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Hi Maria,

Could you kindly review my profile and share your valuable inputs.

Nationality: US citizen
Sex: Male
Age: 27

Educational Background:
Undergraduate College: Benedictine University (Division 3 liberal arts college outside of Chicago)
Major: Biology (Pre-Med)
GPA: 2.82
GMAT: 670 (Q47, V35)

Two sport NCAA collegiate athlete:
- Football (2 time varsity letter winner) (Conference Champions and NCAA D3 National Football Playoff Appearance)
- Track and Field (4 x All Conference Selection, Freshman of the Year, and Team Captain Senior Year) (Led team to win Back-to-Back Conference Team Championships)
- Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (a mentor for incoming freshman student-athletes)

Work Experience:
- Served 4 years in the US Navy as a Nuclear Operator serving in roles as a Team Leader and Division Supervisor. (Non-Commissioned Junior Officer)
- Graduated the training program earning top honors (Top 20% out of 400) (received Academic Excellence Award)
- Developed and executed operating guidelines for highly classified new technological systems leading to the initial delivery and certification of a brand new $13 billion aircraft carrier, most expensive and largest in US Naval history.
- Coordinated amongst varying parties, ranging from the Navy HQ to ship-wide departments, and led a team of 15 personnel to the repair and process improvement of ship essential technical systems, resulting in the safe operability of $200 million worth of nuclear equipment aboard a 5,000 personnel ship.
- Developed and implemented a new weekly 6-month on-boarding training program for 70+ personnel, resulting in 50% faster qualification and career progression rate of incoming junior members in the department. (Awarded Junior Sailor of the Year for the Department)

Personal Background Fact:
- Born in Pakistan. Moved a lot when I was younger (lived in Pakistan, U.A.E, Morocco, and the U.S.) mainly grew up in Morocco.
- Transitioned out of the military end of this past year.
- Currently taking 2 courses at Chicago Booth School of Business as a Graduate Student at Large this winter quarter to help offset my undergrad GPA.

Main Reasons for pursuing an MBA:
- Did not want to pursue the jobs offered to me by the Navy Headhunters and Military Recruiters (consisted mainly of roles at Data Centers and Nuclear Power Plants)
- Want to pursue a career in 1) Management Consulting or 2) General Management (rotational leadership programs).
- To challenge my self and continue working on my leadership skills, as well as grow as an individual

Schools Choices:
- Booth
- Kellogg
- WashU Olin
- Emory Goizueta
- NotreDame Mendoza

If to wait till next cycle (addition to above):
- Tuck
- Fuqua
- Haas

Sorry for the long profile. My main concern is, should I still apply to MBA programs during round 3 or wait till round 1 for the next application cycle? I feel, like applying this late only makes me competitive at Olin, Goizueta, and Mendoza. If I wait till the next round, I am confident I would be able to increase my GMAT score by then, but then how does my employment and transition play into effect during the applications. Currently I am not working, if choose to wait another year. I would have to find a job, and it probably will not be in management consulting, probably some other industry and field. Would that look bad for my applications? Or I could take a "gap year" and pursue coaching track and field at a college or something that I always wanted to try. But, would all that play a negative role in my application for MBAs? What is your input on me applying to the current target schools with my stats right now?
Also, any other feedback or input on my profile in general or things I should address, would be greatly appreciated! Thank You!

Minhaj

Thanks for reaching out! Let's dig in:

You mention below that you're taking 2 classes at Booth right now to offset the undergrad GPA; while this is great, after those courses are done (and after you get the highest grade possible in them, of course) if I were you I'd shift my focus to re-taking the GMAT and getting a score that is closer to the average scores for some of the more elite programs you're targeting. Ideally, you would get a score ABOVE a school's average, since your undergrad academics are so far below the typical profile for the top schools. Think of it like a see-saw that can balance out -- a higher GMAT score could go a long way towards proving your academic chops.

It's great that you did so many athletic things; this will help explain the GPA (which you can explain via the optional essay; I have advice in ApplicantLab for how to write a compelling / effective optional essay).

For the other leadership, the onus is on you to explain to the reader why these things are a big deal -- since most people are not as familiar with hierarchies in the Navy as they would be with, say, the hierarchies at Deloitte. You'll also need your recommenders to really go to bat for you to explain why these accomplishments are beyond the norm.

Wait, so are you unemployed right now? If so, that can be problematic. Please try to find a solid job, ideally in your desired post-MBA industry, as soon as possible. Any periods of unemployment longer than three months usually need to be explained to admissions committees. It's not fatal or anything, but you do need to explain what you've done with your time.

In your case, I would not put "management consulting" in my application. Check out the "Career Vision" module in the free trial version of ApplicantLab to understand why. At this point, with a 670, you might not even get invited to interview for management consulting jobs, unfortunately.

General management -- but in a specific industry -- seems like a much more solid choice.


I do not think it is responsible to apply in Round 3 with your current mix of low GPA, low GMAT (relatively low for the top 10-15 schools), and current unemployment. Round 3 is almost impossible for anyone to get in (possible, just very difficult), so I don't recommend trying it. If you want to try for something now, perhaps, as you mentioned, Olin, Emory or Notre Dame... that might work -- for them, your GMAT score is near the average, and I suspect they have more spots available in Round 3 than, say, a Booth would have. I would not advise you to apply to Booth, Kellogg, etc. during R3 with the current GMAT score unless your leadership experience really put you near the tippy-top of your previous role in the military.

If you wait until Round 1 or even the next Round 2, that will give you time to 1) retake the GMAT and 2) start to get established in a civilian career, ideally in the post-MBA industry that most appeals to you (e.g. the industry you'd most like to do a post-MBA rotational program in). The idea to perhaps take a "Gap year" might make sense, but primarily if it allows you to build a stronger professional background.

I do not at all advise taking a "gap year" at this point to become a track coach -- well, I mean -- you can do it if you think it's your life's calling, but I don't advise it from a "Will this help me get into business school?" perspective. If you do volunteer track coaching in your spare time, while also having a more "businessy" full-time job, then that is awesome.... but could you blame an AdCom for being a little skeptical re: "Does this person ACTUALLY want to even GO to business school?" if the only civilian work experience at the time of applying is coaching track? It will present quite a HURDLE (see what I did there?) to your candidacy.

In sum -- hold off on applying (at least to the higher-ranked schools), get that GMAT score up, and try to find a civilian job in a businessy role (or even reach out to the consulting firms to see if they have special recruiting for veterans?) to bolster your profile before applying.


Best regards,
Maria

Hi Experts

Please evaluate my profile and suggest some good business schools within top 20 for my profile

Gmat -700 -Q49,V35
Nationality - Indian
Work experience - Software developer in MS Dynamics CRM domain, 6.7 years , including 20 months of international experience at clients Honda, Belgium and HSBC , UK
Post MBA goal - work for top tech companies like Microsoft , Google , HP , Amazon in roles- operations or internal consulting or product management.
A one year tech MBA in Cornell or Stern would have suited me best , but I missed deadlines of both the colleges for this year intake.

Preferred schools - Top 20 in USA

Thanks
Saikrishna

Helllllooooo there!


Ok, so right off the bat, the GMAT score is on the low side for an Indian working in IT. You still have about 6 months until the R1 deadlines -- please consider a re-take of the test. Especially since your Verbal score was low, you may want to check out e-GMAT -- they specialize in teaching the whole test, but especially the verbal part!

I really like the international experience in Belgium and in the UK -- have you considered MBA programs in Europe?
I appreciate that you're being honest with me, but for the purposes of your application, you would need to really narrow it down --- Google and HP, for example, are extremely different companies. I advise you to create a strong career vision "hook", a technique I teach in ApplicantLab

Well, the good news is that you are starting early for the next batch of deadlines. You'll be a bit on the old side at that point, but at least you'll have a fighting chance, vs. applying now in R3 and simply getting rejected everywhere (R3 for USA programs is extremely difficult for international clients).

Given that, I'd advise applying in R1 for your target programs. Re-take the GMAT and aim to get 20 - 30 points higher than the average score for that school. Yes, of course Indian tech applicants get in with scores that are AT a school's average, and sometimes even LESS than a school's average, BUT those folks usually have extraordinary leadership experience, so I usually tell folks from India to deduct 30 points from their score to determine which schools you may be competitive for.

So, given that rough metric, if you DON'T retake, you'd need to apply to programs that have an avg gmat of 670 or below. Sameer at MBACrystalBall has, very kindly, assembled a list of the average GMAT scores for many MBA programs you can check out here: https://www.mbacrystalball.com/gmat/gmat-average-score

So as you can see, to get into a top 20 program might be a challenge with a 700.

Given that, study hard for a re-take, and then check out ApplicantLab.com for help with your essays, resume, recommendations, application forms, and interviews after you've gotten that score up!


Best regards,
Maria

I am going to take a look at your "career vision" module this weekend. It is surprising that you say, that I should not put management consulting in my apps. Most of the veteran MBA students I have been in contact with at my target schools, informed me that this is what they put in their applications, while some of them mentioned that they even had below a 700 GMAT. Also, I understand my GMAT score will not get me interviewed by MBB firms, but firms like Accenture and Deloitte I believe are less stringent in that aspect.




Thank you for the detailed feedback! This really helps me guide my MBA applications and timeline. When I realized, I was going to applying in R3, I started to reach out to firms and make a push into my post-MBA career; if I can prior to getting an MBA. Then, I might even hold up on the MBA for a year or two. But, I think I am still going to apply to Olin, Mendoza, and Goizueta in R3, and decide from there if I do get accepted to any of those. At this point, not counting the GMAT, I assume the essays are the most important factor I can control to help my chances of admissions in R3.

Minhaj

P.S. I never hurdled, was a sprinter and jumper, but I appreciated the "hurdle" remark!

Ah, ok -- when I read "consulting" I usually default to "MBB" -- yes, I'm sure the other firms are probably less stringent about GMAT scores

Hello
I applied for the excutive MBA for Yale university for second round and the interviews are going to be feb 15 and March 2nd
I did not hear back from them
I called and they said they extended the interviews invitations already
And they still review applications
Did not understand the meaning
Shall I consider this as No
My application is rejected but waiting for formal release on March 8th?

Posted from my mobile device

Hello,

I'm afraid that if they already extended the interview invites, then it's probable that your application didn't make it through. Especially since some of the interviews are happening on Friday; the logistics to get the interview set up usually requires several days (if not weeks) to get organized. I suppose perhaps they meant that they extended the first round of interview invites for just the 15th, but it sounds like they told you that they extended all of the interview invites already?

I'm so sorry -- I wish I had a better prognosis here.


-Maria

Hi Maria
Thanks for your reply
Do you think also for March 2nd they would have sent the invites?
Why they did not send the rejection email if not invited to the interview

Posted from my mobile device

They sent an email that they have extended most of the invitations for the second round but they will continue to evaluate the applicants through the round and they might extend more invites
Shall I gave up?

Posted from my mobile device

I just do not understand Yale process
And if not accepted for second round would they let me go to third round
And why they did not send a regret letter yet?

Posted from my mobile device

Hello,

I'm terribly sorry but I don't work for the EMBA admissions office at Yale and as such I don't know their process.

Yes, sometimes schools will push a candidate from one round to the next if they are on the fence about them -- perhaps that is what is happening here?

EDIT: I just saw your 2nd message. It looks like this might be happening, if they are indeed waiting to evaluate people right up until the end, but presumably they have already invited the most promising / strongest candidates to interview.

As to why they don't simply reject people earlier in the process, I do wish that all schools would do this, but again, since I don't work there I'm not able to influence this.


Best wishes,
Maria

Do you any consultant who will be able to help me through the process
In order to be successful candidate?

Posted from my mobile device

I meant do you know ?

Posted from my mobile device

Hi there,

For starters, what a consultant can do is take someone who is either already competitive or borderline competitive and teach them how to tell their story in the best possible way. There is no way of knowing if I can help you for sure be a successful candidate without first knowing a TON of other information about you, such as GMAT Score, # of people / size of budget you are managing at work, leadership accomplishments, etc.

If your background is competitive, then yes, admissions consultants like me can indeed help you craft your story in the strongest way possible to maximize your chances of getting in.


Thank you,
Maria

Hello,

I seek some advice regarding the suitability of my profile for the schools that I am targeting for fall 2020. Would be grateful if I could receive some feedback.

Background:

• Indian, male
• Engineering bachelors (electrical) - GPA 6.1/10 (equiv to 61%) at tier 1 university
• 5+ years' worth of work experience (be 6 by the time I apply) - Renewable energy - Consulting and operations
• GMAT 700 (Q47 V38 IR4)

Target colleges:
• LSB
• INSEAD
• HEC
• Oxford Said
• ISB

Post MBA goals
Career acceleration in the same field

Short term:
Manager/Team lead at a Developing/Investing firm that could leverage my knowledge engineering and operations to build a strong renewable energy portfolio
OR
Senior Consultant/team lead at a consulting firm that assists governments in emerging markets to set up appropriate policies to maximize benefit to their economies - technically as well as financially.

Long term -
Senior executive at a firm that builds on a portfolio of energy projects through organic/inorganic growth to maximize its gains. Would also like to be involved in policy related advisory for emerging markets.


Work exp break down:-

3 years at a technical consulting firm (largest in India) - Energy industry. (2013-2016) - location India

• Worked on conventional power projects in Greece and Morocco - 1 year. Clients were foreign nationals. Had limited travel during this time.
• Mostly focused on developing strong technical fundamentals
• Shifted to renewable energy industry (utility scale solar plants). Offered consultancy services to lenders, policy makers and developers. Drew on the rich technical learning that I garnered in the first year of my service.
• Travelled extensively all over India and witnessed the boom in the renewable energy space first hand.
• Promoted to the position of an Engineering Consultant – Design


2 years at the world's 2nd largest solar PV (photo voltaic) Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) company

• Employed as senior design engineer.
• Employed at double the pay.
• Shifted from consultancy to operations in the space of a couple of months
• Drew on the wealth of technical experience garnered in previous employment as technical consultant
• Started the energy storage department in the firm
• Picked up financial modelling and programming even though these were not a part of my job description. Employed this skill set to pivot discussions with management and clients and to engage in objective arguments.
• Led a team of 8 at the home office and a team of 24 at site, to successfully commission the largest solar PV plant (at that time) inside an Airport (beside the runway) at the Kolkata International Airport.
• Obtained recommendation from Client (central government of India)
• Manager (team lead) for 3 large scale solar PV projects that were completed - concept to commissioning - within a space of 2 years and were based out of India, Egypt and Argentina
• Employment included extensive travelling all over the country and to Egypt and Vietnam (for construction monitoring)


1 year at the world's largest energy consulting form (2018- present)

• Offered a role of a Consultant in Energy Storage and Renewable energy
• 4x the pay that I received at my previous employment
• Permanent employment offered at Dubai office. Currently hold a resident Visa.
• Centre of excellence for solar PV. I have been asked to disseminate my operations experience to the solar consulting team.
• Offer consultancy services to private equity forms, banks and developers investing in energy storage (primary role)
• Travel to Jordan, Egypt, Kenya and Saudi Arabia

Extra curriculars

2011- present
• Started a cooperative for sustainable tourism in the Himalayas. The geographic location is quite limited to few high - altitude locations in Jammu and Himachal Pradesh.
• It’s a low-key initiative that includes locals as well as travellers and I have never wanted any hype around it. There is no formal company registration. It is an initiative that has been popular only because of the heavy involvement of the local people. It's a cause I personally care about.

2013-2015
Volunteer at an NGO that works to offer education to the underprivileged - run by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi

2016-present
Active member of a vocational training institute where I disseminate my knowledge of operations to budding technicians

Kindly post your opinion whether my profile looks competitive enough to be considered by the aforementioned schools. I am a bit worried about my GMAT score. I only had 12 days to prepare for it and I have a feeling that I can probably do better. But to be very honest, I don't think i will have enough time to retake, thanks to commitments at work. Should I actively consider retaking?

Thanks a lot!

SNG