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Hi Maria,

Just wanted to know your thoughts on my profile.

24 Male from India
under grad in Engineering

Work Experience
Have 2 years of work experience in an IT company as a programmer analyst.

Extra curricular
Playing Sports
-Have certificate for playing and winning competitions in college level for soccer, chess and athletics
- captianfor the college chess team
Participated in a couple of events and volunteered in organizing the same.
- Eg., National level Tech fest held at our college

Goals post MBA
Take care of my family business along with starting up my own company.

education scores
grad - 7.3
Plus 2- 91.6
Xth - 7.8
GMAT - 620

My main concern in my low gmat and work exp.
Haven't worked in the family business yet.
Fear that i fall into the typical Indian applicant pool

Want to get into Sloan, NYU and top notch schools offering best value for leadership potential and strategy

Hi @ApplicantLab/Maria!

Could you please help evaluate the below-mentioned profile:

Qualification: B.E. (Hons.) in CS from BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus (6.94 CGPA)[Avg. in BITS Pilani is 6 CGPA as compared to 7 in other top institutes] (BITS Pilani is among the top 5 institutes in India, and has the lowest acceptance rate)

10+2(97% score), 10th (9.6 CGPA)

Work Experience (Duration, Role, Company, Industry)
3 years experience
current:
V.P Sales & Marketing for the Middle East Region, Partner (Based out of Dubai) of a 100 member sized startup in Advanced Technology Domain -AR/VR/MR (since 2018 Sept)
previous positions held:
AVP Business Development, Noth India Region( Based out of India)
Business Development Executive(Based out of India)

previous company and role: (2016-2018)
Software Development Engineer at a UK based MNC, that operates to provide insights in digital marketing for its clients (worked based out of India)

Test Score
GMAT 710 (Q50 V35 IR-8 AWA-5)

Interested in: Full-time MBA


Geography / Class Start Year preference:
The USA for classes starting in Fall 2020

Detailed Profile:
Professional:

Part of the 3 member executive team(Leading a 20-30 sized team) responsible for expanding business in the Middle East Region as the VP Sales & Marketing, Middle East Region, also partner to the company-on boarded multiple clients including Dubai government
Base job function: B2B sales of advanced technology franchises of virtual reality products in niche markets such as India and the Middle East(A challenging thing but aced it)
Responsible for funding of around a million dollars for the company (10% of the total fundraised)-( AVP Business Development))
Part of the Indian expansion strategy team responsible for formulating the business expansion strategy in India (AVP Business Development)
Responsible for the sale of 15 B2B franchises across the country generating a direct revenue of over 0.54 million USD ( Business Development Executive).

Previous Company and role:
Responsible for ingestion and management of all the data of the digital marketing insights company with revenue of 300M USD, a data-driven marketing insights company

Extra-curricular:

Professional:
Elected twice as the Vice-President Education(also founding) at a corporate Toastmasters club, a 35 members club that went on to win the district level impromptu speech championship. My introduction of J.A.M in the club activities gained citywide recognition and played an important role in producing elegant impromptu speakers
Awarded the prestigious "competent leader" certification for my leadership and contribution to toastmasters

College Level:
Selected for representing the state of Rajasthan in National Level Sports(Martial Arts)[Started learning only in University but went on to win tournaments and get selected for nationals, a rare case]
Won Silver in the national sports fest organized by the college
Part of the University Team- also taught self-defense classes to students and women as a community activity as part of the team

Joint Secretary for a fest organizing dept. (50 members, Dept. responsible for registrations and security during all the three fests of BITS Pilani)-Responsible for recruitment and internal operations of the department, assigning roles, keeping the members of the dept. happy. Brough out simple innovation that brought better results in the productivity of and harmony among members.

Joint Secretary for Community Association (The largest regional association in University with 400 registered members)-Responsible for planning and coordinating all events that represent the community culture of a region)

Cheif campaigner for a general secretary candidate who went on to win the second place(of 5)- A special story where I was brought in when the candidates' team disbanded due to some circumstances and I had to build the campaign from scratch, also featured in the alumni magazines later

2 projects under a renowned MBA professor at BITS Pilani, to research self-perception of students about their innovation levels and how to improve the same(also some other courses related to management-Principles of Management, HRD, Creative Thinking, etc.

Volunteer for university-wide Blood-donation camps and some other activities

I believe my background and perception would add value and diversity to any class at the top MBA colleges. I'm looking to enter either the tech or consulting industry after my MBA and to enter a class where I could learn from people with a diverse background instead of from more people like me.
My long term goal is to start a tech company and would prefer a class where there is a good mix with a balance of both tech and non-tech backgrounds to network with.
I realize that my GMAT is low compared to similar undergrads from India, but I'm willing to concentrate on representing my profile to business schools in the best way possible and can hope at best it would compensate for my relatively low GMAT. Taking GMAT again is something that wouldn't be possible given my commitments and existing time taken.

Do let me know if some other info would better help you in evaluating my profile.

Thanks and regards,
Raj

Hi Maria!

I am currently in the early stages of navigating through the Vision module. For the non-profit objective, you mention it is best to have a specific cause, as well as demonstrable experience. I think this is very helpful advice and wanted to get your thoughts on how I was thinking of approaching my vision.

I have been in boutique consulting for 2.5 years now, doing strategy and operations work with a lot of different industries and firm sizes. I really enjoy consulting, though I question how much fulfillment I would get from the typical MBB partner track post MBA. In this firm, I am leading our pro-bono program, providing consulting services on a pro-bono basis. To date, we have only done one project, which has now lasted a year (ongoing). I have really enjoyed this, as I am of the belief that if you want to save the world, you should do what you are best at (i.e. I love animals but I'm not a vet, so I think of what am I really good at that would help a vet save animals). This pro-bono initiative is a step in the right direction, and has helped inform what I'd like to do long-term.

I've always worked for small businesses, which I loved because I get to learn tremendously from working directly with owners, and getting my hands dirty in a wide array of topics. I've also done a fair bit of volunteering throughout my life, but this is the first time I am using my career to volunteer. My past experience includes tutoring/mentoring, dog walking, orphanage, web design, etc., so quite varied.

To sum up, would you say consulting for NFP a specific enough vision, if I expand upon all the opportunities I saw in my time at NFPs for driving operational improvements, defining good strategies, etc. - all things their limited staff does not necessarily have time to do but could drive huge impact. I was thinking of doing this as an independent consultant long-term, which would make me affordable, but also means I don't need to let go of the aspects of consulting I currently love as I evolve in my career.

Thank you so much for your time and I love the website!

Hi Maria,
Would love to get your thoughts on my profile

Education - 6.83/7 in Business Mngmt From an Indian Uni
GRE - 326 (Q 161 V-165)
Age and Nationality - 25 yo Indian Female

Work Experience
1 year with an e-commerce Startup in the Early learning Educational space. Was one of the first employees, setup business operations for the startup from scratch
1 year with a tech company in New York City - worked as an analyst in the Marketing Dept. Can show significant impact at work
Currently with the family business in India - Its an educational publishing house - I manage the digital products as a result of the recent strategy change of introducing more digitally inclined products.

Why MBA?
I want the company to foray into EdTech but lack the technical skills and knowledge looking to gain that while also learning about the VC industry, networking and other entrepreneurial skills.

ECs
Worked with NGOs that work towards educating kids from the financially weaker sections

Target Schools
Kellogg, Ross, Rotman, Cornell and Tuck

Please let me know how realistic my target schools are?
Thank you!

Hi Maria,

Could you please let me know your feedback on my Profile.

Nationality: Spanish
Sex : Male
Age : 28

GMAT Score: 720 q48 v41 IR8

This is my first attempt. I did GMATPrep 1 and 2 and I got 730 Q50 v41 and 760 Q50 v44 so I think maybe I should retake.

Education Background:
Industrial Engineering - University of Sevilla (Spain). 6.7/10 (According to WES it would be a 3.0 in the GPA system but I am not sure how would the AdCom see it).
Exchange in University of Zaragoza (Spain) for 1 year.
Erasmus Exchange in Politecnico di Milano (Italy) for 1 year.


Work Experience: I am going to start from the latter. And divide it between full time and part time:

FULL TIME

November '18 to Present. I am working for a Spanish Engineering Company as Responsible for Sales and Business Development in Dominican Republic (I am an expat). We mainly work with hotels, either building new ones or renovating existing ones (We make electrical, plumbing, HVAC and telecomunications installations). My counterparts at hotesl range from Maintenace Managers for single Resorts to Coporative Technical Chiefs or Expansion Directors. Since I am here we have had around 25 Million dollars in sales.
I dont manage anybody directly since I am the only person within the commercial department in the country but I have to manage people of other departments often. I also have quite an exposure to the our company C-suite. My boss is the General Manager for the Americas (we have offices in Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Miami) and when the CFO, COO and CEO come to visit the country I spend all the time with them, I prepare their agenda, go to the meetings with the clients with them, go to diner, etc.
I am the responsible for sales but I also perform technical job when needed, I have had to cover for colleagues holidays and be site manager for weeks in some projects (think +200MM$ Resorts with around 1000 rooms).

April '16 to October '18. I worked as a Business Development Manager for Spain and Latin America at a Polish Company, manufacturer of construction materials. I work remotely from Spain and I traveled within Spain and all over Latin America (Mexico, Chile, Panama,..). I was able to open several markets in which we had no previous presence and build network of distributors as well as engineering/designer companies that recommended our products in their projects.

October '15 to March '16. I worked as an intern within the Export Department of the abovementioned Polish company.

Decemeber '12 to May '13. While I was doing my Exchange Year in Zaragoza I work as an intern within the Quality Operations department at the factory General Motors had there.

PART TIME

April '16 to Present. I have been working as Business Development Consultant or "Agent" in my free time. These are some of the deals I have pulled off:

- I got a contrat for a portuguese company, food producer, with the largest hipermarket company in Russia. They had never sold anything in Russia.
- I worked as an agent in Spain for an Indian Company, producer of wearing parts for agriculture. They had no previous clients in Spain and I found a very good client that is now buying around half a million dollars per year.
- I have made some imports of agricultural machinery from Germany/Austria to Spain.


Post MBA Goals

I am not sure yet. I know what I will write on the admission application. I will say that I want to switch careers and work for one of my clients (Hotels) within the expansion department. That I have the How-to's and technical knowledge of Hotel Projects in the Caribbean and I need the mba to have a better global view of business and to learn about the financial part of the investments.


LOR

I would get one from my previous supervisor (Polish Company). But I have doubts regarding who to ask for the second because I dont think Its a good idea to ask my current supervisor. They are giving me more responsabilities each day and I am afraid he would change his attitude towards me. My options are:
- Ask a colleague at current company. For example chief of purchasing in the country (same level as me, not above not under).
- Ask one of my clients of part time freelance jobs.


I need the MBA program I apply to have STEM certificacion. These are some of them, could you tell me which ones are realistic options for me?

This is what I would think
Dream: Wharton
Reachy: Fuqua, Darden
Maybe my level: USC Marshall
Safe: Simon


Thanks in advance Maria.

Hi Maria. Would like to have your insights on my profile as well .

I plan to apply to the MBA Programs of Cornell, Cambridge, Darden, and NUS in 2020, 1st round - hopefully marticulating in 2021.
Could you kindly share your thoughts on how I would stand as an applicant to those schools and if there is any area I should improve to be a stronger applicant?

Background and nationality: Born and raised in Indonesia.

Age and gender: 26, female.

Undergrad Information: I graduated from a local private university in my country, majored in finance, with 3.8 GPA (3rd highest in my batch). Usually got an A for quant subjects.

GMAT: 690 (Q49, V34, IR6) - consistent with all of my mock tests scores

Work experience and leadership:
- Started as an intern in a corporate banking division of a British multinational bank.
- Sponsored and selected as one of the management associates for 1,5 years.
- Deployed and got an early promotion to be an Associate in Custody and Fund Management Services, been almost 1 year now. I am the project manager mostly for:
1) New overseas global banks/fund houses that want to invest in my country.
2) Local fund houses that want to invest both in my country and overseas.
I work intensively with Clients basically to ensure their infrastructures, channels, and all of their requirements are fulfilled in order for them to invest. The arrangements include the securities type, account structure, legal documentations, our service coverage, channels etc.
My role is very Client-facing and involves a lot of working across divisions (e.g. Legal, Product, Operations). Though I don’t have anyone reporting to me yet, my roles require a lot of people management skill because we need to make everyone works together to achieve smooth delivery in every project with tight time frame.
All of these contribute to additional 7 digits annual revenue in USD.

International experience:
- Had a 1-month business trip in Shanghai and just recently 1-week workshop in Vietnam.
- My role involves working with overseas branches and Clients. Majority of my overseas clients are from UK & US. Some of the projects I handled are also related to Brexit.
- I used to study Mandarin for 1 year in Taiwan due to personal interest in Chinese history and culture. As I wanted to visit certain places in China and connect with the people, I thought I needed to be able to speak the language.

Extracurriculars:
- I am a regular facilitator that teaches slum-kids in Jakarta. What I and other facilitators teaches is not school-subjects like math, English, etc, but more about our community, family, daily-life, and future. Our goal is to inspire the kids to dare to dream. I usually do this twice a month.
- Quite-active in church activity. I’m usually in charge for the weekly bulletins or for church-usher role (the one responsible for seating guests and maintaining the order of the services).
- Organised company-wide fund raising by selling clothes, bag, etc. Managed to raise around $7000 in 3 days. The amount is donated to fight blindness in my country.
- Was an MC for company-wide run-for-a-cause event.
- I admit I was more focused in academic during my undergrad, so I didn’t have any meaningful leadership activity during that period. I have been trying to make up for it post-college.

MBA and post-MBA goals:
I want to join a specific Unicorn tech-company in Indonesia that has been expanding its fintech division as a product manager. As I am also in charge for partnership between my Clients and fintech, overtime I grew stronger interest in fintech.
To achieve smooth career-switch, I realize I really need to build my skills in analytics and strategy because I am not really exposed to those in my current role.
(And this makes me really hopeful to join Cornell as it has immersion learning that concentrates in digital technology!)
I believe this goal is quite achievable since I’ve found plenty of people switching-career to tech/fintech right after MBA (from all sorts of industry).

Would really appreciate any feedback from you. Much thanks in advance!

Hi All,

Would appreciate if the experts can evaluate my profile:

Indian, Male, 28 years, CFA, Silver Medalist
GMAT: 680 (Q49 V35, IR5, AWA 6)

Work Experience - 6.5 years as of Dec 2019

1. Working as an Independent Consultant (self-employed) to a UK Investment Banking firm. Currently working on 6 deals looking to raise $1 million - $10 million and working on one another Indian company to divest its stake outside India. The work involves consulting and discussions with founders/ senior directors on business, due diligence, fund raising requirements and preparing pitch book, IM and interactions with investors representing the companies. The work gets more interesting since I work closely with the founders and senior management and addressing concerns of investors over companies’ operations, strategy and product from financing point of view.

2. Three Years of experience as a valuation analyst in a consulting firm
• Lead a team of 5 analyst for valuation engagements on financial reporting and tax compliance for startup and private equity funds. Also performed valuations of complex securities for distressed/ illiquid assets and ad-hoc research based due-diligence activities
• Extensively trained, mentored and brought onto production floor, 3 MBA freshers, 1 Chartered Accountant and 1 Chartered Financial Analyst to manage valuation engagements under limited supervision
• Handled 3 engagement partners and collaborated with managers and associates to assist in due diligence and valuation of companies through all development stages, from seed funding to pre-IPO stage.
• Collaborated with directors to set up 2 new service offering and single-handedly setup and scaled the team to 7 members in 1 year.
• Lead the engagement on valuation of a Canadian healthcare medicinal weed-based company for fund raising activity. Independently worked on strategic planning projects, gift tax and M&A activity.

3. Another 3 years of work ex in an MNC and an equity broking firm - covering Indian macroeconomics and banking sector and global coverage of metals and mining companies.

Academics:
• CFA Charterholder, Liberal Arts (Major - Finance, Minor - Economics; awarded BBA Hons with diploma in liberal arts)
• Silver Medalist and was among the top 2% in academics throughout the college tenure.
• Hosted industry leaders for workshops, lectures and interviews by co-founding 2 clubs – a Management Club and an Entrepreneurship Club in collaboration with IIT and IIM alumnus.
• Presented research papers at National Level

Extra-curricular
• Current - Art and Craft activities including designing, teaching and creating customized greeting cards, wax sculptures, oil painting, and other DIY creative activities.
• Previous - NGO activities (teaching underprivileged, organizing Global Village through AISEC, raising AIDS awareness campaigns, etc.) in college days.
• Previous - Inter-College Table Tennis (Singles) winner


Post MBA Goal
Post MBA in Finance, would I am looking to move to Buy-side roles (VC/PE) firms or would move to consulting profile.

Queries:
1. Which schools should I target to apply in India, Canada and US?
2. I know my disadvantage is the low GMAT score. But I would like to go ahead and apply for US B-schools with this score. Which schools should I consider as a safe zone which also have a reputation in the finance industry? Helping me getting placed in the financial services industry... (considering I may not get a suitable buy side profile due to non-US citizenship/ work visa issues or consulting due to low GMAT score) Since most of the Buy Side (PE firms) are small firms and may be hesitant to hire on H1 work visa.


Thanks!

Hi Maria,
I plan to apply for various MBA programs in R1 this year. (MIT Sloan (my favorite) , INSEAD, LBS, Judge, Said)
While I already using applicant lab (just listened to your opinion on the Cambridge CV format ) I would also like to use this opportunity to get your opinion on my profile and chances.

General Info
26 years old, male, Germany

High school: 3.4 GPA , Exchange year to Canada

Uni: 3.4 GPA (Top 20%) from a small private university, helped organize company visits on study trip to Atlanta, GA
Poor grade in Math, strong grades in other quant heavy subjects

730 GMAT (47Q / 44V / 6AWA / 7IR)

Work Experience
I work in an international container shipping company, around $ 12bn revenue.
As I did an integrated degree (Apprenticeship and studies combined) I already started working in my current company in 2012. As part of my internal rotation I was assigned to our Tampa, FL office for a three months period in 2014. In Tampa I helped with analysis concerning an upcoming merger in South America.
In 2015 I started working full-time as an analyst focusing on identifying weaknesses in our vessel network. I have mostly worked on creating reports and dashboards to help the people in our network department. Over the years the savings generated based on those pointers have surpassed 5 mio. USD.
In 2017 I got the chance to join the Project Management Office in Dubai after we merged with a local company. During my three month stint I was in charge of the project controlling and member of the the wind-down work stream.
In late 2018 I was approached by my current boss to join him in establishing a new team (promotion to manager), focused on enabling better operational decisions using data. In this function I have been involved in several multi-week projects this year (China, US, Spain, Korea, UAE, UK) and have I led work stream across many of these. However, in terms of my hierarchy level I do not manage anyone on paper and I do not have direct reports while working in the headquarter.
While on the international assignments I mostly lead a team of local experts to ensure data quality and consistency and create meaningful analyses for the colleagues.

Extra-curriculars
Spokesperson for my class, represented class in discussion with Uni leadership
Conducted Q&A session with colleagues on the experience of stem cell donation based on my own procedure
Organized a small fundraiser for colleaguesto donate their foreign currencies from holidays and business trips to a charity that fights world hunger.

I am aware that all my extra-curricular activities are focused around work/uni. Due to the nature of my program (no semester breaks, classes on Saturdays, international assignments) there was little time to really commit to an activity outside of these possible at Uni/work. Should I address this in an additional essay?

Reason for/Goal after MBA
I would like to transition into Management Consulting. Having worked with different MBB firms during my projects I feel like their challenging international work environment suits my interest and skillset.
Later on, I would like to use the knowledge and skillset gained to found my own company, likely in the transportation/shipping sector.

For Sloan in particular:
The head of my current department (MIT alumn, ex MBB) has encouraged that path and will write my LoR. Additionally, the CEO of a start-up with whom I worked closely (MIT alumn, ex MBB) has spoken very highly of his time at Sloan and is also willing to help me with being a reference.

My own view on my chances;
Pros: International Experience, decent GMAT, non-traditional industry background
Cons: Weak extra curriculars, mediocre GPA, non famous undergrad program

Hi Maria,

Thank you for taking out time and answering people's queries on here!

I'm looking to dive into ApplicantLab and start a couple of applications which I will have due first week of November. I was curious about the whole process which is followed by ApplicantLab - I signed up for a trial and have gained a good overview of the process, but my concern is the quality of essays I will be able to produce. Will someone glance over my essay prior to it being marked complete or will I have to rely on the pointers on the website to guide me towards the best possible essay?

Thanks in advance!

I am an Indian male.

Background: Civil Engineering
Undergrad Information: 8.9/10 CGPA, Department Topper for Civil Engineering, Continuous 100% scholarship for all 4 years based on previous years performance.
The college is ranked 37 according to the government of India but it is one of the Top 5 private colleges in India. I chose it because of the scholarship and distance from my home.
GMAT: 710 (Q49 V38 AWA5 IR8) first attempt(was sick that day) and 770 (Q50 V45 AWA5 IR8) on the second attempt
WE: no full-time work experience as I am applying for the deferred programme
Leadership: Have been actively involved in numerous activities on campus. Most notably I have worked for three years organising the annual Model United Nations Conference where I worked my way up to the position of Director-General with over 100 people working under me. I am also the president of the Entrepreneurship Club of the University and have organised multiple one of a kind events and interactions on campus. Also involved in the Student Chapters of multiple organizations in various capacities. I am one of two the elected class representatives for my batch.

Outside of campus, I have also been involved in social work. I have worked for two years with an NGO working for the rights of women and children in mainly an editorial role but contributing on the ground as and when required.
I have completed my certifications in Lean Management and Lean Six Sigma from the British Standards Institute as well as many certifications in Data Presentation and Project Management from Coursera.

Post MBA Goals: Finance has always been of great interest to me. I want to get into Venture Capital (maybe Impact Investing in particular) as I have always been interested in entrepreneurship and I like meeting new people and listening to new ideas. India is a great growth market for VC and I want to come back to India and contribute to the growth story here.

I know how VC is to break into and it might some time so I am flexible with my short term goals. I am open to joining the Capital Projects and Infrastructure or Private Equity Practices of the MBB firms to start with or an early stage startup

I plan to work in an early stage startup or a VC fund in the two years after finishing my UG and start my CFA.

Please review my profile!

Background:
I am 33 yrs old Indian Male. Working as Associate Vice President in a commercial bank in India in the Credit Risk Domain for Commercial Real Estate Sector.

Education:
Bachelor of Engineering - Computer Science (passed in 2008) - Distinction (No GPA Provided) - Top 20 Engineering College in India
Post Graduation Program in Management - Finance & Economics (passed in 2010) - GPA (5.85/10) - Top 5 Management Colleges in India
Financial Risk Management - GARP - 2013 - Scored A in all the sub-sections.

GMAT Score - 720 (Q50/V37/IR7)
Work Experience:
Started my career with starting a new company in the field of education (online + offline model) for the underprivileged scaled up to 100+ employees and managed it as Chief Executive Officer leading the entire team for 1.5 years. Investment made by few venture capitalists. Eventually had to close it down because of strategic differences between the founders.

Next 7.5 years was involved in the Credit Risk Department (Real Estate) across leading banks of India leading a group of 3-5 personals. Involved in underwriting of $ 2 billion of investments and managing a portfolio of $ 1 billion. Got 3 promotions in this span.

Awards:
Awarded CEO Recognition Award at one of the company.

Other Achievements:
- Presented various research papers at International Conference.
- Was awarded with a prestigious scholarship for being the among the top 50 management student across India.
- Was involved with an NGO for 3-4 years in developing the curriculum and vocational training for the under privileged.
- Certified Vedic Astrologer and Iyengar Yoga Trainer.
- Have been involved in teaching Quantitative Ability at several institutions.
- Regular member and contributor to GARP Community.

Post MBA Aspirations:
- Working in investment management, asset management, private equity/venture capital, commercial banks with a focus on Real Estate (first preference) or in other related fields.

I am planning to apply in R2 of colleges and am looking only for a 1 year option. Kellog's (Real Estate Specialization), Cornell Johnson, LBS (MIF), INSEAD, IMD, IE Spain, Ivey Business School.

Questions:
- Please evaluate my profile in regards to the mentioned colleges.
- How will my age (on a higher side) will impact my candidature. Will it be out-rightly rejected? I have checked with few colleges such as LBS MIF and Cornell Johnson and they have encouraged me to apply.
- Any other college which I should target?
- I do not have a significant international exposure. However, have been part of few international work assignments (short periods only 10-15 days couple of times). Will this act as a deterrent while applying to colleges?

Thanks in advance!!!