Manager
Joined: 29 Apr 2014
Posts: 56
Location: India
Concentration: Other, Finance
WE:Analyst (Retail Banking)
Profile Evaluation Request
[#permalink]
09 Oct 2014, 10:09
Hi,
I am a 26 year old Indian male. I wrote my first GMAT yesterday and got a 770 (Q51, V42, IR8, AWA -Score awaited). I was hoping you could give me a general profile evaluation and answer a few questions I had.
My work profile is below:
Work Experience (WE): 34 months (all in India)
I started working with an analytics outsourcing firm in December 2011. Was with them till April 2013 and then switched to one of the largest retail banks in the world where I've been working as a Business Analyst for the last year and a half or so. I have been promoted a couple of times over the course of my career.
Industry: Technology, Retail Banking
Function: Business Analyst
Undergraduate Degree: M. Sc. (Tech) in Information Systems from BITS Pilani (A top 5 school in India - in the same league as IITs)
The degree was a four year course and equivalent to a B. Tech. Because of some bureaucratic reasons, it is still called M. Sc. (Technical)
GPA: 5.56 on a 10 point scale (Converted to a US scale it becomes a pitiful 2.22)
There were no extenuating circumstances. I was just a stupid kid who had the notion that grades didn't matter and used to spend my time gaming on LAN rather than studying. (How I wish that I could give that kid a tight slap to bring him out of his fantasy! But what's done is done and I take full responsibility for my actions.)
Community Service: Worked on and off with Prayaas, taking classes on weekends to educate underprivileged kids, during my first job. I am an active member of the community service team in my current organisation. I also worked with an NGO startup that focussed on providing mentorship to bright underprivileged students in standard 11th for around 3 months.
After that, I stopped and took some personal time to focus on the GMAT but I'll soon be joining a new mentorship program by the NGO startup guys although the startup has a new name now. I can get letters of recommendations or ask the people managing the NGOs to send emails to the school, but I don't have any certificates from them. I'm not sure how this will affect my application.
I could not, even in my wildest dreams, have imagined getting a 770. I was consistently scoring 740 - 760 in my practice tests. So, factoring in test day anxiety, I was expecting something in the range of 720 - 730. Due to this, I sent my scores to schools where I thought a 720, alongwith my GPA, would be competitive.
Schools I've reported my score to: Mays (Texas A&M), Kelly (Indiana), Eli Broad (Michigan), NUS, Smeal (Penn State)
My plans after MBA, in the order of preference, are to start something of my own or move into finance.
That was a general profile overview. Coming to the questions:
1) Considering my profile and my GMAT score, what are the chances of getting into the schools I have reported my score to?
2) Considering my overall profile, are there higher ranked schools I might be able to get into?
3) If top ranked schools are not a realistic possibility, which schools should I be looking at?