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Profile Eval request: 730 Indian/Male/Financial Analyst

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mad
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Profile Eval request: 730 Indian/Male/Financial Analyst [#permalink] New post   20 Aug 2015, 10:42
Hi,

I am an Indian aspirant for Fall 2016. Will be obliged if you could give me a fair assessment of whether I have a shot at some of the preferred programs of my choice.

My profile summary:

1) 4+ years in the Analytics arm (Financial Planning & Analysis) of Intel (awarded employee of the quarter). Currently managing a team and have served a couple of short stints abroad; 1 yr as sourcing specialist for a mining giant
2) PG in Diploma Management and engineering graduate from top 15 institutes of the country (UG CGPA: 8.2/10 - top 15%); PG CGPA not great - just first class
3) GMAT: 730 (QA: 50; VA:39; IR: 7; AWA: 5.5)
4) Correspondent/Empanelled Writer at Asia's largest all sports website (awarded)
5) Co-founded an E-Commerce store (1st lesson in how to do a start-up wrong); Co-founder/Featured columnist at a magazine - focusing on firms, markets & global dynamics
6) Captain of the corporate cricket team; member of the corporate football team
7) State merit list in HSC board exams (ranked 5th)
8) Successfully completed a 4 day Outbound Leadership Course under Bachendri Pal
9) Volunteer work for LEPRA society - Organized health camps and sensitization programs for Intravenous Drug Users

I want to transition to a career in management consulting and eventually start an analytics consultancy firm specializing in providing analytics based research and solutions to sports organizations.

List of schools I intend to target:
INSEAD, Yale, Columbia, Booth, Kellogg, Fuqua, Tuck, Cornell, Darden. Will I be taken for a madman if I force the words 'Wharton or Stanford' out of my lips?
All the above schools Round 1 or Round 2 , 2015, Full Time MBA

Please let me know where do I exactly stand among the competing group. Will be awesome if you can classify the colleges under the following categories:
1) Forget about it!
2) Can be given a shot
3) Decent chance

Thanks in advance for your help!
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bryantmichaels
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Re: Profile Eval request: 730 Indian/Male/Financial Analyst [#permalink] New post   20 Aug 2015, 17:05
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As an Indian applicant, you should always be looking for ways to stand out and I actually see several things in your profile which will come across as atypical--a good thing. For example, you work at Intel, and certainly a technology career is very common with Indian applicants, however you work in the financial and strategic part of the business, which is going to be uncommon. You should emphasize this in your applications for sure. Also, it looks like you have been a highly decorated employee--winning awards and recognition,which tells me your recommendations will be good. Anytime you are seen as head and shoulders above your peers will be a plus and it seems you have been in this position throughout your career. You also seem pretty engaged outside of work and even have experience as an entrepreneur. Often, even the failures of an entrepreneur can impress an adcom. so many aspire to have their own business yet so few have actually demonstrated they can pull it off. It will be an asset that you have done so--even if it wasn't a home run. As for specific schools, there is not a reason why you should avoid any on your list, but I would say your odds of admission are going to generally be in line with each school's posted averages. At the end of the day, top schools like the ones on your list have hundreds of similarly qualified applicants, so sometimes a bit of luck and networking is required to get attention. Try to continue seeking challenges at work and begin reaching out to any connections you can make within your target schools (for example, schools often have websites for their clubs and organizations, which you can access and potentially use to connect to club leadership in areas you are interested). Let us know if you need help. Most applicants these days are using consultants!
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mad
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Re: Profile Eval request: 730 Indian/Male/Financial Analyst [#permalink] New post   20 Aug 2015, 22:40
Thanks Bryant! That was very helpful indeed. Will reach out to you for help for applications. Considering I already have a PGDM (equivalent to an MBA) from India, do you think this could work against me in my applications? Just found out that Duke & Tuck do not accept applicants who already have an MBA so my list of target schools just became a little lighter :(

Also, I'm mulling over the idea of going for an MS in Business Analytics as opposed to a full-time MBA (still undecided) as this appears to align more with my current work-ex and long term goals (not to mention the prohibitive costs of a full-time MBA!). Can you please advise?

Some of the top MSBA programs I have shortlisted are: North Carolina, Arizona, CMU and NYU. Can you please suggest some programs that would seem to be a good fit for my profile?

Thanks a lot for your help!
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bryantmichaels
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Re: Profile Eval request: 730 Indian/Male/Financial Analyst [#permalink] New post   21 Aug 2015, 04:32
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Analytics is a hot area and recruiters are hiring graduates of these programs just as readily as MBAs, plus the degree is generally much cheaper and only takes a year instead of two in most cases. You should look also at Georgia Tech, who just launched a new program last year. Great brand name in Georgia Tech worldwide. You can choose the computing track, the Industrial Engineering Track or the business decision track--one year program. As for already having an MBA equivalent, you are right, in that many programs will question your need to go to school again, but the key is in how you present the program. Don't advertise it as an MBA equivalent--if you do, you will be denied. You have to couch it as post undergraduate business education, but not the same as what you would get from an MBA. Hope this helps.
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Re: Profile Eval request: 730 Indian/Male/Financial Analyst [#permalink] New post   04 Mar 2016, 00:32
Hi Bryant,

Just got pile driven into oblivion by INSEAD (R3) and Yale (R2) this year. Wasn't good enough to merit even an interview call.
Guess that knocks Columbia and other Ivy league schools off my list too...for R1 2017. I'm still retaining Kellogg & Booth from my original list...albeit in the stretch category. I am also more keen on Kellogg's 1 year program rather than the flagship 2 year program. Is that more difficult to get into? Given that I already have a PGDM from India, Kellogg's 1 year MBA program appears a better fit.

From outside of the top 20, I have Cornell, Darden & Ross in mind to finish off my roll of target schools for 2017. How do you think I am aligned at all of the aforementioned programs? I'm also considering a job change that has been due for a while but was put on the back burner considering application season was upon us. Will a job switch at this point of time hamper my applications for R1/R2 2017?

Can you please suggest some other programs you think I may have a fair shot at? Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated!

As always, thanks for all your help!
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gmatclubot
Re: Profile Eval request: 730 Indian/Male/Financial Analyst [#permalink]
04 Mar 2016, 00:32

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