Requesting A Profile Evaluation

Question

Indian Male

Age : 23 (14 - Mar - 1989)

Work Experience : 27 Months as on 1st December 2012 in a HVAC Contracting Company which is one of the top 3 companies in the field in India.

Responsibilities : Procurement Engineer - Involves technical as well as commercial responsibilities.

GMAT Score:
Quants : 49, Verbal : 42, Overall : 740 (AWA & IR still awaited. Expect to get a good score in AWA. Not so much in IR. Hopefully not worse than a 4)

Undergrad Info:
B.E in Mechanical Engineering with 70% from Anna University (Non IIT Indian University - State Owned)

Extra-Curricular
Was part of the school soccer team and regular in the school athletic meet winning several medals in the intra school sports meets. Although I doubt if that would amount to anything.
Community service is also 0. I have been instrumental in getting roads laid in my area but do not have any proof. To sum it up, I think this would be what would hurt my profile most.
Have received appraisal letters from my management for good performance which I hope could stand for something.

Target Programs
HKUST
ISB
NUS

I would also like to know whether Wharton, Yale and IMD would be too much of a stretch.

Thanks in advance.

Admissionado · Answer

Well your GMAT is awesome. No doubt about that. Your grades I don't yet get a good sense of how high they are exactly, cause I know it changes from school to school in India, and am not all that familiar with your program. so maybe you can translate that into ranking or compare it relatively with your peers? This would help us understand.

Your actual grades in combination with what you actually did in your 27 months of works experience will be the determining factors in your application, as well of course as your essays.

I think you definitely stand a chance at HKUST, ISB and NUS. You would also have some chances at Wharton and Yale (depends a bit on the things I mentioned above). IMD is probably not for you, just for the simple reason that their age average is 31, and it's almost like an EMBA question. I think the youngest Indian candidate they took last year was 26... so I'm not sure if that's the best fit for you.

But the other schools should provide you some chances.

Admissionado · Answer

Well, given your GMAT and your scores and everything, I would say that a good strategy for you would be to apply to min. 5 schools (more if you can, it's always better), of them 2-3 in the Top 10, and then 2 in the top 20, and maybe one safe school in the top 30-40 (not 100% sure you need this). Beyond that, honestly for your goals ANY school would fit. I mean every program offers strong opportunities for General management and entrepreneurship. After that I would then suggest you base your school selection within those ranges on fit and location, which you have to tell ME about and not the opposite!

If you have any further questions about any specific schools you are thinking about, just ask away...

If you have any further questions about any specific schools you are thinking about, just ask away...

Admissionado · Answer

Looks good overall. And yes, I would say Kelley can be considered a safe school for you. Actually to tell you the truth, I think you can add one more top school to your list. (Tuck, Fuqua, Kellogg). It's like being in a bar and trying to pick up a young lady - you might as well just go for the prettiest, even if chances are low.. because who knows??? It might happen! And you have really good numbers...

I understand your thoughts about Tepper, and agree, but if you really like the program, don't reject it altogether. Maybe save it for a R2 application, which is almost 9 months away, and by then you may have lots of new stuff in your profile (it's even enough time for a baby)

MacFauz · Answer

Hi Jon., It has been a couple of months since I first asked for your help... I guess a few things have changed since then... I am editing my profile and adding a few things which I previously considered insignificant (I still do but I guess it is better than nothing) and also I am adding some background on my work experience... I would like to have a fresh evaluation.... Hope you can excuse the length of the post.. Thanks in advvance..

Indian Male Age : 23 (14 - Mar - 1989) Work Experience : 30 Months as on 1st March 2013 in a HVAC Contracting Company which is one of the top 3 companies in the field in India. Responsibilities : Position : Graduate Engineer Trainee - Projects (2 months) : Joined the company as a trainee and was assigned to the project team (2 months). (I had asked to be in a more techno-commercial department such as Sales & Estimation or Procurement but there were no positions availalble) Position : Graduate Engineer Trainee - Procurement (10 months) : Was shifted to the procurement team after 2 months (Fortunately for me, a colleague had left to pursue a job in the middle east). As a trainee I used to finalzie orders and organize material delivery for material of small value (value of individual orders typically not exceeding $2000) and also played a part in finalization of higher value orders. Position : Procurement Engineer - Chennai Branch (12 months) : Increased resposibilities. Purchase of more technologically complex equipment with individual order values at times exceeding $200,000) Position : Procurement Engineer - Chennai & All India (6 months) : In addition to Chennai Purchase responsibilities, the responsibilities for All India Central Purchase Division were also given to me. New responsibilities include co-ordinating with different branches for optimizing procurement of similar material (larger quantities demand better discounts), providing price feedback and maintaining uniformity in order terms and conditions. My major concern here is that I have not held any leadership postions per se. Even my most recent responsibilities only include co-ordination rather than leading a team. I would like to know whetehr this would be a major drawback. GMAT Score: Quants : 49, Verbal : 42, Overall : 740 , AWA : 5.5, IR : 8 Undergrad Info: B.E in Mechanical Engineering with 70% from Anna University (Non IIT Indian University - State Owned). Converted by $5 WES service : 3.8 Anna University is often ranked in the top 10 or at worst top 15 technical institutions in India. I had my scores converted to the 4 point scale by the World Education Services website (which cost $5, so I am skeptical of the result) Extra-Curricular Was part of the school soccer team and regular in the school athletic meet winning several medals in the intra school sports meets. Although I doubt if that would amount to anything. I do have some work that may be considered as community service. i.e The result might have benefited the community but the intent was more personal. Have been instrumental in getting roads laid in my area but do not have any proof. To sum it up, I think this would be what would hurt my profile most. Trying to organize an effective waste management system in my hometown (a coastal fishing village. People are dumping their garbage in the sea and unfortunately quite close to the shore and huge mounds of garbage have washed up on the beaches). Nothing is yet to be implemented. Started and run a canteen at my undergraduate institution. Employs 4 people whom I knew were unemployed at the time. On completing my undergraduate course, I completely handed over the canteen to the most senior of the employees. I took income from the canteen until my capital cost was covered but on the risk of sounding like a jerk I should say I have not gained any income for my efforts. So , I might consider it to be a sort of service to the community. I was also the person in charge of buying equipment and setting up a small sports club in my community. Albeit very small. A couple of pong and foosball tables, a snooker table and a Volleyball court. Have received appraisal letters from my management for good performance which I hope could stand for something. Others I had taken a course in leadership skills & public speaking 6 years back - Certified - but only by a local private organization 6 years old I am also a certified process quality assurance internal auditor - Every year before the external ISO audit of we have an internal audit of work processes the team of which I am a part of. What I Want To Do In the long run I see myself in one of two positions i) The owner of my own company i.e Entrepreneur or ii) A high level managerial postion (Director or CEO) at a company (manufacturing and engineering services) owned by my extended family. I believe the best way to train myself for either situations would be to be a management consultant. So, my first preference would be to get a job as a management consultant and a second preference would be to work at a manufacturing company. This is the best quality dough I have and the quality of the cakes I can make with this dough as I understand is substantially limited by the dough's quality. Could you please suggest some schools in which I have a realistic chance and which would serve my requirements best. Sorry again for the extremely long post. Thank you for your time..

Admissionado · Answer

Hey there, good to see you back!

And thanks for all this additional info.

Overall things look pretty good for you. You have the good amount of experience, the right GMAT, good grades overall. A few nice extra stuff to, to kind of fill out your profile. So that's very good. I still think you have good chances at the schools I mentioned. Wharton is still a bit of a stretch, and Yale is somewhere between competitive and stretch.

Upon rereading your emails, and understanding y our goals better, one thing I find curious is your school choice - Asia focused and then two schools in the US which certainly would be awesome, but I don't know if they are necessarily the most logical for your goals (although for B consulting any school can work). I'd suggest having a look into INSEAD, Tuck, Ross, Haas as well (And actually there are many more options if I can get a clearer idea of why you chose the schools you did.

I hope this helps you out, and feel free to post more thoughts here.

MacFauz · Answer

Hi Jon., Thanks for the prompt reply.. I, like many other people new to the b-school research world, went with those choices solely with the rankings as given by financial times (Their (unreal) salary projections were apparently adjusted for purchasing power parity..

)

After a bit of research, I feel only a US MBA would serve my purpose (having no professional business study history, a 2 year program would probably serve me better). So the schools I had mentioned in my original post are sort of obsolete now.. Could you please suggest a completely fresh set of schools?.. I would also need to apply to some safe schools because I definitely cannot postpone my MBA to after 2014...

MacFauz · Answer

Hello again Jon.,

With some basic research, I've decided upon the following schools :
Columbia
Anderson
Johnson
McCombs
Marshall
Kelley

However, I am not convinced that Kelley can be considered a safetey school. Can you let me know if I should make any changes, additions or deletions?

P.S : I also like CMU Tepper very much. However, I had already applied for R2 this year and things don't seem good. My problem is, if I apply again for next year, there wont be any significant difference in my profile. I will only have to work on the way I present it. (Now that I look back on it, my resume was horrible and did not mention each of my positions as promotions. Infact, my profile here looks better than my resume). Is it possible for me to just apply again as a fresh applicant or should I apply only as a reapplicant??

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