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Please evaluate my profile....urgently needed. Thanks!!

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salmanqsm4
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Please evaluate my profile....urgently needed. Thanks!! [#permalink] New post   20 Nov 2013, 04:26
Hello. Below is my brief profile and please suggest me what b-schools are good for me and if I have any chance at any of the preferred schools for MBA.

Age: 24
Sex:Male
Nationality: Pakistan

Qualifications: HDA, BSc, ACCA, CFA, FRM, PRM

Achievements:
1) Three year bachelor's degree awarded in First Class Honours by Oxford Brookes University, one of the leading universities in UK. GPA is equivalent to 3.6(As per iGPA calculator of World Education Services)

2) 750 GMAT score

3) Simpson Scholarship awarded by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Out of 6000 applicants, 20 were short listed and among the 5 winners, I was one. It was awarded on the basis of brilliantly written essays and strong academic history.

4) Was awarded Certificates of Merit for obtaining highest score in the world in two of the ACCA exams.

5) Was awarded Candidate of the Year award by Professional Risk Management International Associations for obtaining highest score in PRM exams in the world.

6) Completed Higher Diploma in Accounting in shortest possible time in my school.

7)Devoted to Continuing Professional Education and have several Coursera Verified Certificates with distinction.

Extra-Curricular Activities:

1) Volunteered with Community Rural Development Program which is a non profit organization and was founded by my brother. We worked for developing the lifestyle of the people in the troubled tribal areas of Pakistan and established more than 10 mobile schools and put more than 2000 children in schools. Mobile schools were established on temporary basis until we raise enough money to build a proper permanent building for school.

2) Have played cricket for my college and represented my school on international level.

Work Experience:

3 years of work experience in Investment Advisory at Consulting Dept of Deloitte Pakistan and 1 year of Human Capital Consulting Experience at PwC, Saudi Arabia.

Post MBA Goals.
Be a Finance leader and also work for the betterment of the Pakistani troubled community.

Preferred Schools.
Harvard
Stanford
Wharton
Kellogg
Darden
Ross
Haas
Carnell
UCLA
McCombs
Stern &
Columbia



I hope to hear from you.

Kind Regard
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mbaMissionJenK
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Re: Please evaluate my profile....urgently needed. Thanks!! [#permalink] New post   20 Nov 2013, 13:56
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Hello,

Thanks for your post. It was interesting to read, and I believe you would get noticed by the admissions committee. Your global experiences at Deloitte and PwC are a strength, in addition to your outstanding GMAT, solid academics, and variety of involvements and initiatives. Establishing the schools is particularly interesting and worth detailing more in your essays/interview, particularly if you can speak with passion about the experience. Your awards and recognitions are an extra strength and also lead me to believe you would do well on your application essays, which are so important, given that the essays influenced your awards in the past.

3 years of work experience is a little less than average, but if it will be 4 when you begin b-school that is more common. No matter how many years of experience, it's always a good idea to touch on why NOW is the best time for you to go to b-school, vs another point in time.

Your goals mentioned are very admirable, "Be a Finance leader and also work for the betterment of the Pakistani troubled community", however you'll want to dig deeper for your essays and interview.... HOW will you do those things? What do you have in min? Can you describe your career goals and plans for 3, 5, 10 years post-MBA for example? Many strong applicants CAN, so it's important to be able to in a competitive environment (even if the details may change some based on what you experience in b-school, that's ok).

You have quite a long schools list. Of course Harvard/Stanford/Wharton are extremely competitive, and Stanford in particular has a smaller class size so the chances are even more difficult on top of it having one of the highest average GMAT scores. I would recommend narrowing your list down based on what you are looking for in a school. (Check out our free download for more about choosing schools, at https://info.mbamission.com/Selecting-Yo ... ram-E-Book). Most candidates find they have time to apply to just 3-4 programs, since each application is so time consuming, and you have to tailor it to each school. Or at LEAST only 3-4 per round, maybe up to 6-7 total if needed. But don't sacrifice the QUALITY of your apps for quantity...each should look like it's the ONLY one submitted!! (To that school, it IS!) So maybe aim for 2-3 top 10 schools max, and a few from the 10-25 ranking, approx. I would say you may have a shot at top schools with excellent essays (do not underestimate!), recs and interview; just be sure to focus on what makes you unique, what you'll bring to the program, and why you want the MBA from their school.

Let us know what other q's you have, and if you'd like to speak in more depth, we do offer a free 30 min consult, at https://www.mbamission.com/consult.php, if interested. Good luck on everything!
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salmanqsm4
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Re: Please evaluate my profile....urgently needed. Thanks!! [#permalink] New post   21 Nov 2013, 00:18
Hello. Thank you so for much for the reply and your opinion. I would like to work with MBAmission of course but before, I would like to clarify few points.

Basically, I like all the top 20 schools and I short-listed the schools aforementioned. I can't give up on my dream of going to Harvard even though if I have 1% odds of acceptance there. I just can't. It's not in my DNA to forget about a goal that I've set. I like all of the schools that I mentioned and McCombs is only a safety school for me.

Secondly, I am not sacrificing quality for quantity. I'm resigning in December this year and will start working on applications in January next year. I will have 6 months to write unique essays for every school, of course I didn't mean that they were all going to be the same. I am willing to give it everything and edit and reedit them until they reach the level of perfection(perfection doesn't exist, I mean the extremely refined state). For that, I'll also need your cooperation. I see that you provide consulting for up to 7 schools and I'm willing to avail that option. Another thing is that most consultants do a profile evaluation and then suggest schools to the potential applicants that they think are right for them and want them to apply to. I don't want that. I will only want you to help me with the schools that I want to apply to because I don't believe that anything is out of our reach and as I said before, if there are even 1% of odds, it's still worth applying to(it's my money that I'm willing to spend by the way LOL). I would want you to help me with the 7 schools in top 10 and I will write essays for other safety schools myself.

Thirdly, that's a very concise profile. Of course I won't just tell the admissions committee that my goal is to be a finance leader. It's like a universe in a nutshell if you know what I mean.

Lastly, I thought 4 years of experience was enough. I've read on poets&quants that 3 years is an experience of ideal candidate. 4 years is excellent, 5 years is good and more than 5 years is not preferred by any B-School. I don't know if that's true but that's what I know.

Again, thank you for your reply and opinion, that give me some insight.

PS: I'm also applying to Princeton's MFin next year but don't worry, I'll do that myself lol.
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Oliviasmith1900
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Re: Please evaluate my profile....urgently needed. Thanks!! [#permalink] New post   22 Nov 2013, 02:32
salmanqsm4 wrote:
Hello. Below is my brief profile and please suggest me what b-schools are good for me and if I have any chance at any of the preferred schools for MBA.

Age: 24
Sex:Male
Nationality: Pakistan

Qualifications: HDA, BSc, ACCA, CFA, FRM, PRM

Achievements:
1) Three year bachelor's degree awarded in First Class Honours by Oxford Brookes University, one of the leading universities in UK. GPA is equivalent to 3.6(As per iGPA calculator of World Education Services)

2) 750 GMAT score

3) Simpson Scholarship awarded by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Out of 6000 applicants, 20 were short listed and among the 5 winners, I was one. It was awarded on the basis of brilliantly written essays and strong academic history.

4) Was awarded Certificates of Merit for obtaining highest score in the world in two of the ACCA exams.

5) Was awarded Candidate of the Year award by Professional Risk Management International Associations for obtaining highest score in PRM exams in the world.

6) Completed Higher Diploma in Accounting in shortest possible time in my school.

7)Devoted to Continuing Professional Education and have several Coursera Verified Certificates with distinction.

Extra-Curricular Activities:

1) Volunteered with Community Rural Development Program which is a non profit organization and was founded by my brother. We worked for developing the lifestyle of the people in the troubled tribal areas of Pakistan and established more than 10 mobile schools and put more than 2000 children in schools. Mobile schools were established on temporary basis until we raise enough money to build a proper permanent building for school.

2) Have played cricket for my college and represented my school on international level.

Work Experience:

3 years of work experience in Investment Advisory at Consulting Dept of Deloitte Pakistan and 1 year of Human Capital Consulting Experience at PwC, Saudi Arabia.

Post MBA Goals.
Be a Finance leader and also work for the betterment of the Pakistani troubled community.

Preferred Schools.
Harvard
Stanford
Wharton
Kellogg
Darden
Ross
Haas
Carnell
UCLA
McCombs
Stern &
Columbia



I hope to hear from you.

Kind Regard
I don't see why you won't get into any of the schools you've mentioned, dear. But just do not continue with your "Be a leader in finance"goal in the essays. Because the admissions committee would think that you already have those highly reputable financial certifications and you don't need to be a part of their MBA class because you already have the skills and credentials needed for "being a leader in finance". Focus on your second goal and that is to help the troubled Pakistani society and for that, it is crucial to have leadership skills and only MBA can render that. If you continue with leadership post-MBA goals, you will get noticed by the admissions committee and according to HBS guru, those who are from disadvantaged backgrounds like yours and want to really achieve something and leave a legacy behind, that kind of applicants "get into Harvard all the time". Work hard on your applications, make them shine. And I agree with you that there is no need to to narrow down your list of schools if you have enough time. Just make sure that each essay you write is unique.

Good luck...!
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mbaMissionJenK
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Re: Please evaluate my profile....urgently needed. Thanks!! [#permalink] New post   24 Nov 2013, 08:15
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[just a side note that Olivia.... is not affiliated with mbaMission, fyi, thanks!]
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mbaMissionJenK
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Re: Please evaluate my profile....urgently needed. Thanks!! [#permalink] New post   24 Nov 2013, 08:27
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Hi again salmanqsm4,

Thank you for the additional information about your profile and scenario.

Certainly we support your applying to the schools that YOU deem most appropriate for YOU... in fact we prefer that rather than you just 'following our suggestions' so to speak.... it should be a more personal decision, and you SHOULD feel passionate about the schools you apply to! Of course we are here to answer questions about schools and provide guidance if needed. The bulk of our admissions consulting time with clients is spent assisting you with feedback on your essays. Generally we start with an in-depth brainstorming session, where we talk through a variety of examples of your accomplishments and past experiences, and often we help you identify key themes about what makes you unique, and how you may want to describe yourself in your essays/applications. It's a great starting point that really helps drive those essays. We brainstorm some for each application, and then work on multiple drafts (as you describe) for each and every essay. It's a great way to have someone provide essay feedback on 1) the overall image you are portraying, 2) your strengths and weaknesses that come across and how you'll likely be remembered, 3) how organized you appear based on your essay structure, 4) your ability to tell a story and come across as someone who they'd love to be a part of their class, and 4) your writing style, clarity, grammar, etc.

As you described it is an in-depth process! By mentioning that you may want to narrow down your list, I was referring to the fact that MOST applicants do not have as much time as you describe, and once they begin find it all takes much longer than they'd thought, so 3-4 is common, sometimes 6-8 max over 2 rounds etc.... if you feel you can begin in Jan for fall apps and spend a lot of time on them all, more power to you! You'd just want to make sure you also don't get 'tired of applications' and find that certain apps/essays eventually become less compelling over time or anything. But a consultant would certainly help with that.

Side note re: work experience, the average accepted student at top schools has 5 years. 4 vs 5, no big difference. 3 years is a little less than average and some schools will just ask you, why NOW vs working more... doesn't mean it's a huge weakness. In any case you'll be beyond that when you apply!

If you are interested in a free 30 minute consult, we offer that at your convenience, it's a chance for more profile feedback or q&a, you can register at https://www.mbamission.com/consult.php if you haven't done that yet. Or if you are ready to sign up, you can enroll online at https://www.mbamission.com/services.php?package=complete.

Please let me know if you have more questions I can assist with at any point in time! And ps-- I support applying to your 'dream school' no matter what if that is where you are most passionate about! And your chances at HBS are not that low! ;) You have a lot going for you in your profile!
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