pbodine wrote:
satyr2K,
Your profile looks strong, though not unusual enough IMO to make Stanford or HBS realistic. The extracurricular leadership looks a little weak for Chicago, Wharton, and INSEAD, and the fact that your work-related leadership roles don't appear to be formal (I infer this from the way you described your professional career) doesn't help your chances. Finally, though you do not fit the "Male Indian IT" category (which is an 'oversubscribed' applicant pool) being a male Indian applicant doesn't help you in terms of standing out or making a case as a diversity applicant. So by all means apply to Chicago, Wharton, and INSEAD as longshots, but given your goals, also consider the following schools--all top ranked in finance--where I think you'll be more competitive: Cornell, Duke, Virginia, CMU, UNC, Indiana, Texas, Georgetown, among others.
Hope this helps,
Paul, it sounds like the inference you're making (with regards to work-related leadership roles) is that younger finance/m&a guys don't really have the opportunity to lead. As a private equity guy myself, I would agree, and I think it would be a stretch to spin an analyst/associate role at any IB/PE shop into some sort of "leadership angle" because the reality is that as hard as these jobs may be to attain, at the end of the day they are still analytical grunt roles.
Having said that, what advice would you give for "m&a guys" such as myself and the original poster, to differentiate ourselves through our essays with regards to work experience in this field? I am really trying to avoid having to talk about building models, conducting due diligence, creating presentations etc., but the fact of the matter is, this is 95% of the job in these roles.
I understand that given the one dimensional nature of our job, we will have to emphasize other aspects of our application (ie: extra curric), but when talking about our jobs, how do you suggest we make ourselves "unique"?
Thanks!
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25 Aug 2009, 07:14
