I have a question: if the school had already asked for some info in the application form, is it safe to omit those from my essay? For eg, my extracurriculars and my job responsibilities.
As I said, I could use those to highlight some leadership skills but may have to omit them to keep my SOP within the limit.

Hi hopefulmba2021
I would put your main "stories" in your CV and essays. Those are the most important documents that admissions will be reviewing and making their decision based on (well, together with your LORs and basic stats like GMAT, professional experience, GPA, etc.)
Some schools indeed have many repetitive questions in their online application. In this case, you should repeat the same activities you mentioned in your CV / Essays and add additional activities that you didn't have room for in the CV/essays.
I hope this helps.
GOOD LUCK!
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Hi. I recently took my first GMAT and scored a 680 (Q48;V34). I plan to pursue MSc in Finance at a highly reputed school such as London School of Economics, Imperial, National University of Singapore, etc. However, I am not sure whether my score gives me a decent chance at most of these schools. I'm particularly interested in LSE MSc in Finance (full-time).

To give you a brief overview. I did my Bachelors in Business Administration with double majors in Finance and Marketing from Lahore School of Economics (3rd best business school in Pakistan). I graduated with a CGPA of 3.56 out 4. Since graduating, I've been working in my family's construction business. I always wanted to create a career in finance, but at the time of my graduating, I had to let go my plans to work in finance to assist in my family's business. Last year, I decided that I wanted to pursue a Masters program in Finance, and give my dreams another shot.

I know that just this information won't be sufficient to make the best projection about my prospects at these schools, but I hope it can help the experts in having an idea of where I'm coming from, and whether my GMAT score would be decent enough for me to have a shot at some of these programs.

In case you think that my GMAT needs to improve, could you please answer this question: do you think I should first retake the GMAT and then submit my applications to my preferred schools (LSE, Imperial, NUS, etc), or should I go on to submit my apps and then later submit my GMAT score from the retake?

I shall truly appreciate your taking the time out to read and respond to my query. I really need your guidance!

Thanks.

Hi Louis14,

Thanks for reaching out.

Your GMAT score and GPA are not bad at all. That being said, LSE are incredibly selective for their MSc in Finance. This means that the rest of your application should be top-notch! If you aren't interested in retaking the GMAT, I suggest checking out some of our resources on our website, or reaching out for a free consultation. Although they're more designed forMBA applicants, I'm sure you'll get lots of tips. https://www.aringo.com/mba-admission-interviews/

Good luck,
Georgia
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Thanks so much. Actually I’m planning to retake the GMAT. The biggest question facing me is this: do I submit my application first and then submit the GMAT score from the retake, or do I first retake the test, and then submit my application?

Please guide me.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Louis 14,

Since your GMAT and GPAs are not bad at all, I would just apply. If you manage to improve your GMAT, you always update them later…and if you don’t, you still made it on time.

Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with,
Georgia
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ARINGO

Got it! Thanks so much.

Hi Gil. Please help with my profile evaluation:

Age: 32
Gender: Male
Nationality: Indian

Education:
Engineer in Computer Science
GPA: 4
GMAT: 680 Q47, V37

Work Experience:
10 years at an IT services firm as an IT Business Transformation Consultant
Dedicated work with single client, a Swiss Fortune 500 company
Worked across multiple geographies with local clients from South America, Europe, East Asia

Extracurriculars:
Regular Quizzing
Occasional corporate social responsibility activities

Schools:
1. IIM A
2. IIM B
3. IIM C
4. ISB
5. NUS/Said

After MBA, I want to move into General Strategy/Management Consulting with boutique firms.

Do you think i should retake the test and aim for a 720+ for my choice of schools.

Thanks

Hi Mbbkulk,
Shimri Winters here. I head the strategy team here at ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting.
You have a very impressive career! and if you worked in multiple locations (and continents/continents) with international teams- well, that is amazing!
If you can show the following factors: managerial experience, promotions, ownership and responsibility of projects, and some real quantifiable results and achievements, well it sounds like your candidacy is fantastic!
I am missing some info regarding your extracurricular activities (Occasional corporate social responsibility activities?), GPA in uni, and of course the level of your apps
If you are going for the Indian MBAs, the 680 will probably be enough but if you are aiming for the international MBAs, and can improve your GMAT, then work on that before applying

GOOD LUCK!
Shimri
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Hi Arlingo Team,

Would love a profile evaluation.

Age: 28
Gender: Male
Nationality: Pakistani

Education: Bachelors in Business from top ranked University in Pakistan, 3.06 GPA
GMAT (Online): 700 (Q44, V41, IR7)


Work Experience: 6 years of work experience in investment planning, strategy and sales/business development at an MNC energy major. Have been responsible for guiding investment decisions with an outlay of $7 Mln USD and developing the new country strategy. Have led teams and worked (virtually) across geographical boundaries.

Extra curriculars: Parliamentary Debate and Model UN , during undergrad. Gained international exposure and leadership experience through attending conferences all over the world. Also served as President of the university's own Model UN Conference.

Community: Fundraising for a prominent NGO that works on education for the underprivileged. Also serve as a pro-bono consultant on business strategy to a local start up focused on organic waste.

Post MBA Goals: Transition into consultancy, preferably with in the energy space. Plan to work with diverse clients (Energy Majors, Public Utilities, Renewables and Gov/Regulators) in developed markets on energy transition before returning home to within Pakistan's growing energy landscape.

Schools (in order of preference): LBS, HEC, Judge, Said

Hi ARINGO Team,

My name is Miran and I would like to request a quick look at my profile to see if I'm a good candidate for an MBA.

I recently took the GRE and scored a 162 and 161 for verbal and quant, with a 5 in the writing section.

I did my Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering at the National University of Singapore, but graduated with a low GPA of 2.76/5.

Since graduating in 2016, I've been working as a project engineer in a large multinational engineering and construction firm, where I have steadily taken on more leadership roles.

In my first project, I was entrusted with the care of six key project critical documents, tasked with coordinating several high-level channels of communication, and managed a large contractor to a safe, timely, and under-budget completion.

In my second project, I was tasked with coordinating the implementation of a novel cloud-based engineering environment, which required constant work with the Thai office, the cloud vendor, and the client.

I am currently on my third project, where I have successfully implemented a different cloud-based construction mobility software, which included the development of procedures, training of personnel, and coordination with stakeholders of all levels of authority (up to project director levels). Presently, I am leading a team of 10 persons from the various Engineering, Construction Supervision, Contractor, and client teams. This sub-project requires me to control costs, prepare schedules, coordinate permitting, and also do engineering work. I have also conducted field supervision works.

I have taken and achieved my Project Management Professional certification, and am planning to take other project management courses to Keep improving myself.

I'm terms of extra curriculars, I started my college football team, and am one of the organisers of the Singapore Poetry Slam, the longest running local spoken word event in Singapore.

I was wanting to apply to places like Cass, Manchester, maybe LBS or Imperial?

Please take a look and let me know what you might think of my candidature chances.

I have fairly strong referee letters, from my project manager and a regional VP, which I believe should help.

For additional information, I am a Chinese male Singaporean, 30 years old with 4 years working experience in mid-level management.

I have some questions, if I may:

1) An honest opinion and review of my profile
2) What can I do to improve my case
3) Which UK business schools should i be looking at?

Please take a look and let me know


Posted from my mobile device

Hi Miran

Thanks for sharing your profile and MBA aspirations
My name is Shimri Winters, I head the strategy here at ARINGO
(I am a London Business School alumnus and obviously have worked with candidates on all UK schools)

You have a very interesting profile! From what I can see:

Academics – yes, your GPA is a bit low, but your university is a tier 1 brand!

Well, your 162Q, 161V is good! And I have worked with candidates with lower GREs that got into all the schools on your list! The 323 score is above the Cass, Manchester, Warwick, Imperial average. It is a little bit lower than the LBS average, but still, you have good chances there!

School wish list – I like your list! A combination of safer and harder schools! Go for as many as possible

Extracurricular activities – I love both your hobbies and very happy to see you have some hobbies too?

Work Experience –so, this is your biggest strength. Very impressive, and I am happy to see you are also doing some project management courses!

All in all, sounds like you have a solid profile! For all UK schools!
How can you improve your chances? write stellar apps (we can help with that )

Happy to help further and perhaps work together on some amazing apps if you send me your CV and any other info to Shimriw@ARINGO.com

GOOD LUCK!
 
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Hi RonnyD

Thanks for sharing these details about your profile and MBA aspirations
Shimri from ARINGO here

I liked reading about your profile from what I can see:

Academics – great academics – 3.06 GPA doesn’t sound very high, but I am assuming that in engineering, in your university it might be top X % in class? Well done!

GMAT – 700 is good. And slightly higher than some of the schools’ averages (Although, for a male engineer from Pakistan, some of the schools might look for a higher score… sorry for the stereotyping). I would not worry about this too much! And concentrate on your essays

School wish list – I like your list! A combination of safer and harder schools! Go for as many as possible

Extracurricular activities + Community activities – WOW – Model UN, NGO, etc. nice! and organic waste is a hot topic!

Work Experience –sounds great. I do need to understand more. things like: have you been working for the same company for 6 years? Have you received any promotions during this time? but all in all sounds like a very very strong work experience!

So, you have a strong profile, and now it is up to writing some amazing apps
You have kind of missed the Jan application dates, so I suggest you apply to HEC in February, and then the other schools in March and April. Makes sense?

Happy to help further (but send me your CV so I understand the work experience) and perhaps work together on some amazing apps if you send me your CV and any other info to Shimriw@ARINGO.com

GOOD LUCK!
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Hi Aringo,
Happy new year!
I would love a profile evaluation.

Age: 27
Gender: Male
Nationality: Indian

Undergraduate in Engineering from MIT Manipal in India but with a low GPA of 2.6.
Graduated in Mechanical but have worked in IT from the start.

6 years of work experience with 3 at Infosys and 3 at Fidelity Investments as a software engineer.
Have been a part of multiple projects which have led to huge savings for the company.
Also take up stretch goals to increase time efficiency of our tasks through automation.
Have recently started conducting agile ceremonies for the team and drafting quarterly plans

Not much of Extra curriculars - part of organisation wide CSR initiatives from time to time. Was in a band in college and organised a couple of cultural events

GMAT 700 (Q48, V38, IR 8, AWA 5.5)

Post MBA goal is to move into product management in a technology firm like Amazon or Microsoft. Long term goal is to get into a role in Strategy

Schools I wish to apply to - ESADE Ivey Schulich Carlson NUS NTU.
It would also be immensely helpful if you could comment on whether my choices are appropriate for my profile or if not what I can do to better it.

Thanks in advance!

Hi 700butDoubtful - Thank you for sharing your profile. You have some great MNC's on your resume, hopefully, a few promotions over 6 years to illustrate your career growth along with the impact of saving money and time (that's big!).
ESADE, Carlson, Wisconsin, IE, CEIBS would be competitive. Canadian schools are more competitive for Indian applicants, but it is possible. NUS and NTU would need to be early applications (R1).

Happy to discuss more in-depth - email me at JeniferT@ARINGO.com

Cheers!
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Hello,

Would love it if you can look at my profile and provide some guidance on the schools that may be categorized as Ambitious, Average, and Below Average in getting an admit for my profile as well as help pursuing my goals.

Nationality: Indian

Age: 25

GRE: 328 (Q170, V158, AWA3)
Have taken GRE specifically for MBA purpose as I was performing better than GMAT. (Planning to retake GRE to improve AWA as it seems too low)

Undergraduation:
• Coming from a low economical background. I could not afford top tier colleges and had to go with the best viable college.
• Completed Bachelors of Technology in Computer Science with minor in Management from one of the Top 100 Universities in India.
• Secured 9.23 CGPA of 10 (First Class with Distinction and stood 2nd in the batch).
• For the exceptional all-round performance, I was also awarded with University's highest student honor "Chairman's Gold Medal", which is awarded to only one individual from the whole university every graduation year.
• Awarded with "Best Outgoing Student" from School of Computing in my university.
• Received scholarship and award for Academic Excellence during every year of Undergrad.

Work experience and leadership:
• 4+ Years of Experience in one of the reputed and global top tier Automotive OEM.
• Promoted to Senior Research Engineer in a short span of 3 years for outstanding performance with multiple promotions in between.
• Received the Best Employee award as a result of developing a SW tool which emulated HW and saved more than INR 10 Millions for the company.
• Responsible for Development & Research of new features for the Connected Car module.
• Worked closely with international clients from Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, MnSoft, Vodafone and other automotive vendors located across various centers globally. Also, travelled internationally for Business purpose.
• Played a crucial role in vehicle audits and development of many cars from Hyundai, Kia and Genesis which clocked huge sales and currently occupy a wide market share respectively in the segment.
• Interacted with end-customers and dealers to train them of new features, manage defects and receive feedback.
• Self-developed and initiated many projects of various POC's and SW Tools which are currently adopted by our organisation and are further developed with high importance.

Launched and Co-founded 4 Startups.
• 3 Startups failed and 1 was sold.
• First startup was in hospitality and leisure segment. Eventually failed just months after the launch due to very low financial support (merely an total investment of < $500) and technical support.
• Second was related to Celebrity Management, Film media and marketing. Initially it was successful and had rapid growth, but was forced to exit due to suspension of page/communication channel (backbone of the idea) in one of the social media platform.
• Third, it belonged to Event management segment and was extremely successful too. Received accolades from the Embassy of Afghanistan, India and many other organisations. Also the startup featured in newspapers and news-channels. Nevertheless, financial distress and lack of interest by other co-founders forced us to exit.
• Fourth startup was in Apparel and Clothing segment, mostly focussed on tier-2 and tier-3 cities in India. We sold it to one of our client for a profit as some of other members lacked further interest in its growth.
• Currently brainstorming an idea related to Career and Hiring.

Extracurriculars:
• Worked actively in Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development Centre of my college as a team representative for Technical as well as Creative and Designing Teams and held many other positions inititially. I am one of the founding member of the club. Currently playing the role of mentor.
• During my participation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development Centre, I networked with seniors who where building a startup(first in my university) related to online pharmacy and was later appointed as CTO for the same. Nonetheless, the hardwork went into vain as the government banned sale of medicines via digital platforms.
• Implemented the concept of campus companies with the guidance of National Entrepreneurship Network of Wadhwani Foundation to facilitate platform for fellow students to provide products and services within our university. (Based on the idealogy of "To the students, by the students, for the students")
• Currently mentoring few juniors of my college for technical excellence and career guidance. Also attending the Board of Studies meetings related to School of Computing of my college in an alumni category.
• Attended the Photography course in Osmania University. Some of my clicks are published in National Geographic Traveller Magazine, few other magazines and digital portals too. Also shot about 4 Short films and secured 2nd position in national level competition for one of them.
• Won many national level logo designing and poster designing contests as I had good expertise in Photoshop.
• Actively Volunteered for National Service Scheme (Clean and Green Campaigns, Pulse Polio drive, blood donations camps and other special camps in India) and Lawrence Anthony Earth Organisation - Hyderabad Chapter (Zoo Volunteering, Plantation drives etc.).
• Hosted many intra and inter-university events (Departmental Fests, Cultural Fests, Technical Fests, Project Expos etc.)

Hobbies: Travelling, Photography, Coin Collection.

Post MBA goals:
• Short Term: Product Management in a Tech Company.
• Long Term: Launch my startup or restart my failed startups with required alterations.

Languages: English, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Korean (Read Only)


• The STEM designation for the course is a very important factor for me as that would extend my OPT and ease out the financial burden as I would be taking a loan to support my education.

Current Target Schools (still researching): Ross, Haas, Anderson, Scheller, Foster, Kenen-Flager, Tepper


Open to suggestions. Looking forward to hear back.
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Hi bbsk007

Thanks for sharing your profile and MBA aspirations
My name is Shimri Winters, I head the strategy here at ARINGO

You have a very interesting profile! From what I can see:

Academics – great undergraduate GPA. Nice that you received merit scholarships! Not all candidates come from IIT, so stop worrying about this!

GRE - Well, 328 is great! Nice to score 170/170 on the quant. AWA is the least important factor, but if you do retake it, perhaps you can improve the verbal a bit? again, 328 is a good score, for all schools!

School wish list – I love your list! Very realistic with Tepper and Foster as safer than the others which are also completely within reach! All offer great Stem MBA programs with realistic chances of getting into a big tech giant post MBA!

Extracurricular activities – I love both your hobbies and very happy to see you have some volunteering too?

Work Experience –WOW, working for the automobile industry is a real plus, fast track promotions sound great, and selling a start-up? Lots of stories to talk about!

Your career goals - I am not sure the goals are related and correlated to what you have done so far. But again, once I see your CV, I will be able to see if the career goals make sense.
Your career goals should continue in the direction you have taken so far (entrepreneurship, product management, etc.). And long-term entrepreneurship (again, insurance.)

All in all, sounds like you have a solid profile!

Happy to help further with a detailed review and perhaps work together on some amazing apps. Obviously, it is all a bit early and we can speak closer to May on how you can differentiate yourself and write some stellar applications for all schools. as always I am on Shimriw@ARINGO.com

GOOD LUCK!
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Hi bbsk007,

Thanks for reaching out to us.

Once you take the GMAT it will be much easier to determine the likelihood of you gaining acceptance to your target schools. Although your GRE score is great and will definitely boost your application. When are you planning on taking the GMAT test?

Your target schools are definitely not far out of reach, granted that your GMAT score is average-high.

However, you will have to word your previous work experience very carefully, whilst it is admirable that you launched 4 startups, you will have to focus on the successes and not the failures. A talented consultant will be able to help you with this. It would definitely be worth it to book in a free consultation with us here. https://www.aringo.com/mba-process-registration/

If not, you can also checkout our free MBA chances estimation calculator. You'll be able to get an estimate on your chances by plugging in all your info.

Good luck,
Let us know if we can help you further,
Georgia
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Hi elPatron434

Thanks for sharing your profile and MBA aspirations
As you know, my name is Shimri Winters, I head the strategy here at ARINGO and an LBS alumnus.

From what I can see:

Academics – you have a very good undergraduate and your GPA sounds quite good for computer science which is a tough degree to get a high GPA in. Regarding the fact that you were ill and missed some classes? I would only mention this in schools that specifically ask, if you feel your academics represent your ability. Should you mention this in others? I need to see your entire application to decide if to mention this in the optional essay or not, but my initial gut feeling is not to mention this and focus on positive things

School wish list – I really like your school wish list! Obviously, Stern is harder to get into vs. Foster but all in all, a well-balanced and realistic list! I really think you have a chance if you write great apps!

Extracurricular activities – I love both your hobbies and very happy to see you have some volunteering too

Work Experience –So, you have worked for two great big companies – fantastic and I hope you have a lot of juice and interesting stories for the essays! Actually, I am sure you do 😊 international teams, projects worth 10s of millions, team members underperforming, etc. GREAT!

Your career goals sound very realistic product manager in big tech giant for example (Foster is in Seattle – home of Amazon, Microsoft, etc.)

To answer your questions:
1. profile assessment see above
2. Schools are indifferent to GRE or GMAT. Take the test that fits you the best, and the one you feel you can score the highest score.
3. yes, leaving your job in April will have a negative effect, but if you can find something else fast, then we can show it was a promotion or “upgrade” to a better position. The quicker it happens (the further from R1) the better. Switching back to retail org will not have a negative impact if the position is more senior than the one you left.

All in all, sounds like you have a solid profile. GRE/GMAT – do your best. Work-wise, the most important thing is to stay employed, and if you feel you will be losing your job soon, find something else 😊
And obviously, feel free to reach out directly around May when we start the Round1 applications…

So for now, try to improve GRE / GMAT and let's chat in a few months? Happy to help further with a detailed review and perhaps work together on some amazing apps if you send me your CV and any other info to Shimriw@ARINGO.com

GOOD LUCK!
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