Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting : Ask Admissions Consultants

icaniwill

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Re: Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting [#permalink]

21 Jun 2012, 16:44

Hi Brian,
Can you please evaluate my profile and assess my chances at the schools selected?

GMAT: 720 (q49 v39)
Age: 30
Demographic profile: Indian/Male - Currently living in US. In US for the past 9 years.
Education: Masters in computer science, GPA: 4.0. in US state university.
Work experience: 7 yrs
About work experience: I am working in a big pharmaceutical company - Merck. All of my experience is in this company. I started as a temp in this company and then got the full time position as a programmer analyst. In a year, I again got promoted to Sr. Programmer Analyst. My current role is Project Manager. I am leading multiple projects in which I constantly engage with clients (Merck research scientists), manage and mentor junior programmers, coordinate development efforts and present sale pitch and business cases to marketing teams. One of the highlights of my work experience is leading an effort to overhaul a complete manual process of distributing the company's medical education grants by creating an automated system of workflow and business process management.

Extra curriculars and others: 1)Project steward at a non-profit organization here in US that works to provide basic education to underprivileged children in India.
2) Participated in marathons for raising funds for cancer. -- Susan g Komen marathon, Rock and Roll marathon, philadelphia marathon

Target schools: Booth, Tuck, Haas, Duke, Sloan, Kellogg, NYU, UCLA,

Do I have a shot at these schools. Can you suggest the schools that view my experience at Merck as a plus?

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Re: Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting [#permalink]

24 Jun 2012, 09:10

Age – 26 years
Indian Male
B.Com, Mumbai University – 82%
Chartered Accountant, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (All exams in the first attempt)

36 Months Internship as a part of the CA course in India (24 Months post B.Com degree) with Deloitte (Audit). Lead an engagement in the final 12 months.

39 Months (till the time I join Business School) – Deloitte, Strategy and Operations in India. Promoted to Senior Consultant. I received the highest annual rating at work. Will be able to get recommendations from a Partner and Senior Manager with whom I have worked directly on various engagements.

GMAT: 680 (Q49, V32) AWA – 5.5 – Retaking the GMAT and aiming for 720+

Schools that I plan to apply to –
• Wharton
• Columbia
• Darden
• Stern
• Ross
• Fuqua
• Anderson
• Johnson (Cornell)

Extracurriculars
• Member of the “Fun at Work” Team in office
• Volunteering (One day volunteering but as I was a lead, this involved months of work)
• Lead a team of 70 coworkers to volunteer at an orphanage. I was responsible for planning the overall program that involved painting walls, storytelling,etc
• Lead a team of 40 coworkers to collect close to 3000 books from others in the firm and then organize different activities (book reading sessions, importance of books for children, encourage students to organize book drives, etc. I was responsible for the overall program right from planning to execution. This was the first time something like this was done in the firm

I have been able to considerably overcome (90-95%) my stuttering after years of speech therapy and struggle. This is the most important achievement for me. I would mention this in my application. I do have a story around this.

Do you think I have a profile that is competent for the schools that I have mentioned above? Please provide feedback and suggestions. Thanks.

AringoConsultant

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Re: Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting [#permalink]

25 Jun 2012, 12:11

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Hi ,
My name is Adhithya Krishnamachari.Request a profule evaluation for admission to my target schools in 2014
By that time I would have 3.5 yrs of work-ex
Background: 24 year’s old IT male from India.
Career goal post MBA: To work in management consulting
Target programs: General management (strategy)
Target schools:
1)columbia
2)fuqua
3)tepper
4)Schulich
5)Mc combs
6)UCLA
7)ISB
8)NUS,NTU in singapore
Academics:
Have been a topper throughout my academic career
• Stood third in my school in SSC (out of 230 students) (89.60%)
• Secured 14th rank in general merit list (out of more than 100000 students)
Stood first in my college (93.33%)
• Topped my stream (Information Technology) in engineering (80 students)
Stood first in my engineering stream with distinction (74.33%)
• Have always been good with Quant. Scored highest in maths in SSC(147/150),HSC(97/100).
Secured highest marks in maths in Mumbai university in semester 4 in engineering (98/100)
Also scored 93/100 in semester 2

GMAT :680(q=47),v(35)
WORK EXPERIENCE:

• Working in Tata Consultancy Services since December 13, 2010 as an Assistant Systems Engineer
• I was among the 12 students who was successfully selected from my college out of the 148 students who had applied from my college to TCS
• Iam currently working for Bank of America account in Banking and financial services domain.
• I perform quality assurance(QA) on the offshore side for the Japan and India market
• I was the only one to be selected from my project to work at client side (DSP Merrill lynch client office). Iam also the youngest member to represent TCS at the client side.
• Have received several appreciation mails from client for my work and considering my performance,I have been given opportunity to work from client side for next 1 year(the only ASE in my project to have got this opportunity)
• I have good leadership experience as I handled the Japan QA offshore process independently for the first 1.5 months(starting from scratch).Overcame all the language,geographical barriers(almost single handedly) to ensure timely delivery of the project
Also carried out self initiatives such as reference document preparation,teaching new members etc.

Extracurricular activities
• Received scholarship from an esteemed institution like Bharat Petroleum
• Have won several awards and accolades from institutions such as rotary club for academic performance.
• Was a interschool quiz champion and have also won the bournvita quiz champion (written exam)
• Have organized debates in college festivals
• Avid trekker and started my own trekking group with college friends.
Currently,working with CSR initiative of TCS-Maitree.I teach underprivileged kids who were victims of substance abuse in the past.I have also taken the initiative of setting up computer labs for them and teach them basic computer skills.
Also,plan to do fundraising for them

sorry for the very long post.

Adhithya,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 680, our experience indicates you would be a stretch candidate at Columbia, between stretch and competitive (closer to stretch) at Fuqua, between competitive and stretch at UCLA Anderson, competitive at Tepper, and competitive to strong at McCombs and Schulich. We have directionally less quantitative data on ISB, NUS and NTU, as they are not yet generally regarded as top 30 global programs, but you would have relatively decent chances at those programs.

Your GMAT score is not bad, but based on the various merit accomplishments you described it feels as though you might be able to score higher on the quantitative side of the test. For many Indian, male, IT engineers with a similar academic performance, it is fairly common to see quant splits of 50+. I like how you have provided a lot of context for your academic achievements.

One item that appears as a trend in your profile is to prioritize the main points you want to highlight, both from an extracurricular perspective and based on your academic record. At the moment you are listing a number of facts and data points, and these facts appear to go back and forth a bit (high school to college to high school to college). I would strongly encourage you to present all information in chronological order and grouped so that it is easiest for the reader to absorb. Regarding your extracurricular activities, I would recommend based on our experience with candidates to select the 2-3 top areas where you have had significant leadership and impact and describe those in a bit more detail. Finally, try to minimize the extent of acronyms that you use - even if you have introduced them before. This makes your essays and application that much easier to read.

Since you will be applying in several years' time, and because you are in a very competitive demographic, you'll want to focus on your leadership accomplishments and prove your ability to communicate well - you also will want to aim to achieve at least one promotion during the next few years.

Best of luck,

AringoConsultant

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25 Jun 2012, 12:45

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Hello! Please give me your opinion and any advice please! I just took my GMAT on 6/2 and after a 2 week break, I'm back to studying to take it again on 8/18. Reason being- My score was completely opposite of what I expected. On practice exams I scored at least a 50 in Qant, but very low in Verbal. I plan on applying for Spring 2013!

Female
GMAT: 660 (Q41V40), AWA: 6
Age: 23 (Will be 24 at time of application)
Working experience: 2 years in Finance- hedge fund analyst (During my last semester of my undergraduate degree, I was a full time student and full time employee)
Undergrad major: Economics
GPA: 2.8

I'm thinking about these schools for MBA:

Columnbia
Stern (Manhattan- Part-time)
Rutgers (New Brunswick- Part-time)
Fordham (Part-time)

Please can you share with me your recommendations? Do you think I should apply for any other schools? and what you think my chances are?

Chris558,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 660, our experience indicates you would be a stretch candidate for the full-time programs at Columbia and Stern. Aringo typically advises clients on admission into the top 30 global programs for the full-time MBA, and while we also advise applicants to some part-time programs, we have less quantitative information about chances. As such, I would not be able to provide explicit chances for the part-time program at Stern or for Fordham and Rutgers.

In terms of overall feedback on your profile:

- For all MBA programs, and especially for more competitive programs, you will need to elaborate on the reason for your 2.8 undergraduate GPA. You mention that you were working full-time in your last semester, but this would not be enough to explain the overall GPA - it might be a reason for the last term to be lower than the others. This point is even more important if you did not attend a well-known and/or elite undergraduate institution.
- Since you have less work experience than most candidates, and because in our experience part-time programs often index a bit higher on the amount of work experience than full-time programs, it will be critical to explain the reasons for why you want an MBA and why now is the right time in your career. I also say this because you spelled Columbia and 'quant' incorrectly - try to avoid these kinds of mistakes on your application, as (combined with a 2.8 GPA) an ad com may incorrectly take away that your attention to detail is lacking.
- You also do not list what your career goals are. My recommendation would be to consider these highly if you have not already, and then start to look at programs that may benefit your future aspirations.

On balance, it seems as if you might need to gain a bit more work experience and/or develop your rationale to embark upon the MBA.

Best of luck,

AringoConsultant

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25 Jun 2012, 13:12

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I need your help in choosing which B schools i should apply to. I want to persuit a Master's in business in General management or Operations management. My profile in brief is mentioned below.
Male 24 from India with Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from reputed National Institute of Technology.
Gmat Score - 690 (Q - 50 V - 31)
GPA - 77.4% in B.Tech 90% in High School
I have an experiece of 32 months now and by next year around 42 months (3.5 yrs) in core design.
I am working for a reputed Commercial vehicle company in Product development for the past 2.5 yrs. I am moving to a reputed American MNC in some time in a similar job profile.
I have been consitently good in academics in school and above average in college.
I was awarded a research fellowship by the department of Science & technology, Govt of India during my college for an innovative project.
I have a research paper published at an International Mech conference.
I have received an A+ in all my subjects in my school final exam of class 12 (Higher secondary)
Apart from acads, i have participated/captained and won at National level football tournaments at School n college level.
Also, i was the best cadet from my batallion of the National Cadet corps. ( An organisation similar to scouts at school level in the US).

My Target B schools-
1. Darden
2. Tepper
3. Krannert
4. ISB - India
Pl advice if any other college i can try in.

sandeep31388,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 690, our experience indicates you would be between a stretch and competitive candidate at Darden, and between stretch and competitive at Tepper. We don't have as much data on Purdue Krannert and ISB, although you would likely be competitive or better at Krannert and reasonably competitive at ISB. Other programs to consider include Toronto Rotman (between stretch and competitive), and other top 20 US programs like Kenan-Flagler, McCombs, and Marshall (closer to competitive at these).

Your application, in large part, will come down to your ability to differentiate yourself from your peer group and your ability to generate and explain key accomplishments in your work experience. If your 77% while in college earned you distinction and/or a relatively high percentile placement within your peer group, definitely mention this in your resume.

Finally, and this statement goes for many engineers, just state your work experience as a rounded number of years - not the number of months or years down to the tenth of a year. An extra month or two will not matter for an MBA application.

Best of luck,

AringoConsultant

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25 Jun 2012, 13:38

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Hi Brian,
Can you please evaluate my profile and assess my chances at the schools selected?

GMAT: 720 (q49 v39)
Age: 30
Demographic profile: Indian/Male - Currently living in US. In US for the past 9 years.
Education: Masters in computer science, GPA: 4.0. in US state university.
Work experience: 7 yrs
About work experience: I am working in a big pharmaceutical company - Merck. All of my experience is in this company. I started as a temp in this company and then got the full time position as a programmer analyst. In a year, I again got promoted to Sr. Programmer Analyst. My current role is Project Manager. I am leading multiple projects in which I constantly engage with clients (Merck research scientists), manage and mentor junior programmers, coordinate development efforts and present sale pitch and business cases to marketing teams. One of the highlights of my work experience is leading an effort to overhaul a complete manual process of distributing the company's medical education grants by creating an automated system of workflow and business process management.

Extra curriculars and others: 1)Project steward at a non-profit organization here in US that works to provide basic education to underprivileged children in India.
2) Participated in marathons for raising funds for cancer. -- Susan g Komen marathon, Rock and Roll marathon, philadelphia marathon

Target schools: Booth, Tuck, Haas, Duke, Sloan, Kellogg, NYU, UCLA,

Do I have a shot at these schools. Can you suggest the schools that view my experience at Merck as a plus?

icaniwill,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations, a GMAT score of 720, and a strong undergraduate performance (top 20-25% in your class), our experience indicates that you would be between a stretch and competitive candidate (closer to stretch) at Kellogg and Booth, between stretch and competitive at Sloan, between stretch and competitive (closer to competitive) at Haas, competitive at Tuck and Stern, and competitive to strong at Anderson and Fuqua.

You don't list an undergraduate GPA or institution, but based on your GPA in your masters program and your GMAT quant split, I assumed that you had fairly strong performance at your undergraduate institution. Although your undergrad performance is slightly less important when someone has 7 years of work experience and a masters degree (as you do), it still counts.

I like the fact that one of your activities is running marathons. For one, this is something that is mentioned less often amongst Indian MBA applicants, so it helps to differentiate you. Second, this kind of "Type A" personality activity is something that we see MBA programs like to see amongst the applicant pool. It will also help you (on the margin) that you have worked exensively in the US. And, your leadership experience is a plus.

With your question about Merck, I don't think there would be any top MBA program that would not recognize or respect your work experience at Merck. In this regard, I don't necessarily think any program would recognize it more than any other might. Depending on your future career goals and whether they are in the life sciences sector, you could use your experience at Merck and knowledge of the new product development process as a way to highlight why you would be qualified to work in another function in the life sciences arena. What will be important with your work experience is to indicate the amount of interaction and exposure you had with business-facing functions in the company like marketing (which you have pointed out in your profile).

Best of luck,

AringoConsultant

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25 Jun 2012, 14:30

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Age – 26 years
Indian Male
B.Com, Mumbai University – 82%
Chartered Accountant, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (All exams in the first attempt)

36 Months Internship as a part of the CA course in India (24 Months post B.Com degree) with Deloitte (Audit). Lead an engagement in the final 12 months.

39 Months (till the time I join Business School) – Deloitte, Strategy and Operations in India. Promoted to Senior Consultant. I received the highest annual rating at work. Will be able to get recommendations from a Partner and Senior Manager with whom I have worked directly on various engagements.

GMAT: 680 (Q49, V32) AWA – 5.5 – Retaking the GMAT and aiming for 720+

Schools that I plan to apply to –
• Wharton
• Columbia
• Darden
• Stern
• Ross
• Fuqua
• Anderson
• Johnson (Cornell)

Extracurriculars
• Member of the “Fun at Work” Team in office
• Volunteering (One day volunteering but as I was a lead, this involved months of work)
• Lead a team of 70 coworkers to volunteer at an orphanage. I was responsible for planning the overall program that involved painting walls, storytelling,etc
• Lead a team of 40 coworkers to collect close to 3000 books from others in the firm and then organize different activities (book reading sessions, importance of books for children, encourage students to organize book drives, etc. I was responsible for the overall program right from planning to execution. This was the first time something like this was done in the firm

I have been able to considerably overcome (90-95%) my stuttering after years of speech therapy and struggle. This is the most important achievement for me. I would mention this in my application. I do have a story around this.

Do you think I have a profile that is competent for the schools that I have mentioned above? Please provide feedback and suggestions. Thanks.

gmatprep2011,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 680, our experience indicates you would be a stretch candidate at Wharton and Columbia, between stretch and competitive (closer to competitive) at Ross and Stern, and competitive at Darden, Fuqua, Anderson, and Johnson.

Right now your profile looks strong, with a good GPA and work experience and solid performance at Deloitte Consulting. It is a tremendous accomplishment to be placed into the top performance category at a firm like Deloitte, so this item should be front and center in your application essays. To some extent, the outlier in your profile is your GMAT score, so it makes sense that you mentioned you are aiming to improve your performance there.

It usually is a solid move to talk about overcoming adversity in one's life within an MBA application. The stuttering situation for you is somewhat unique in this regard. I think it makes sense for you to mention it if you believe it was a major accomplishment - and it sounds as though this is definitely the case. The only part I might recommend you consider, though, is to make sure that you explain that this has not kept you from performing at a high level at Deloitte in client engagements and relationships. Specifically, you may consider talking about the extent of your client presentation experience etc. The concern here from an ad com's side would be, is this person someone that Deloitte put "in the background" of client teams to instead do the analysis but not the delivery. Part of this is that the ad com wants to ensure that post-MBA, you would be someone who your organization feels comfortable presenting to upper management.

Best of luck,

icaniwill

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Re: Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting [#permalink]

26 Jun 2012, 08:24

BrianW wrote:

Quote:

Hi Brian,
Can you please evaluate my profile and assess my chances at the schools selected?

GMAT: 720 (q49 v39)
Age: 30
Demographic profile: Indian/Male - Currently living in US. In US for the past 9 years.
Education: Masters in computer science, GPA: 4.0. in US state university.
Work experience: 7 yrs
About work experience: I am working in a big pharmaceutical company - Merck. All of my experience is in this company. I started as a temp in this company and then got the full time position as a programmer analyst. In a year, I again got promoted to Sr. Programmer Analyst. My current role is Project Manager. I am leading multiple projects in which I constantly engage with clients (Merck research scientists), manage and mentor junior programmers, coordinate development efforts and present sale pitch and business cases to marketing teams. One of the highlights of my work experience is leading an effort to overhaul a complete manual process of distributing the company's medical education grants by creating an automated system of workflow and business process management.

Extra curriculars and others: 1)Project steward at a non-profit organization here in US that works to provide basic education to underprivileged children in India.
2) Participated in marathons for raising funds for cancer. -- Susan g Komen marathon, Rock and Roll marathon, philadelphia marathon

Target schools: Booth, Tuck, Haas, Duke, Sloan, Kellogg, NYU, UCLA,

Do I have a shot at these schools. Can you suggest the schools that view my experience at Merck as a plus?

icaniwill,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations, a GMAT score of 720, and a strong undergraduate performance (top 20-25% in your class), our experience indicates that you would be between a stretch and competitive candidate (closer to stretch) at Kellogg and Booth, between stretch and competitive at Sloan, between stretch and competitive (closer to competitive) at Haas, competitive at Tuck and Stern, and competitive to strong at Anderson and Fuqua.

You don't list an undergraduate GPA or institution, but based on your GPA in your masters program and your GMAT quant split, I assumed that you had fairly strong performance at your undergraduate institution. Although your undergrad performance is slightly less important when someone has 7 years of work experience and a masters degree (as you do), it still counts.

I like the fact that one of your activities is running marathons. For one, this is something that is mentioned less often amongst Indian MBA applicants, so it helps to differentiate you. Second, this kind of "Type A" personality activity is something that we see MBA programs like to see amongst the applicant pool. It will also help you (on the margin) that you have worked exensively in the US. And, your leadership experience is a plus.

With your question about Merck, I don't think there would be any top MBA program that would not recognize or respect your work experience at Merck. In this regard, I don't necessarily think any program would recognize it more than any other might. Depending on your future career goals and whether they are in the life sciences sector, you could use your experience at Merck and knowledge of the new product development process as a way to highlight why you would be qualified to work in another function in the life sciences arena. What will be important with your work experience is to indicate the amount of interaction and exposure you had with business-facing functions in the company like marketing (which you have pointed out in your profile).

Best of luck,

Thank you Brian. Your feedback is very much appreciated.

Couple of last questions
1) Can you please evaluate me the same for Columbia, Yale, Tepper?
2) Of these schools, which ones see a fit in the applicant who is thinking about Product development targeting life sciences sector or health care.

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Re: Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting [#permalink]

26 Jun 2012, 12:48

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Thank you Brian. Your feedback is very much appreciated.

Couple of last questions
1) Can you please evaluate me the same for Columbia, Yale, Tepper?
2) Of these schools, which ones see a fit in the applicant who is thinking about Product development targeting life sciences sector or health care.

icaniwill,

Thanks for the follow-up questions. Based on our experience, we would project that you are between a stretch and competitive candidate (closer to stretch) at Columbia, between stretch and competitive at Yale SOM, and competitive or better at Tepper.

On your second question, in our experience we do not see (any) top MBA programs label candidates as a 'fit' based on their background alone (or primarily based on background). Just because a candidate has a specific academic or professional (industry or function) background does not mean it's automatically a fit. The fit for MBA programs comes down to the candidate's total story - why MBA, why now, why this school, and what do you want to do in the future (and how will the MBA assist you in this respect). The fit also comes down to you explaining why your background brings you transferrable skills to the MBA and to your future career interest, and for programs like Kellogg, Tuck, Ross, and Fuqua (amongst others), how much does your personality align with the culture of the program.

Beyond this, please keep in mind that the vast majority of life sciences roles for top-tier MBA students exist in the finance, marketing, and strategy functions, often under the umbrella of a multi-year rotational general management program (including Merck) - not (primarily) product development. If you are looking to remain in product development (and especially if you're ok to remain with your current employer), you might consider a part-time MBA instead of full-time.

Best of luck,

mourinhogmat1

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Schools: Darden '15 (D) Wharton '15 (D) Johnson '15 (S)

GMAT 1: 680 Q50 V32

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Re: Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting [#permalink]

27 Jun 2012, 00:27

BrianW wrote:

Quote:

Hello Aringo Consultants,
I would appreciate your input on my profile , my profile is as follows:

GMAT: 680 (Q50 V32), AWA (6.0)
Undergraduate Education : Mechanical Engineering, Top University in Asia
GPA: 2.5
Postgraduate Education : Mechanical Engineering, Top University in Asia, Gold Medalist
GPA: 3.95

Nationality: Indian
Age: 28

Work Experience: 7 years at matriculation (hopefully applying for Fall 2013) in new product introduction roles.
Current Work: GE Water Thailand. Involved in developing new products in the Water industry and government related projects in different sectors.

Job: I am a technical Lead at GE Water heading global team of experts.
Extra Curriculars: I was the captain of my university cricket team. I head several green initiatives in GE. I am business development officer in another NGO. I was on management committee of the school council. I play professional cricket as vice-captain in the Malaysian League.

Int'l Experience: Worked in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and United States.

Planning to work after MBA in product management preferrably in the Energy Sector and want to get an MBA from Top US business school.

Do you think I have a better shot at the LGO/MEM programs compared to the normal MBA?

Preferred list:
1. MIT
2. Wharton
2. Duke
3. Columbia
4. Darden
5. Tepper

mouringhogmat1,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 660, our experience indicates that you would be a stretch candidate at Wharton, between stretch and competitive (closer to stretch) at Sloan and Columbia, competitive at Fuqua, and strong at Darden and Tepper.

The item that strikes me the most is the stark difference in your GPA between your undergraduate and graduate degrees. I am not sure if you tried to convert these GPAs into a 4.0 scale or if they were received on a 4.0 scale - our assumption is the latter. However, please note that you generally do not need to (or want to) convert into a 4.0 scale, but rather should just try to put your placement in relative context with a percentile or distinction (if relevant) highlighted. Either way, you will want to spend part of your essays or the optional essay talking about the reasons for the difference in your academic performance. Schools in the top 10 often resist accepting students with both a below average (for their applicant pool) undergraduate GPA and GMAT score, so you'll need to highlight other areas of your background and accentuate your communication capabilities at work to help overcome the lower verbal GMAT split.

Working at General Electric will help you with your applications because the company sends many engineers to top business schools and is known for having a very well-organized performance management system. If you are responsible for managing colleagues (it's not entirely clear from your writeup), make sure that you highlight this in your application. It's great that you do have some international work experience in a variety of countries in southeast Asia - this will help some on the margin to differentiate yourself from other applicants from India. If you can tie this work experience into your career goals in some way, this also may be of benefit.

As far as the MIT LGO (Leaders for Global Operations) program, we are generally unable to provide differences in chances between this and the traditional MBA program because the sample size is quite small to make this comparison. And, in general if you read interviews from ad coms about these types of comparisons, they will generally not commit to making a clear statement about the relative competitiveness between programs. I would perhaps turn the question around somewhat, and propose to you and other candidates that you consider the program that is most interesting and applicable to YOU. If you're more interested in what the LGO program offers and think that it is most relevant for your future career goals, then apply to that.

Best of luck,

Hi Brian, thanks for the feedback. I hope the advice was based on 680 and not 660 as mentioned in your feedback.
You are right about my GPA. The university gives out grades (A, B and so on) and then the respective credits. I used the formula CGPA = sum of (grade x credit) / sum of credits.
My PG GPA is converted from 5 scale to 4 scale.
There is a stark difference in the two GPAs and perhaps because I was more serious during my masters.
I am a technical lead in a matrix organization, so I lead projects more than I lead people but definitely involving people and many of them with phD's.
I have lead events outside of work in GE involving several poeple.
Other than Darden and Tepper, which other schools do you think I have strong profile for? I am looking at Top 20 US Schools and maybe INSEAD and LBS.

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01 Jul 2012, 14:20

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Hi Brian, thanks for the feedback. I hope the advice was based on 680 and not 660 as mentioned in your feedback.
You are right about my GPA. The university gives out grades (A, B and so on) and then the respective credits. I used the formula CGPA = sum of (grade x credit) / sum of credits.
My PG GPA is converted from 5 scale to 4 scale.
There is a stark difference in the two GPAs and perhaps because I was more serious during my masters.
I am a technical lead in a matrix organization, so I lead projects more than I lead people but definitely involving people and many of them with phD's.
I have lead events outside of work in GE involving several poeple.
Other than Darden and Tepper, which other schools do you think I have strong profile for? I am looking at Top 20 US Schools and maybe INSEAD and LBS.

mourinhogmat1,

Yes, the evaluation was done off of a GMAT of 680. Based on our experience, we would project that you would be between stretch and competitive (closer to stretch) at INSEAD, competitive at LBS and Ross, and strong at Cornell Johnson, IESE, ESADE, and IE.

Best of luck,

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Re: Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting [#permalink]

05 Jul 2012, 20:10

Hello,

25yr old Asian Female

GMAT: 680 (Q-42, V-41)
Major: Engineering from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
GPA: 2.8 (1 very bad semester due to family reasons which I'll explain)

Work Experience: Will be 4+ years by Fall 2013
- 2 years: Operations Management Consultant for large global manufacturing company
- 1 year (same company): Processing Manager overseeing 6 operations at a plant
- Currently working for large healthcare network as Lean Healthcare Process Improvement Consultant. Several major projects aimed at improving patient flow and transitions, working at Senior VP level.

I'm hoping that having experience in both manufacturing and in healthcare will help my chances?
After MBA, want to continue working in Healthcare but move into management position.

Currently thinking about the following schools:
- Michigan
- UVA
- Duke
- Georgetown

In addition to my chances at the above schools, I'd really like to know your recommendations for other schools to apply to based on my profile.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

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Re: Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting [#permalink]

08 Jul 2012, 20:39

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Quote:

Hello,

25yr old Asian Female

GMAT: 680 (Q-42, V-41)
Major: Engineering from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
GPA: 2.8 (1 very bad semester due to family reasons which I'll explain)

Work Experience: Will be 4+ years by Fall 2013
- 2 years: Operations Management Consultant for large global manufacturing company
- 1 year (same company): Processing Manager overseeing 6 operations at a plant
- Currently working for large healthcare network as Lean Healthcare Process Improvement Consultant. Several major projects aimed at improving patient flow and transitions, working at Senior VP level.

I'm hoping that having experience in both manufacturing and in healthcare will help my chances?
After MBA, want to continue working in Healthcare but move into management position.

Currently thinking about the following schools:
- Michigan
- UVA
- Duke
- Georgetown

In addition to my chances at the above schools, I'd really like to know your recommendations for other schools to apply to based on my profile.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

sjc,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 680, our experience indicates that you would be a stretch candidate at Ross, between stretch and competitive (closer to stretch) at Fuqua, between competitive and stretch at Darden, and competitive to strong at Georgetown. Based on your profile you might also consider programs like Tepper, Rotman, McCombs, and Kenan-Flagler.

As a fellow Michigan Engineering alum (BSME and MSME in my case), please keep in mind that many Michigan graduates apply to the schools you're interested in - in particular, Ross, Darden, and Fuqua. The good news is that these programs recognize and respect Michigan as an institution. The challenge is that there are many Michigan applicants to these schools, most of whom have strong GPAs from either the College of Engineering or Ross BBA programs at Michigan. So, you are going up against a fairly competitive cohort. Ross (MBA) is known to look kindly on Michigan undergraduates, but at the same time they can only accept so many in order to keep the diversity of their class high.

The biggest challenge in your profile is your GPA. You mention that you had one poor semester. However, if I do some rough math, it appears as though your undergraduate GPA in the other 7+ terms would not have been higher than 3.1 or 3.2 - this, along with a below average (for top MBA programs) GMAT score implies you're going to need to 'make up' in other areas of your application. Based on your GPA and your quant GMAT split, you might consider taking a business-related course or two and excelling in them prior to applying. This will help the ad coms feel that you could handle the rigor of an MBA program from an analytical perspective.

As far as whether working in two industries can be helpful for your profile, as with many other aspects that are part of your resume and essays (and the interview), it is truly all in how you explain it. Clearly, you are leveraging operational and lean excellence capabilities in your role in the health care sector right now, and I would imagine that you left your role in a manufacturing environment, at least in part, because you saw health care as ripe for innovation in this space and there may have been fewer opportunities in manufacturing because of the slowdown in this sector in the US. These and other types of explanations are absolutely critical to highlight in your essays. Additionally, you want to link the work you're doing now to explain reasons why you want to remain in the health care field but in a different function going forward. Finally, you will want to make sure that you spell out very clearly that you had strong performance while at the manufacturing organization, left in good standing, and (if true) were promoted / rated ahead of your peer group. At the same time, you may be surprised to find out that a large percentage of students in top MBA programs have successfully worked in two (or more) fields by the time they matriculate. So, while it is not necessarily a unique aspect of your profile, it can be beneficial to your candidacy if you approach it in the right manner.

You did not mention anything about extracurricular activities. Given your GMAT and GPA, this is another area where you will need to try to differentiate yourself to indicate your leadership potential.

Best of luck,

vibhav

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Re: Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting [#permalink]

12 Jul 2012, 08:20

Hi!
I just re-took my Gmat today, in the hope of closing a few questions. But as it turns out it worked just the opposite!

Gmat #1: 710 (47/40); the percentile splits were (77/92) AWA 5.0
Gmat #2 :680 (50/32); percentile splits (90/65) ( I am still to come to terms with the verbal score! still await the AWA and IR)

I am wondering how do the top schools view this result? And is there is difference in the way which schools like Kellogg/Wharton/Stanford/ Columbia view this and the rest of the business schools?

Also I would love your comments on my candidature to Kellogg/Wharton/Stanford/ Columbia. I am looking for a strong program in marketing.

Brief introduction:

Indian, Male
Education: Degree in Engineering (Distinction), Diploma in International Business Laws & corporate laws

Will have 5yrs of Work ex at matriculation
Currently working in the energy sector - am a business developer for a consultancy service that works to improve energy efficiency in the industries. Work directly at the front end to promote sales at key customers
Have lead unique marketing projects such as implementation of social media tool a manufacturing sector environment, have won industry awards for digital media campaigns
A bass guitarist and started a band at the work place.

Look forward to hear from you guys!
Thanks,

AringoConsultant

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Re: Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting [#permalink]

15 Jul 2012, 16:55

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Quote:

Hi!
I just re-took my Gmat today, in the hope of closing a few questions. But as it turns out it worked just the opposite!

Gmat #1: 710 (47/40); the percentile splits were (77/92) AWA 5.0
Gmat #2 :680 (50/32); percentile splits (90/65) ( I am still to come to terms with the verbal score! still await the AWA and IR)

I am wondering how do the top schools view this result? And is there is difference in the way which schools like Kellogg/Wharton/Stanford/ Columbia view this and the rest of the business schools?

Also I would love your comments on my candidature to Kellogg/Wharton/Stanford/ Columbia. I am looking for a strong program in marketing.

Brief introduction:

Indian, Male
Education: Degree in Engineering (Distinction), Diploma in International Business Laws & corporate laws

Will have 5yrs of Work ex at matriculation
Currently working in the energy sector - am a business developer for a consultancy service that works to improve energy efficiency in the industries. Work directly at the front end to promote sales at key customers
Have lead unique marketing projects such as implementation of social media tool a manufacturing sector environment, have won industry awards for digital media campaigns
A bass guitarist and started a band at the work place.

Look forward to hear from you guys!
Thanks,

vibhav,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 710 (your first score), our experience indicates that you would be a stretch candidate at Stanford, between stretch and competitive (closer to stretch) at Wharton, between stretch and competitive at Kellogg, and between stretch and competitive (closer to competitive) at Columbia. Based on your interest in marketing, and your profile, I would also encourage you to consider programs such as Ross, Tuck, and Fuqua, where you would be competitive or better - all of these programs are strong in the marketing function.

As to your question on the GMAT, I believe you are essentially asking if schools would be concerned if your 2nd GMAT score was lower than your first (you went from 710 to 680). In our experience, MBA programs generally look at the top score for a given candidate. They also know that any individual score actually is inside a broader range of a possible score for a given applicant to receive on a given day. So, I do not think you have anything to worry about - schools will look at your 710. If there was some kind of extreme decline on the 2nd test - for example if you scored a 550 - that would be perhaps a different story. Wharton traditionally has commented in interviews and public forums that they prefer that candidates place on the 80th percentile or higher on both the verbal and the quant component of the GMAT. At the same time, with the splits you had on the 710, you have essentially achieved that level.

Regarding the diplomas in international business law and corporate law that you received, I would encourage you to elaborate these a bit on your resume from the standpoint of what was required on your end for these. These are somewhat less common accolades for a business school applicant (which is a good thing) - you just would want to provide that context. Additionally, I applaud you on the awards for digital media campaigns. In your application, definitely use these situations as good examples of stories that illustrate your interest in a career in marketing and how the MBA would help you in this regard.

Best of luck,

vibhav

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16 Jul 2012, 11:01

Thanks Brian for your reply! Just to make my question pertaining to the GMAT more clear, I thought Quant scores above 80% were essential for the top schools. while I did better that and for Q50 (90%) in my second test, the verbal fell from V40 to V32. Is that alarming? Additionally given that both the scores will be visible to the schools ( correct me) would the adcom take the effort to see the improvement in Quant in test 2 or do i need to explicitly bring that out?

Appreciate your advice on the diploma and the award!

Thanks!

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Re: Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting [#permalink]

17 Jul 2012, 04:30

Hey,

I would like to know your views on my full time MBA candidacy for top schools for 2013 start. Thank you for taking the time out to review my profile. Let me give you a brief on my resume so that you can have a better understanding of the same:

a) Work Experience 1: I work as the Principal Manager for Strategy and New Initiatives at Morarka Foundation. Morarka Foundation is a leading microfinance and resource organization offering solutions for sustainable agriculture. Morarka works with more than five million people across fifteen states of India.

My responsibilities at work are two pronged. The first aspect involves strategy creation on developing sustainable models for the conversion of agriculture to agribusiness and setting up linkages with banks for micro-finance funds to rural ventures. The models I develop are cover the complete value chain of the agribusiness model, including capacity building, supply chain management, sustainability, and growth. The second aspect involves project coordination, set up, and implementation for small ventures run by Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) and small farmers

b) Work Experience 2: PE/M&A analyst at a leading Indian investment bank. Have gained ~2 years of work experience (front end investment banking). I have worked on various deals, some of them have been the biggest in their sectors in India and also been part of the bank\'s business development exercise. Was solely responsible for originating a see side mandate for an Indian sugar company ($20 mn)

b) International Exposure: Apart from my one year stint in the UK during my masters (A top British Uni), I don’t really have any international exposure. Having said that, I do work with a lot of mid-market and boutique investments banks in US and UK which might count as “international exposure”.

c) GMAT: I have a GMAT score of 650 :-(

d) Social Involvement: I have worked with C.O.R.P for one year teaching English in a municipal school in Mumbai

e) Investment banking background: Mid-market investment banks in India give a better profile and exposure to its analysts as compared to their peers in the US and Europe. I have worked on live deals and also been a part of the business development exercise of the bank which is rare in global banks or US banks where analysts have a limited role.

f) Education: BA (Economics) ~3.8 GPA and university Maths topper at Mumbai University, one of the oldest and prestigious arts and science college in India. (MSc) Masters in Finance and Economics from a top British b-school.

g) Schools short listed: - Cornell

- Yale SOM

- Wharton

- Chicago Booth

- Kellogg

- Tepper School

- INSEAD

- Duke

- Ross

- NYU

Please do let me know if my choice of schools is apt for my resume. Your thoughts will be deeply appreciated. Thank you again for all your help and support.

Hoping to hear soon from you.

gmatclubot

Re: Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting [#permalink]

17 Jul 2012, 04:30