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austinmba
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Joined: 26 Jun 2023
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Am I an Indian IT Male? 27 Jun 2023, 20:34
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My Background:

Indian-American (US Citizen)

Undergrad from a pretty good Southern school (think Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory)

Graduated with a double major in Computer Science and English Literature



Work Experience:

2 years as a software engineer at a Fortune 100 Pharmaceutical company (building Salesforce apps, data engineering, backend configuration)

1 year as product manager on a data strategy initiative at the pharma company to improve forecasting and data quality (heavy data and analytics focus, worked with data engineers).

I will have an additional year of experience as product manager by the time I apply. I will be a PM on a Generative AI initiative to help with internal corporate strategy at the F100 pharma company (will be working with pharma program managers, data engineers and data scientists)

I will have two years of product management experience when I apply. Will I be seen by the admission committee as an Indian IT male? Or would my sector (Pharmaceuticals) and title (product manager) put me in the Healthcare/Pharma product manager bucket?

I'm aiming for T25 schools (full time MBA). Thanks a bunch.
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Businessconquerer
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Am I an Indian IT Male? 28 Jun 2023, 18:39
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austinmba
My Background:

Indian-American (US Citizen)

Undergrad from a pretty good Southern school (think Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory)

Graduated with a double major in Computer Science and English Literature



Work Experience:

2 years as a software engineer at a Fortune 100 Pharmaceutical company (building Salesforce apps, data engineering, backend configuration)

1 year as product manager on a data strategy initiative at the pharma company to improve forecasting and data quality (heavy data and analytics focus, worked with data engineers).

I will have an additional year of experience as product manager by the time I apply. I will be a PM on a Generative AI initiative to help with internal corporate strategy at the F100 pharma company (will be working with pharma program managers, data engineers and data scientists)

I will have two years of product management experience when I apply. Will I be seen by the admission committee as an Indian IT male? Or would my sector (Pharmaceuticals) and title (product manager) put me in the Healthcare/Pharma product manager bucket?

I'm aiming for T25 schools (full time MBA). Thanks a bunch.
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You are an American-Indian IT Male Engineer.

The only difference is- you are not required to obtain a work permit. But diversity levels wise, there is something called an overrepresented pool and yea you do belong to that from the history of business schools.

I know. I belong to same pool. Even started a company fresh out of one of your target schools to address that issue. But the issue still persists. Stay strong.
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TheMBAEdge
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Am I an Indian IT Male? 30 Jun 2023, 00:12
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austinmba
My Background:

Indian-American (US Citizen)

Undergrad from a pretty good Southern school (think Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory)

Graduated with a double major in Computer Science and English Literature



Work Experience:

2 years as a software engineer at a Fortune 100 Pharmaceutical company (building Salesforce apps, data engineering, backend configuration)

1 year as product manager on a data strategy initiative at the pharma company to improve forecasting and data quality (heavy data and analytics focus, worked with data engineers).

I will have an additional year of experience as product manager by the time I apply. I will be a PM on a Generative AI initiative to help with internal corporate strategy at the F100 pharma company (will be working with pharma program managers, data engineers and data scientists)

I will have two years of product management experience when I apply. Will I be seen by the admission committee as an Indian IT male? Or would my sector (Pharmaceuticals) and title (product manager) put me in the Healthcare/Pharma product manager bucket?

I'm aiming for T25 schools (full time MBA). Thanks a bunch.
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Hey austinmba,

You have some unique experiences and skillsets which will be valuable from a business school perspective. There isn't a lot of Generative AI in the market and a lot of companies are specifically looking to build teams in that area, this should set you apart. Additionally, you shown a strong career growth having transitioned from a software engineer into a PM / Strategy Manager which will definitely add a lot of credibility to your profile. In terms of the pool, don't sweat over it too much since the above mentioned factors will definitely help you stand out from the traditional Indian IT male pool, its just a matter of getting good test scores and positioning your application in the right direction with a solid story.
I am confident that you will be able to crack a top tier MBA program once you focus on these two factors.

All the best for you applications!