Ask ThinkAdmit - Free Profile Evaluation

Thanks ThinkAdmit for starting this thread.
Please take a look at my profile and let me know where I stand on your scale

GMAT : 680 (Q-50, V-31)
Undergrad : B.Tech, Electronics, NIT, Surat, 2008, CG 6.28
10th and 12th : 88% and 83% CBSE
Work Exp : 3 Yrs 9 Months by Apr 2012
Having started with software development in MNC, presently in product management function since 1 year.
Have a very rich startup experience.
No certificates in the workplace, but both strong recommendations for sure.

Extra Acads:
I had been selected for some good programs at IISc, Bangalore during my engineering.

Leadership:
have some credentials like event manager and chief for a national level event conducted during college, Even directed a short movie at college ( leadership credentials).
Hold NCC A and B certs.

From what I can see, my acads during undergrad is bit less and even GMAT.
As per your experience, what are my chances?

Thanks

Hello,

I'm currently applying to the first round of the UNC EMBA evening class starting August 2012.

Education:
BS Mechanical Engineering 3.47/4.0
MS Mechanical Engineering 3.85/4.0
Deans List some scholarships etc.

Work:
Contract engineering firm, lots of good examples I've written about in the essays etc. I would say very strong experience.
Upon entry into the program I will have ~4.5yr of full time experience with another year of engineering internships before graduation.

GMAT:
Requesting waiver

Main Point:
The main reason I'm posting is for any feedback I can get on how much being on the line for experience will hold me back. I've spoken with admissions and I've gotten a really positive vibe that my experience was solid and the masters / internships could help make up the difference. What I"m looking for is if anyone else has had this experience of a "Warm Fuzzy" while talking to the admissions team at UNC, but were surprised with the admissions decision. Can I trust my gut in this situation? They've all been great to talk with, but I've never been through this before. Additionally, there isn't that much info out there on executive MBA's vs. Full Time.

Schools I'm applying to in addition to UNC Evening EMBA
- Wake Forest Winston Salem Evening MBA (I've been accepted)
- Duke Weekend EMBA - I am putting this application on hold. From talking to current students and the admissions folks I didn't get the same "Warm Fuzzy" as described above. I figured put more time towards the UNC application for now.
- Undecided on whether or not to apply to NCSU

Thanks,
Nervous UNC EMBA applicant

Hi isb13aspirant,

Well, overall you have a competitive profile. Agreed, your GMAT and GPA are a bit lower than average of most Indians, but there are other highlights in your profile that will help you stand out. Notably:

Your startup experience will be an interesting story. What was the startup about? What was your role and contribution? What happened to it? What did you learn from it? These are the questions that should be answered to bring out professional maturity and the entrepreneurial spirit from the experience.

The event management and movie direction experience again will add a unique dimension to your profile. Show the challenges that you encountered and how you overcame them. What was your unique contribution, etc?

Overall, focus on the interesting stories and your GMAT will be the least of the concerns.

Hi phyandrew,

Usually adcom is pretty upfront about chances. The "Warm Fuzzy" reply is given when they themselves are unsure coz they really see some great objective spikes in your profile and the decision would depend on the quality of experience that you put in the application. The average experience of UNC EMBA evening program is 10 years, so yes your experience is on the lower side in terms of numbers alone.

But 2 things are in your favor:
1. Your claim that you have strong experience. Put that in words, highlight leadership experience in such a way that numbers do not matter, it is the leadership qualities that are inherent in me and I show those through these examples.

2. The adcom's mixed response and not a straight finger pointing at your profile.

So go ahead and apply. Don't be nervous, you have a backup in hand.

Hello- if you could evaluate my profile, that would be great:

Education: Top 50 University in the Big 10. Major in Accountancy. 3.5 GPA, Dean's List.

Exams: GMAT: 700(Q44, V41). Licensed CPA.

Work Experience: High performing Associate within a Big 4 firm. Served 3 years as an Associate within the Audit Practice through June 2011. From June 2011-Present I switched groups within the same firm and was promoted to a Senior Associate within the Transaction Advisory Services group working specifically on M&A due diligence. Total of 38 months to date, approximately 48 months at matriculation.

Letters of Rec - Based on what I described above as a 'high performing' employee, I was ranked on the highest end of our performance spectrum and expect that I can leverage this into quality LOR's from Mangers & Partners at the firm.

Extracurriculars: Market team captain through my Firm for community service events to promote volunteer events as well as fundraising activities. Coach basketball and softball for underprivileged youth in the community. Junior board member of 2 local organizations that have personal significance to me. Participate in fundraising and volunteering events to promote these organizations and raise funds for the community.

Post MBA Goals: As I have transitioned from Audit into the Transactions Services group that focuses on M&A activity, I would like to get an MBA in Finance to transition myself into the finance industry post-MBA, preferably Investment Banking. The exposure to M&A activity has peaked my interest in the deals environment, and the best way to get full exposure into the field would be a transition into investment banking etc.


Target Schools: Kellogg, Booth, Wharton, Yale, Columbia


A couple of questions are 1) Are my target schools appropriate? 2) Is my work experience sufficient, or am I better off waiting a year until I have 50 months of work experience and 60 months at Matriculation 3) Are there glaring weaknesses on my profile that you feel can be addressed if I wait 1 year.

Thanks so much for your help, I really appreciate it.

Hi,
I have provided relevant information on my profile. Request you to evaluate my profile and my chances of getting into a B-school

GMAT: 760
Demographic Info: Indian Male - Single - 25 years
10th : 89.6%/100
12th : 78.8%/100
Undergrad: Bachelor of Technology in Telecommunications Engineering with CGPA 7.27/10 (maybe 2.91/4 if they use the standard unitary method of computing)

Work Experience: 38 MONTHS as of October 2011.(48 by the time session starts in August)
- Started my career with Tata Consultancy Services, Indias top Software company as a Systems Engineer
- Got the highest rating during my stint of two years with TCS; Also won internal awards like Gems
- Received 1 promotion in one year
- Took a career shift into Business development/Sales and marketing after 24 months. Since i couldn't break into this profile so left the tcs job and joined a smaller organization
- Started as a consultant(trainee) running cold calls, generating leads, prospecting different segments of the market
- within 14 months lead a team of 4 people under me generating a revenue of 25 lakhs Rs (50,000$) in revenue for the next quarter
- have got my company 2 corporate clients and 4 retails clients during the past quarter; in my previous company generated 6 clients during a single marketing campaign

Recommendations: - Will get good recommendations from my manager (Director (Operations)) and CEO(Previous Company)

Leadership Experience: 4 months
- Lead team of 5 people
- In my current role, I lead a team of 5 people working on generating business doing pre-sales and sales activity. currently building a post-sales team.

Extracurricular activities:
- Represented Graduation University in Cricket
- One of the college quiz team to qualify for the finals of the inter-college quiz competition
- Editor of the TCS-ING newsletter(client vendor communication medium) during my stint at TCS
- Member of Each One Teach One campaign under TCS-Maitree Initiative

Goal :I am interested in pursuing MBA in Marketing/Brand Management and Development in specific. i have learnt a lot on the job but any more learnings doesnt look feasible hence the mba otherwise i would have waited more for mba.

Target Schools: Stanford/HBS/Kellogs/Duke/Wharton/Berkeley/UCLA/USC
Europe: LBS,IESE
Asia: ISB, Nanyang, NUS
Location: I am working out of Bengaluru region of India
Need help on:
1. Is my profile good for Top 10 B-schools or am I expecting too much? Please evaluate.
2. Am i under-aiming by also applying at programs ranked below 10-15
Appreciate your response,
Pradyut Vatsa

Hi pradyutvatsa,

You have a solid GMAT and excellent career progression. It is good that you have broke out of the competitive IT pool to diversify your profile and realize your dream. It is important to show your career progression and show that you are taking solid steps towards realizing your goals.

Your profile is primarily sales focused and business development is a logical route. It will be interesting to know how you have tied in your goal of pursuing a career in Marketing / Brand Management with your experience.

Why do you say most of your learnings are not feasible for MBA? Do not frame your application with a perspective of writing what the admissions committee wants to hear. Rather focus on what you learnt from your experience, combined with what you expect to learn from MBA experience and how you will utilize these learnings in your post MBA career. Simple formula.

Your target school list is very exhaustive. Have you applied to some already or you are yet to apply to all of them?

Not many candidates manage to apply to more than 7-8 schools at the max. Each schools involves a lot of time and introspection. Only then you can stand out in terms of quality of essays in terms of content and presentation.

My suggestion would be to pick 1 from top 5, 3 from top 10 and 2 safety schools, making a total of 5 in the US. Add IESE to this. LBS might be a stretch again but you have a fair shot at it if you can show you international element in your experience.

thanks a ton for the feedback!
i have tried to be honest in my applications! i have brought out what i want to achieve in my career and what steps i have taken..i have already mentioned that even in a job i would be able to learn skills that one typically learns in an mba class but it would take a lot of time and considering my current job profile would be limited to a very narrow experience. also there is no way that i would be able to handle or experience situations like brand management, building or be xposed 2 an international market with the current job opportunity that i do..and would be stuck to just meeting and exceeding targets and not having any more value adds..unless i do an mba from a place which provides me such xperience via coursework and live industry projects

does that make sense?

Hi pradyutvatsa,

Well in a broad sense that story is fine. What I meant is that you need to be more specific about how your experience/skills combined with MBA will help you enter brand management. And why brand management? If you have clarity to these questions, you will be fine.

Make sure you practice well for the interview to tackle cross questioning on this topic.

Hi, please help me evaluate my profile:

Hispanic (Born and raised in Latin America. Came to the US at 19) 31 years old at matriculation male/us
5 years work experience
GPA: 3.41 Civil Engineering from Georgia Tech
GMAT 650 (Q47,V33)


College Extracurricular:
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers

Current Extracurricular:
Habitat for Humanity

Professional Background:
5 years Real Estate Construction Management at multinational construction firm (Excellent recommendations including 1 from a client)

Additional Info:
Avid Volleyball and Baseball player

Goal: I'm looking into strong real estate finance programs, I want to get into Real Estate finance or Development

Thank you for your help.

Hi arzad,

Your experience is in line with your career goals and pedagogy is great. Your GMAT Score though is low for most schools with top Real Estate programs. If you do not have time to retake your GMAT, make sure you present a strong balanced profile in your essays with a clear focus towards your career goals backed by strong leadership experience.

Some of the top Real Estate focused MBA programs are:

Haas - https://mba.berkeley.edu/academics/realestate.html
Wharton - https://real-estate.wharton.upenn.edu
NYU Stern - https://www.stern.nyu.edu/programs-admis ... /index.htm
Columbia - https://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/realestate/home

Dear ThinkISB,

I am Swapnil. Right now working with a company in Maritime Industry. Following is my profile. Please evaluate it so that i get an idea of what areas to be worked upon.

1. GMAT - Not appeared yet. Please suggest effective score after studying remaining points.
2. Acads :B.E. Mechanical (Pune University) with 60%. Several backlogs during engineering years.
3. XII - 85.83%
4. X - 85.46%
5. Work ex - 2years 2 months: Started with Training Industry with one of a reputed Training company in Pune. I worked there for 8 months. Then I stepped out of this company to find a job in Technical field with sales/marketing profile. I got an opportunity in Forbes Marshall at their Hyderabad office. It is a manufacturing company mainly catering to process industry. I worked in Hyderabad for 6 months. Since the environment and over exposure to chemicals and polluted environment in chemical and pharma plants I quit it and got a job in Mumbai with a company in Marine Industry, which supplies spare parts to Ships in India and Singapore. Here my profile became stronger and I was handling the sales-marketing for India market. I worked with this company for 9 months and had to give away the job because they were planning to close down the India office and shift sales activities to Singapore. I then got a job with another company in same sector with higher profile. Here now I am dealing with Principals and Clients on International level. I daily interact with people worldwide for different types of services.

6. International exp - Dealing with International clients from India for 3 months now. But have never been to foreign countries.
8. Handling India Market independently and supporting Dubai market as back up. Plus Business Development for Saudi Market.
9. Extra curricular activities include: Captain of Kho Kho team on District level. Played for 5 years during school. Won 2nd prize in paper presentation competition in University level competition.
Worked as "Event Head" for a Mass Motivational Program arranged in Pune called "Born To Win". Lead a team of 100 volunteers from various backgrounds. This event was held Thrice. first it was for 3000, then 1000 then 600. in year 2008-2009.
Event Head for cultural programs arranged for Army Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre, Kirkee,Pune. I was leading a team of about 50 performers (dancers, singers, actors, anchors and musicians). This was done as social contribution towards Army Paraplegic soldiers.

Event lead for a social event called " Roti Kapda aur Muskan" arranged by The Chrysalis Foundation. Our team raised 8 tonne of Rise, lots of clothes and books+toys for tribal people in Maharashtra. Mainly around Pune. We did this within 2 months time. During this event I was working with Chrysalis as Business Dev. Executive and side by was handling this event too. Team of about 25 people.

Can you provide me with a feedback to work upon to get into ISB. I have already planned for 3 businesses and will be starting one of them within 6 months. Kindly suggest me with most competitive score in GMAT that I should get.

Many thanks

Swapnil

Hi ThinkISB,

Could you please evaluate profile below? I am targeting batch starting in 2013 (by which time I should have 3 years of experience)

Indian/Male

Undergraduate: Bachelor of Financial and Investment Analysis from a leading college within Delhi University.
Secured a 76%, which translates into First Division, with distinction. Placed among the top 10 students of the course.
Interned at a large public sector bank in the Investment Management division.


Have cleared level 1 of CFA qualification and presently preparing for level 2 (June 2012)

GMAT Score : 760 (QA 50; VA 42)
AWA : 5.5

Current Work Experience:

- Recently (Feb 2012) joined as Deputy Manager in the Corporate Strategy and Planning team of a large consumer goods company
- Activities under the purview of the position include annual operating plans, 3-year strategic outlook, business scenario planning and forecasting, and building of internal capabilities and value drivers through process design and compliance

Previous Work Experience:

- Worked for about 20 months at a UK-based business research firm, as Analyst (10 months) and Senior Analyst (10 months) in the Strategic Services team
- Worked across a broad range of industries, including telecom, consumer products, and pharmaceuticals; focus on risk assessment, industry and market analysis and growth strategy formulation
- Work included:
- Strategic decision-support (China procurement setup options, best cost country sourcing, etc.)
- Industry analysis (including size and growth, competitive landscape, trends and drivers, and Porter’s analysis), and
- Company analysis (including business overview and strategy, operating metrics, revenue and cost analysis, and industry and competitive bench marking)
- Responsible for end-to-end delivery of projects, conducting primary and secondary research to draw insights, and guiding new analysts on complex projects

Some key projects undertaken:

- Spain Hotel Industry – Profitability Assessment
- Assisted a leading private equity player in assessing profitability determinants of various hotel operating models in Spain
- Built profitability models for hotels with various ownership structures, of various quality levels, and in different geographies (under present, pessimistic and optimistic scenarios)
- Recommended investment opportunities based on profitability models and qualitative risk assessments

- China Procurement – Competitive Intelligence and Global Integration
- Assisted a global wine and spirits company in understanding various internal and external factors hindering the adoption of its sourcing platform in China
- In-depth evaluation of various sourcing setups, practices followed by other FMCG companies and identification of key success factors for a sourcing operation in China
- Mapping of market insights with current organizational practices to recommend action areas

Other organisational Initiatives
- Part of recruitment team - Visited college campus as part of the company's recruitment drive, and conducted test, group discussions. and interviews for selection of students
- Trainer - Conducted a wide range of training for new joiners and lateral hires; modules for training encompassed all project and research-related activities
- Rolled out the Visual Arts Library (a repository of analytic and visual tools) for use by employees across the organisation



Interests: Sports (tennis, table tennis, football), reading, travel

Extra-curricular activities
- Part of college team that rolled out the inaugural issue of a quarterly magazine pertaining to our course and set plans for succession; oversaw two issues before graduating
- Participation in business plan competitions at college level
- Participation in various sporting competitions at school and college level
- Participation in various public speaking competitions at school and college level

Current Plans:
- Continue learning in the Business Strategy team on the present organization, and build on skills acquired at previous employment
- Understand dynamics of corporate function, and assist in formulation of group-level strategy
- Apply for full time MBA program in a top-tier B-school

Long-term Goals:
- Leverage skills acquired in the Strategy domain and the MBA to work at a reputed company in the consulting vertical
- Leverage academic background in finance to provide a value proposition marrying both streams of learning

Basis such information, what are the chances of making it into ISB next year?
Any input will be appreciated.
Thanks

Dear Swapnil,

Please find a brief profile evaluation below:


- Although your X and XII marks are very decent, the under-graduation result is a cause for concern. The adcom at ISB has emphasized the importance of 'consistent acads' time and again. They would want to know why your performance went down after XII.
- To bolster your chances you have to show that you have good analytical skills. You can do it in the following ways: 1. Good GMAT score (700+) 2. Show instances of good analytical horsepower at work 3. Ask your recommenders to mention that.
-The progression from Training to Sales and Marketing for a Mechanical engineer has to be explained.
-2 years of experience is on the lower side. Again, make sure that your GMAT is good.
-The extra-curricular credentials are good.
-ISB would like an entrepreneur apply. That definitely adds diversity to the profile.

Hi Dhruvgupta89,

Your profile looks really interesting. The only work required is the way you represent your credentials. Rather than a series of bullet points, categorize them into buckets. Some very prominent ones would be marked as spikes. You have to ensure that all your spikes are represented properly in the essays are other parts in the application and there is no overlap or repetition of information across the application. You need to put some thought into crafting the application in this way. Some very significant spikes need mention in the LORs as well. That will make a very well written application.

Hi there,

Thanks in advance for your help! I just took the GMAT this afternoon, and would appreciate if you could take a brief moment to evaluate my profile. I realize that my undergraduate GPA is quite weak, but I'm hoping that I'll still have a decent chance at gaining admittance into an upper-tier U.S. program for Fall '13.

Target Schools (in order of preference): Wharton, Stanford, Kellogg, Harvard, Chicago, Sloan, Stern

GMAT: 760 (Q50, V43)

Undergraduate Education: UC Berkeley '10, Economics, 3.3 GPA

Work Experience: Nearly 2 years at a boutique private equity firm, specializing in value-added multifamily real estate investments in the U.S., China, and Taipei.

EC's: 1.) Junior Analyst for a U.S. charitable trust (established in 1977), focused on building, supplying and sustaining primary schools in rural China, 2.) Global Business Development Analyst (focus on Asia) for my state's economic development commission, 3.) Big Brothers Big Sisters, 4.) Toastmasters

Do I have a realistic chance at any of these schools? I still have about a year to shore up weaknesses in my application, but I'm just afraid that my undergraduate GPA is going to end up being a deal breaker for me. If you'd like me to provide any other information (such as career goals), please let me know.

Thanks so much for your help!

Hi,

I would like to have your inputs on some top notch International B schools that would best fit my profile.

Name: Santosh Panda 29Y / Male
Citizenship: INDIA
Qualification: B.E in EEE - 74.5% (75% is the score for distinction in university) Need to convert to appropriate CGPA or GPA ..how??
Work Exp.: 7+ years in Telecom software development industry.
Since it is a pure product development industry, no fancy boasting of managing 50+ people with 7yr exp or no onsite deputation for years. I worked as project lead managing a small team and had been to US for technical discussion and project integration activities in the past.
Have won recognition awards in 2 projects for effective deliverance.

Extracurricular Activity:
Member of YFS (voluntary organization focused towards encouraging more number of young professionals towards volunteering) since last 2 years. Working on generating awareness and raising funds for different activities undertaken.
Member of CSR group of my company since day 1 of my career. Working towards utilizing e-waste (old computers, printer etc) from office in small schools which lack such infrastructure.
Panelist in cafeteria committee of the organization to decide on vendor appointment. (Don't know whether this actually counts as extra-curricular or not)

Expectations from the MBA: Want to utilize my experience to jump start in a position (preferably in the same industry) 2-3 steps higher than where I am at present. This is considering the fact that vertical movement in such product organization is a time taking phenomena. Long term goal is to start a medium organization in my state to enable many talented students of that region to benefit.

GMAT 1 - 600(Q47,V27)/ 6.0 AWA
GMAT 2 - 710(Q49,V38)/ AWA (yet to obtain)

Please suggest some B schools which are best suited for getting prepared for a consulting position in telecom or similar techno managerial positions. I am targeting top 15 US B schools (If I manage to get some funding), IIM-Bangalore, IIM-Calcutta, and IIM-Lucknow (All the three due to placement stats and fees structure). Please suggest any other alternatives as well.

Thanks in advance for your inputs,

-Santosh