Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting

Hi acedrmonstaa,

Thanks for sharing your profile and MBA aspirations.

My name is Priyanka, Client Manager at ARINGO.

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

Academics – strong GPA and academics with leadership roles, six sigma and international exposure- WOW!

GMAT - Well, 700 is a fine score!

Work Experience –Working with Apple and also having a start-up experience- AWESOME! Multiple promotions and awards make the profile very strong.

Extracurricular activities/Volunteer Work –Continuous volunteer work is another positive point. We would love to know more about your hobbies as well.

Your career goals - Your career goals look fine but to provide more insights we would like to see your CV and discuss your plans.

School list – With the given profile and score the list looks feasible and balanced. We would love to discuss other schools that you can target.

All in all, sounds like you have a solid profile! If you send me your CV and other info on PRIYANKAK@ARINGO.com, I would love to connect you with our CEO who will be happy to help further with a detailed review and perhaps work together on some amazing apps.

All the best.

Hi team ARINGO,

Hope you're all doing well. Huge thanks in advance for reviewing my profile! Might be a little late since admissions have started but I'm considering applying to MBA programs in Europe (in particular the non-English speaking countries) matriculating this fall. I just took my GMAT 3 days ago so I only have the unofficial score for now, though I hear it is usually accurate.

Female, 33, Singaporean
BA in History, National University of Singapore (Second Upper)
BA in International Liberal Studies, Waseda University, Japan

GMAT
Unofficial 710 Q44 V44

Work Experience
7 years at an American tech MNC in Singapore. Switched through various individual contributor roles with the most recent and longest (~3 years) managing regional fraud, risk and compliance dealing with customer data privacy. No promotions since I usually sought lateral jumps to different roles (with pay rise etc) within a year in one role. Held leadership roles during college and prior, but no direct people management experience in the workplace as I wasn't interested enough to pursue that.
Currently not employed as I'd previously left with the intention to take a year to travel and explore Europe and possible job opportunities thereon, but, you know, 2020 was not a good year for that.

Hobbies
Sports (both team sports and individual sports like squash); travelling; exploring food, culture, and languages.

Goal
To work in Europe. Ideally in a smaller company/startup/scaleup with a meaningful product. Considering industries like fintech and/or functions like product management, both of which I think will be hard for me to get into currently (non-EU + prior industry experience and roles on paper not related to these two aspects), hence considering MBA as a bridge.
And the secondary (or maybe primary goal?) for the curious kid in me: learn a non-English European language.

List of Schools (that I sent my GMAT to, but open to others)
- Esade
- IESE
- Rotterdam
- SDA Bocconi
- Copenhagen Business School
I was actually very interested in BI in Norway, but their admission requirements for Business MSc requires prior undergraduate courses and/or degree related to business, finance, etc, which I don't possess. I even emailed them asking if it were possible to take some bridging or prep courses, but their response was pretty much a non-answer.
Those around me usually enrol in Judge or INSEAD, but I'm not interested in business consulting nor the cutthroat suit-and-tie culture. Countries of particular interest to me are Norway, all Northern Europe (the societal values espoused), Spain (Spanish would be a gateway to so many other languages and cultures), Italy (the food!), but open to others too.

Questions:
• Any comments/feedback on my profile above?
• Would currently not being employed adversely impact my admission chances? I recall some schools like Tallinn Tech actually indicate a strong preference for applicants who are currently employed.
• I get the sense Aringo might specialise more in the US side but if there are any other schools I should consider, please feel free to share.

A million thanks for reading through this!

Hi itzmeduh,

Hope you are doing fine, as well.

Thanks for sharing your profile and MBA aspirations. My name is Priyanka, Client Manager at ARINGO.

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

Academics – Having double bachelors in different countries- Nice. We would love to know your GPA and Class ranking (or percentile) as well.

GMAT - Well, 710 (Q44, V44) is a fine score!

Work Experience – So, this is your biggest advantage and disadvantage. You need to show your professional experience in a way so that the career trajectory is visible. Also, to make an impactful CV quantifying the results, leadership skills, etc. is very important. Not working currently-needs to be showcased positively in your essays and what you have been doing in that phase.

Extracurricular activities/Volunteer Work –Very interesting hobbies and extracurricular. Any volunteer work?

Your career goals – I am not sure the goals are related and correlated to what you have done so far. But again, once we see your CV, we will be able to see if the career goals make sense. Ideally, your career goals should continue in the direction you have taken so far so that we can connect the dots.

School list – I like your list! But as said earlier, to guide you better on the sync with career goals, we need other details. Also, as you are applying in later rounds, so the earlier you start the better it is. Please visit the link to have an understanding of the admission stats of your preferred programs- https://www.aringo.com/top-mba-programs/

Answer to your queries: a) Feedback on profile: Given above. 😊
b) Current Employment Status- As suggested, need to be explained well in the essays.
c) We do not specialize in particular geography like the US, etc. We have helped clients with successful applications in top global B schools. We will try our best to you put your best foot forward for the schools that you will be applying to and perhaps work together on some amazing apps.

All in all sounds like you have a good profile! If you send me your CV and other info on PRIYANKAK@ARINGO.com, I would love to connect you with our CEO who will be happy to help further with a detailed review.

All the best.

ARINGO

Hi Priyanka, thanks for the super quick response!

I don't really know what the GPA equivalent is since NUS follows the British grading system, but I had a score of 4.14/5 with Second Class Upper Honours, whereas Waseda seems to have a different grading system. There are grades for each course, and I attained about half As and half A+'s, but the transcript indicates the school does not rank.

I've done some volunteering previously at food kitchen, overseas volunteer activities during college etc but it's not sustained. I prefer helping friends or acquaintances out, although I don't do it for the advertisement so I will leave these out from my CV. For example, I've helped proofread websites in English, did DIY renovations for 4 months, coached my junior team for 2-3 years after graduation but stopped after work and travel demands piled up, etc.

You are right, I don't particularly have a clear career trajectory or goal and my resume will reflect that too. So far, I've pursued subsequent roles usually by considering what skills I wanted to attain or what challenges I wanted to tackle, and my listed career goals also follow that vein. This is probably somewhat unlike most MBA applicants heh. That said, I had some exposure to pseudo product management in my previous role, as I took an additional responsibility of driving the development of an internal data analytics platform even as I was managing risk and compliance day-to-day. That was what got me interested in product management. As for fintech, I noticed most of fraud roles available were in the finance industry, but fintech is more appealing to me than traditional finance since I believe finance should be disrupted to increase accessibility.

Thanks again for the thorough feedback! Much appreciated. Right now I should get cracking on applications and when I've done that, I'll consider the free consultation from Aringo since it's probably easier to help someone when they've at least taken some steps themselves, eh?

Hi itzmeduh,

You are most welcome.

Thanks for sharing the further details.

- Well, with 4.14/5 and multiple 'A's your GPA should be in place and we need not worry too much about that.

- Any volunteer work is good work. It need not be advertised but should convey the message through the mentioned examples that you like doing community/volunteer work to make a difference.

- Regarding career trajectory, once we have a look at your CV we can help you better create stories that connect the dots on the career choices that you have made and how that inspires you towards your career goals.

Sure, feel free to reach us in case of any help/query. We will be happy to speak to you.

All the best for your applications!

Hi Aringo Team,

First of all, my apologies for requesting a review without being in your targeted GMAT range - you do come across as one of the most helpful and active experts on the forum so would truly appreciate your guidance and thoughts here. Looking to apply in ~1.5-2 years, thanks a lot!

Male, 23, Australian-Chinese
BA in Commerce (Finance), UNSW Sydney. WAM: 85
Semester exchange to UT Austin McCombs. GPA: 3.75

GMAT: 760 (Q51, V41)

Work experience:
1 year in Asia BB investment banking, working with a variety of Chinese and SEA clients across M&A/ECM/DCM. No direct people management experience, but expect some involvement in future leading interns/new hires.

Hobbies:
Marathon running & sub-3 training (3:10 PB), hiking, tennis, cycling, chess

Extracurricular:
None - pretty much my main concern as understand schools look for well-rounded candidates

Goal:
To work in New York/San Fran as a career banker, on the assumption internal transfer is difficult and not supported, based on my discussions with internal.

Target schools (GMAT scores sent to)
Harvard
Stanford
Wharton
Columbia
MIT Sloan

Questions:
A. How essential are extra-curriculars to the B-School application, and what types of activities would you generally see applicants undertake, who have similar profiles and given the time constraints in banking?

B. Would my current profile be too generic for my targeted schools (personally feel Wharton/Columbia are more likely) if I kept status quo at my current job for the next 1-2 years prior to applying? What are the key areas would you recommend focusing on to improve?

Very much appreciated for your thoughts!

Hi Livefree,

First of all, thank you for your kind words and for sharing your profile. 😊

My name is Priyanka, Client Manager at ARINGO.

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

Academics – good WAM. International exposure through summer exchange is a positive point.

GMAT - 760 is a fine score!

Work Experience – Well, you are starting from a good place. We suggest trying taking leadership/managerial roles and big clients. The more you quantify your work in your resume, the more impactful it will become. Like managing XX interns, etc.

Hobbies – Marathon running, Chess, and Hiking- Everything looks good!

Your career goals - Your career goals look fine as this is a logical extension of what you are doing presently but everything is speculative here.

School list – With your score you can try M7 but again the profile at the time of applying matters the most. You can visit the following link to have a general idea of admission stats of your target schools: https://www.aringo.com/top-mba-programs/

Answer to your queries: a) Well, extracurriculars are important and the schools do look at a well-rounded profile. But, the good thing is that you still have time to cover that. You can try i) taking CSR activities at your workplace ii) Look out for some NGOs and join them. Don’t restrict yourself to volunteering, take initiatives.😊 iii) try to join social clubs in your vicinity like Toastmasters, etc.

b) Current profile- As suggested, work towards getting promotions, managerial roles, big clients at your workplace. Beyond that, if your friend/relative has a start up- try taking up a consulting role on a pro bono basis, get some certifications in sync with your career goals (but do not worry too much about them 😊). You can also visit the following link to understand what does school looks in an MBA candidate: https://www.aringo.com/mba-admission-drivers/

All in all sounds like you have a promising profile! If you send me your CV and other info on PRIYANKAK@ARINGO.com once you are ready to apply, I would love to connect you with our CEO who will be happy to help further with a detailed review and perhaps work together on some amazing apps.

All the best.

Hi Aringo,

Before finalizing the schools I should apply to I thought it would be a good idea to get my profile reviewed by you. Kindly find the same below and thanks in advance.

My MBA interest: Fulltime program in Strategy in Asia/Europe/USA. (Namely LBS/NUS/NTU/Duke)

GMAT 1 710 (Q49, V37) (IR 6 AWA 5)----Planning to use this score due to better V/Q balance.
GMAT 2 710 (Q50, V34) (IR 7 AWA 5)

TOEFL ibt -113/120

Work Exp: 40 months at matriculation (Thermal System engineer for Toshiba Japan)

Gender – Male
Age – 26 yrs
Nationality - Indian

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.

Why MBA?
Having seen the sales team create strategies as to how to offer our product to the customer, I was attracted towards creating strategies and finding solutions.

Education:
B. Tech (Mechanical Engineering) from Delhi Technological University(Top 10 Engineering College in India), 2018 pass out, 9.2 CGPA (top 2% of class)
XII – 93.4%, CBSE board
X – 10 CGPA, CBSE board(school topper)

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.

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.

My questions :

1. An honest opinion about my chances at my target schools.
2. What is the probability that I can get a scholarship at LBS and Duke?
3. What weaknesses do you see in my profile?
4. Any others schools that you feel I would be a good match for?
5. Would colleges in US TOP-10 be out of my reach? (especially since US MBA schools give higher weightage to GMAT scores)

Sorry for flooding you with so many questions.

Sanchit

Sanchit hi,
Shimri from ARINGO here
I just sent you a profile review on the LBS forum. I am missing a lot of info on your profile to give you a better assessment...

To answer these questions shortly:

1. your chances are good, with a good application (happy to help with that)
2. Scholarship chances at Duke and LBS with 710, are low.
3. weaknesses? I sent you 10 questions (have you worked internationally, have you managed people, what happened to your startup, where did you volunteer, what are your hobbies, etc.) once I know those, I can address the weakness. but the honest truth is, these schools are super competitive, with 100s of Indian male engineers applying to them, and your GMAT is average
4. any top 15 US school! any EU school
5. Top 7 US schools are all out of your reach with current GMAT


hope this helps? happy to talk more and perhaps work together on some amazing apps, as always, I am on shimriw@ARINGO.com
GOOD LUCK

Nationality / Age: Indian /26
GMAT/GRE Score: Would be appearing in July End..... aiming for 720+
GPA / Work experience: 8.41/10 (Undergrad), 8.44/10 (Post Graduate Diploma in Banking and Finance), 10th - 87% (Gold Medalist), 12th 78% / 15 Months as Technical Support in US based MNC and 36 Months as Credit Manager (1 Promotion) in Public Sector Bank with 4 people reporting to me.

In my work-ex, I'm basically heading a department of almost 70 Crore now. It includes public dealing, NPA Management, Credit Assessment of Firms and Individuals, Inspection of Asset and their classification, Credit Monitoring etc

Educational Background: Electrical Engineer
Post-MBA goals: Investment Banking
Schools you are applying to: Not yet finalized but would be applying only if I get 720 or more to below schools - Simon, Jones, McDonough, Kelley & Kenan-Flagler

I'd be certainly gunning for Scholarship 😅

Profile Evaluation would be highly appreciated 😊

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Abhinay66

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

You have a very interesting profile! But obviously, we will be smarter after you take the GMAT (Obviously, no GMAT = no MBA…). So, I suggest we stay in touch and you contact me again post-GMAT (I am always on shimriw@ARINGO.com)

In terms of your profile, I can see a lot of “meat” to work with 😊

Academics – seem great!

School wish list – very realistic with a 720 and above… but again, let’s see what you can score. A higher GMAT will help with scholarships!)

Extracurricular activities – anything here?

Work Experience – I really like your work experience! promotion, team management, working for a US company, ALL GOOD! (need to know more of course, but sounds great!)

All in all, sounds like you have a solid profile! And a very realistic school list. Get going with the GMAT, and maximize your score there (even if this means missing R1)
Happy to help further (after you take the exam) 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!

Hi team Aringo,

Hope you're doing well. I am considering applying for MBA programs for the 2022 intake. Could you please evaluate my profile.

Male, 25, Indian
BFIA (Undergraduate in Management - Finance as major) from College of Business Studies, Delhi University (Few alumni at top B-schools, score - 75%)
CFA Charterholder
12th - 95%, 10th - 9.4/10

GMAT: 730 (V39, Q50)

Work Experience:
Total 4 years of work experience across Private Equity, Investment Banking and Consulting (5 years by the time I join)
1 year as Senior Investment Analyst at a London HQed Private Equity firm (good brand in Europe, not so much in the US) in a Middle Office role (based in Delhi). Leading a team of 2 junior analysts.
2 years as Senior Investment Banking Analyst at an Indian Boutique Investment Bank (Promoted to Senior IB analyst after 1 year)
1 year as an Analyst at a Boutique Management Consulting Firm (6 months of International Exposure in the Middle East)

Extra-Curriculars
Had a bootstrapped startup in college (1.5 years) which I built into a team of 10 people. Won 2 awards and got admitted into an accelerator program. But it was pre-revenue and we couldn't scale it enough to boast much.

Goal:
Continue in the same industry - Private Equity or Investment Banking. But to be on the safer side, I'll probably want to go for an Investment Banking role first and then move to Private Equity, considering higher IB recruitment on avg. across all B-schools.

Recommenders:
1st - Partner/Managing Director of the Private Equity firm that I'm currently working at (MBA: Kellogg, Insead) and 2nd - Investment Manager
I might be able to get an Investment Associate role (based in London) in my firm if my MBA is from a top B-school (without sponsorship)

I am mainly looking at B-schools which are good for Finance/Private Equity/Investment Banking
Preliminary List of Target Schools I'm considering applying to:
- NYU Stern
- Yale SOM
- Duke Fuqua
- ISB
- Said Oxford
- NUS
- IESE

Few more schools I could consider but chances seem low
- Tuck
- Columbia
- LBS

Certainly trying for scholarships. Might go for cheaper programs if unable to get through a top college/not get scholarship at B-schools at lower ranks

My questions :
- What are my chances at the target schools?
- What is the probability to get scholarship?
- Any other schools that you might recommend?
- Any weaknesses in my profile? (I believe I lack NGO/volunteering experience)
- Could having an offer for an Investment Associate position at my PE employer (which has a good brand in Europe) significantly impact my prospects (reason for considering LBS)? And (if yes) how should this be communicated in my application?

Sorry for the long list of questions. Thanks in advance!

- Pranav

Hi Pranav,

Thanks for sharing your profile and MBA aspirations.

My name is Priyanka, Client Manager at ARINGO.

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

Academics – CFA + a GMAT score of 730- Superb! We would like to know your class percentile in your bachelor’s.

Work Experience –Your experience is really good with an impressive career trajectory. We would love to see your resume to understand your roles & responsibilities and the impact of the work done by you. Also, international experience is another positive point.

Extracurricular activities/Volunteer Work – Tell us more about your start-up. Also, about your hobbies and interests.

Your career goals - Your career goals look fine as this is a logical extension of what you are doing presently but will be able to give more insights once you share your CV and provide more details about your family business.

School list – Looks like you have done good research on schools. 😊The list looks fine, but again we will be able to give better insights once we have your resume.

Regarding your queries:
(a) Your chances in the mentioned schools look good with a good application (Happy to help you with the same😊). However, you have mentioned your interest across all geographies- USA, UK, EU, India, Asia. We suggest introspect well on the location once- where do you see yourself working/staying after your MBA.
(b) Being part of the overrepresented pool of candidates, ensure applying in Round 1 of the schools for best chances of scholarships. Some of the schools from the list are scholarship friendly and some are not, but let’s try for sure.
(c) You have pretty much covered the schools that are in sync with your goals. Once we discuss your story, we might be able to suggest more relevant schools.
(d) Yes, ECs are not that strong. The schools look for a well-rounded profile. Apart from good GMAT, academics, and professional excellence-they look for interesting candidates. So, we need to delve deeper into that!
(e) We need to understand better about this offer- concrete/official or speculative base only?

All in all sounds like you have a good profile! If you send me your CV and other info on PRIYANKAK@ARINGO.com, I would love to connect you with our CEO who will be happy to help further with a detailed review and perhaps work together on some amazing apps.

All the best.

Ask any questions or profile evaluation requests to ARINGO admissions consulting here in this chatroom.

This room will be active on Monday June 14th from 10 AM PDT to 11 AM PDT during the MBA Spotlight Fair!

Profile Evaluation for MBA 2022 Intake-
GMAT: 760
Duolingo: 145
Undergrad: 9.7 CGPA in Bachelor of Commerce(WES-> US Equivalent Undergrad).
University: Lovely Professional University, Punjab
12th Grade: 92%
Work Experience: 2.5 yrs as Finance Associate in Largest Infrastructure Company of India- Promoted Twice in the period currently leading a team and managing finance of Two National Projects in India under the direct control of PM Office.
3 MOnths as a Process analyst intern in Telecom Company.
EC's - Hosted many events in Undergrad, District level Hockey Player won prizes in Undergrad, Been a part of Charitable organization for the past 5 years.
Certifications: CFA Level 1, CPMP and Online MOOC's over Analytics and Data Science.
Post-MBA goals - Want to transit in Product Management in FMCG.
Hope for the Comments.
Also, Please let me know if pursuing MBA in India or in Abroad is correct for my profile.
which schools can I apply for?

Hi Prasad2799

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

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

Academics – great undergraduate and GPA. Also, I love the CFA and CPMM certifications!

GMAT - Well, 760 is a fantastic score WELL DONE!

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

Work Experience –2 promotions in 2.5Y sounds amazing!!! And you have managerial experience – this is wonderful. The disadvantage is, 2.5y is still below the schools’ average s of 4-4-6 years + your work experience sounds a bit “local”. If you work with international teams and clients, that would be better… if not, well, it is what it is… but solid work experience

School wish list – so, it is up to you if you want to study in India or abroad. Naturally, a US school leads to a career in the US, an EU school leads to a career in EU, an Asian school leads… you get the picture 😊 , and an Indian school will lead to jobs in India.
Still, which schools can you apply to? the best in India (So, for example, ISB), the best in Asia (so for example HKU), the best in EU (LBS and INSEAD might be tough, as you don’t have international experience, but the next ones will like your profile, like HEC Paris), and the best in the US (M7 might be tough, with lower chances than Duke or Cornell or UCLA, but you are in the game for ALL of them)

All in all, sounds like you have a solid profile! Really!
And you can get into top schools (perhaps with our help)

SO, I suggest you do some more soul searching, where do I apply to, when do I apply, and then perhaps hop on a call with me, and we can understand better if we can work together on some amazing applications…
Once you know when, where, etc., send me your CV and any other info to Shimriw@ARINGO.com and we can take it from there!

GOOD LUCK!