail, it makes good essay material!

Have questions about what roles to take / not take? Send me an email.

-Scott Edinburgh

Have you seen the latest business school rankings? At the end of the day, there are many different rankings which will continue to change. Is this really important? It depends on your situation. If you have a good chance of getting into a H/S/W and you feel confident you can do well there and hold your own during recruiting among well qualified classmates, then there is no reason to think you are somehow making a bad choice by picking among H/S/W. This segment of the population (meaning folks who follow B school forums, read rankings articles, etc) is very small. From a career standpoint, if you interview for a job with someone who is 10+ years out of B school, most likely s/he is not following any ranking changes and thus may have a "historic prestige" ranking in their head. These historic rankings take a while to change, and while they are changing for some schools, it takes time. H/S/W students of course have nothing to worry about.

That said, for folks who do not get into one of those top three, it is important to think about what is the most important aspect of the B school experience for you. Are you looking for the best job right out of school, the most rigorous learning environment, or the best "name on your resume" for the future? You may not get all of those, so you may want to prioritize. For instance, I have been pushing Yale SOM with some clients for many years. While certainly not as prestigious as a top tier school, SOM is a great option for someone who doesn't have the profile to get into the upper echelon. Why? A few reasons, but just to name one to keep this from being too long....SOM is newer and rising in some rankings, thus employment opportunities are quite good for some sectors. For instance, all of the top consulting firms recruit from SOM and the competition is much more manageable than at H/S/W. I have seen many former clients land great post-MBA jobs that frankly they may not have been able to coming from a tier 1 school.

The most relevant part of the ranking that I would pay attention to is job placement. You already know how the longer term prestige will play out (not counting the fact that some schools will indeed rise over time), but you can have more immediate control over your career if you pick a program that sends a lot of folks into the sectors you are interested in, especially if you find a program where you can rise to the top. To be clear, I am not advocating giving up a top tier school for recruiting options, I am merely suggesting for some folks who cannot get into a top program, finding rising programs can make a difference in landing that dream job post-MBA.

I don't mention anything about the academic experience differences. I'll leave that for another post. Check out this article below which discusses the different rankings and what truly matters.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattsymonds ... -rankings/

Hi there PMC,

I am putting my stats over here with slight changes in my plan( hope you would be patient enough..Smile) for an evaluation from your side for the range of schools both in US and UK where I may be competitive. My targets are top 10 in the US and top 5 in the UK. However I would like you to guide me in choosing the appropriate " realistic schools" and if possible advise on the mitigating factors for attaining so.

Also I would like to point out that I have just started working so you could probably evaluate without the work ex part although rest assured I am trying mighty hard to put my work ex at credible standings.


As you can see below there is a rough 1.5 year gap after my graduation although this time was used pursue something which would help me with respect to finance field.

Long Term goal: To start my own firm in Financial services either in Dubai or in India



My Brief Stats are as follows:

UG: Btech NIT Calicut( Tier 2 Engineering College India ), GPA: 6.95/10, Highest GPA was 8.8/10, Class rank: 17/42, No of Distinctions in class( GPA 8 and above): 8

GMAT, GRE: Yet to give I am contemplating something around 700 or 720.

Actually my story goes as follows..

Before entering college I had to drop a year during my 11th grade because my dad got a transfer to a different part of the country & after completing my 12th grade I again took a year off for the purpose of coaching myself for the prestigious IITJEE exam.Thus as you can seen I was about 20 years old when I entered college.


I graduated from a tier 2 Engineering college in India ( NIT), however I had serious health issues during my first year of college and hence i couldn't attend classes for half of the semester..( I received 6 F grades because of this..).My dad who happens to be a doctor of course treated me, hence I can provide some reasoning for this in my Essays as well as in some recommendation letters from some of my professors who know me quite well. Towards the end of my college I had began to do a bit of financial modelling and with sufficient interest I had taken up my final year thesis with a professor of my college for a financial modelling and optimization project.

I became interested in this field and again took up another 2 finance project under the same professor, all based on higher degrees of financial modelling and optmization ( He is now an Assistant Professor at IIM Indore). Since I needed time to put myself into this track I had to devote near to around 8 months solely for making out these thesis and subsequently publishing them into an International Finance Journal. These 3 projects have now been published.. Very Happy I have plans also to present them in a national or an international conference.

After 8 months of research in finance i decided to spend some time in doing social cause work and for around another 7 months was actively working for 3 to 4 NGOs( 1 international and the rest having offices abroad) in the field of Child rights, Environment protection etc..helping them with fundraising and campaigning. I was also subsequently offered to become a campus ambassador for a micro finance NGO in helping them find investors for the firms operations.( I am presently doing this apart from my full time work.

Most of the NGO work had specific outputs such has raising huge funds, roping in large no of investors, raising awareness on child rights to a larger section of the society etc.

Also the entire episode with the NGO's helped me realize and attain interpersonal skills such as pitching, managing investors etc.. which i am sure has incorporated itself into my work skills.

Thus after 1.5 years after graduation I joined for a job in Dubai at a reputed I bank.

Along the way I have taken CFA level 1 and 2 and FRM level 1 and 2 as well. Also I am planning to take up GRE Math ( apart from GMAT) as well some UC Berkeley extension courses to help rectify my academics.

Can you tell me whether I can make a shot to the top 10 schools with this profile or what steps are required for the same.


Hope you can help me out.

Thank you very much Scott for your evaluation and inputs.

In fact my college performance was only bad( meaning F's) during the first year. My CGPA( GPA) at the end of each semester went onto look something like this on a scale of 10.

1st semester-----------------------> 5.89 ( 1 F grade)-->( onset of condition)
2nd semester & summer term--> 4.56 ( 6 F grade)-->( didn't have enough of time to study due to my medical condition diagnosed towards the end)
3rd semester-----------------------> 5.87 ---
4th semester-----------------------> 6.01 |
5th semester----------------------->7.26 |
6th semester------------------------>7.48 |-------> The rest of the year performance is gauged on my first year performance
7th semester------------------------>6.78 |
8th semester------------------------> 6.95-----


My professors felt sorry for my condition although they had to stick with the protocols.( 1st year performance is taken as a benchmark in evaluating the rest of the years)

My maths grades were always either a C or D grade( S-10,A-9, B-8, C-7, D-6,E-5, F -fail) and throughout the rest of the years I had a couple of E grades here and there.

Some of my professors even recommended me to take up a masters level course in finance or econ to patch up the low GPA and F grades..

I have just started working as a credit analyst....I had this plan quite a while back so I am trying to start a little early to overcome my short comings.. I am planning to apply once I have near about 4 years of experience and after successfully starting up my business venture in Financial services. I would be happy to share with you more info on my work back ground as soon as I have some experience under my belt.

Also another thing I wanted to know is whether our high school marks( 10th and 12th in India) is taken into consideration.. I have seldom heard people talking about this... but just wanted your inputs on this.( you mentioned late schooling will have an impact.. do the adcoms look into our pre college stats as well.)

Coming to my GMAT I am contemplating something in the 710 or 720 range( but cant be emphatically sure).. Along with this I am planning to take up some UC Berkeley courses and if possible the GRE Math as well to bring in more mitigation.


Which schools do you think I should target...?

Thank you for the detailed info. I've responded to your PM and can discuss the schools in more detail there, which will be easier for you to keep track of for the future rather than coming back to this blog.