Where should I apply? (with case studies)

Hi,

My current profile looks like this :

1) CGPA : 3.1 (B.E. in Information Technology 2009, University of Pune, INDIA)
2) GMAT : 750 (Quant : 51, Verbal : 40)
3) Was exploring my opportunities, possibilities and limits rather than joining a regular IT engineer job profile for a little over 2 years
4) Co-founded a company (and was working primarily as a CTO) in 2012 which got acquired in 2015. It was a location based restaurant-dish finding service in US & India
5) Have been working with the acquiring company for little over an year now

I want to pursue an MBA to enable my journey from a CTO to a CEO. Understand and gain knowledge about business administration and increase my business acumen. I'd like to gain exposure by working for sometime after my MBA to test out my abilities before setting on a new path.

Schools I'm considering : GSB, HBS, HAAS, STERN, SLOAN, TUCK, BOOTH & Columbia

Any suggestions/advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

What was your grade percentage at Pune?

Linda

Hi Linda,
It was 60%
[
Hi,

My current profile looks like this :

1) CGPA : 3.1 (B.E. in Information Technology 2009, University of Pune, INDIA)
2) GMAT : 750 (Quant : 51, Verbal : 40)
3) Was exploring my opportunities, possibilities and limits rather than joining a regular IT engineer job profile for a little over 2 years
4) Co-founded a company (and was working primarily as a CTO) in 2012 which got acquired in 2015. It was a location based restaurant-dish finding service in US & India
5) Have been working with the acquiring company for little over an year now

I want to pursue an MBA to enable my journey from a CTO to a CEO. Understand and gain knowledge about business administration and increase my business acumen. I'd like to gain exposure by working for sometime after my MBA to test out my abilities before setting on a new path.

Schools I'm considering : GSB, HBS, HAAS, STERN, SLOAN, TUCK, BOOTH & Columbia

Any suggestions/advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.[/quote]

What was your grade percentage at Pune?

Linda
]

What was your grade percentage at Pune?

Linda
][/quote]


I'm saw your grade percentage.

Your GMAT certainly is impressive. Your experience could be impressive. Your grades are below average for your target programs. Your post MBA goal should be a little sharper.

My sense is that you are stretching by aiming for those programs, with the possible exception of Stern. I suggest you apply to let's say 4 of the schools on your list and perhaps another two where you are more likely to get accepted and where you can obtain a strong general management education. look into UNC, Ross, Duke Fuqua and Darden.

Best,
Linda

Hi Linda/ Jon,

I write to you for MBA profile evaluation.

Briefly,
- I am a 26 year old Indian female
- Education qualifications - Bachlor in Commerce from a leading university in India scoring 83% (graduated in 2012)
- Completed a 3 year specialisation degree in 2013 - Chartered Accountant (similar to US CPA)
- Have been working with a Big4 accounting firm since 2010 (3 years of internship and 5 years of qualified experience)
- Work profile includes M&A consultancy from a tax and regulatory stand point
- Current position manager (received accelerated promotions and consistently a high rater in bell curve evaluation)
- I am a trained classical dancer and have also completed 4 (of 7) national level examinations for achieving the highest level of merit in classical dance in India.
- GMAT score 680 (Q50, V32). Have received a V33 in a previous GMAT attempt.

Why am I pursuing a GMAT - after having worked by 5 years in an M&A profile, I wish to provide my career with the impetus where I can be in a position to front end deals, more specifically, I look for an Investment Banking and ultimately a private equity profile.

I believe that given my objective and preference of undergoing an MBA from United States, I should apply to schools in the East coast, near the New York financial hub. I understand that Columbia and NYU Stern are unattainable given my low GMAT score, and hence I would request you to suggest which schools I should apply to?

Also, it is important for me to achieve financial aid for my MBA program. I understand a financial aid/ scholarship at this GMAT score may be far-fetched, which is why I am contemplating to re-take the GMAT in the next few weeks.

Your insights and feedback on way forward would be highly appreciated.

Thanks,
SSG21

Accepted.com
Hey Linda,

Thanks in advance for doing this

Here's my brief profile

1. GMAT : 720
2. CG - 7.3 (automobile engg)
3. Entrepreneur - Co-founded 2 companies, working with the 2nd one currently.
1st was an EV startup, 2nd a social enterprise. Combined exp 4.5 years
4. Featured(along with my team) in the Entrepreneur India Mag.
The startup has been featured in countless publications.
5. Started India Largest student Go-karting championship.
I also mentor and do consultancy for a few startups along with a couple of things here and there...

My motivation to do an MBA comes from my desire to learn the best business practices, network, get exposure to impactful businesses and solve actual problems on a bigger scale.

I'd like to get into consulting post-MBA. As of now, i think INSEAD is a good fit BUT I've been working on and with startups to date, this means i don't really have any corporate experience. Looking at various class profiles i see most people are from corporate backgrounds. Would this be in any way be a negative?
Also, I'm not sure of the depth the course provides. I'm skeptical that a 10-month course might be too short to gain sufficient knowledge, given the absence of prior corporate exp. (PS- I'm an engineer)

Apart from INSEAD i've been looking at IESE (they have an amazing focus on Entrepreneurship).

Which other schools should i look into?
Please feel free to add any comments and suggestions.

PS : I was shying away from schools in the states due to the LARGE financial commitment, BUT if you think otherwise please let me know.

Looking forward to hearing from you
Cheers!

INSEAD is fantastic for consulting.

Regarding the length of the program, it is a very intense program. However, I thin you need to decide if you want to save the money by attending a one-year program or if you want the longer immersion of a 2-year program, along with the internship -- but at a higher cost. You an also try for the two-year programs and see if you get enough financial aid to make it worth while.

Best,
Linda

Accepted.com
Hi

I dont know whether this thread is still active but will post just in case some one is still reading new posts.

Thanks in advance for doing this

Here's my brief profile
Gender – Male
Age – 26 yrs
Nationality - Indian

1. GMAT : 710(Q49,V37)- given twice; same total score both times
2. College Score- 87% (top 2 percentile in the batch), Mechanical Engineering from Top 10 college in India
3. Work Exp- 3.5 years at matriculation
Current Responsibilities:
-Prepare Engineering proposals for Steam turbines upon receiving RFQs from Utility companies/EPCs mainly for the North American market(USA/Mexico).
-My job is to carry out engineering tasks, receive internal approval from the Group leader and Engineering head of the company before the proposal is reviewed by the Vice president of a Company.
-Also create the Proposal documents, respond to customer queries and support the customer needs(only engineering tasks for me) if our proposal reaches the negotiation phase.
-As an additional task I was responsible for organizing/arranging engineering data and writing technical descriptions of each product to create a new catalog for our products. The catalog was recently approved for use worldwide.

4. Co-curricular
1. Set up a startup with 2 friends during my internship. The objective of the startup was to develop an application for HSE officers. The app received 25k+ downloads in 6 months with an average rating of 4.4 on the google play store. Around 1 year later Company I had interned at took over the control of the app.
2. Basic NGO/volunteer work.

5. Achievements:
1. Received scholarships of Rs 5000 twice for excellent academic performance during the undergraduate course.
2. Presented Technical Research Paper at IIT-BHU(Top 3 university in India) and won the award for the best research paper at the event.

6. My motivation to do an MBA comes from my desire to the make a switch to operation/supply chain management. New challenges have come up in the field which has been disrupted due to Covid pandemic making this field even more dynamic , opening up many new opportunities. My present work involves collaborating with the operations department to meet customer requirements but I specifically don't do any tasks related to Operation/Supply chain.

Colleges I am targeting- NUS, MICHIGAN ROSS, NTU, OHIO state fisher.

Will my GMAT score be competitive enough for Michigan ross considering my background? If not i am planning to write the GRE with a target of 330.

Looking forward to hearing from you

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