Ask ARINGO - if your GMAT is (or might be) below 720

Hi Joy,
Can you please share some deep real-life insights on how NY can be beneficial and will add value towards CBS MBA grads with RE focus both during MBA and post-MBA? And how NY is as far as RE industry is concerned because my post-MBA ST and LT goals are in RE...

All the information I've about NY, is mostly from Internet/Newspaper/Journals...and neither I've lived or worked in NY.So, I was thinking that you may share some solid practical information on the same to fill-up this void at least to some extent...

Look forward to hear from you.

P.S: Happy Independence day in advance!

Hi, Rajkaranreddy
Can you tell me what your goals are, in general, and what schools you are considering?
You have 2 years of full time professional experience since graduating from college? How old are you?
As assistant manager are you supervising anyone? Do you have any leadership experience, or managing others?
any other significant things you didn't mention?

Joy



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Hi, Debayan
There's no escaping it, you'll have to do some more in-depth research, for sure. In case you haven't seen this page, here's a link that talks about Columbia's Center for Real Estate and MBA Real Estate Program. https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/realestate/home

I don't personally know much about the NY Real Estate scene, but I had at least one client in the past who was working in NY in Real Estate, and from the stories this person wrote, it seemed that the industry was very fertile. One thing you might do is to search for large real estate development companies in NY and see what opportunities are there, perhaps for internships or see if these companies come and give lectures on campus. You can also try to find a student or alumnus of Columbia who is in RE, and see if you can get some inside information from them. Here at Aringo, when questions of this nature come up, we usually connect applicants to our network of former clients, and then they can get personal, unique and specific answers to their questions. Perhaps if you look at some forums, or even write to Columbia to say you are interested in contacting a student/alumnus to hear about the program, they will be helpful.

Good luck!

Joy
Senior Application Consultant
Aringo.com



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First off, thanks so much for any feedback!

Would you mind discussing my chance for a top 10 program? As well as what I need to work/focus on? I'm terrified of only a 700 on GMAT(took it twice, 670 first time) and my low GPA.

Stats:

27 yr old, white, American male

Education:

Penn State University - Main Campus
3.00 Cumulative GPA, 3.5 Major GPA
Civil Engineering - 3.8 GPA avg 3rd and 4th year (all major-intensive courses), 2nd year had some family issues, 1st year immature (fraternity)
GMAT: 700 (44Q/41V)

Work Experience:

- 3 years in major construction project management. Was actually laid off twice in 1.5 years due to both companies suffering major, company-wide workforce reductions. Regardless, only unemployed for a total of three months in which I was proactive in job searching. Was still able to secure a great job and receive a promotion to Project manager after only 3 months. Managed two projects simultaneously worth a total of $25M from start to finish. Was overseeing all aspects of job operations which included a workforce of 40+ workers at times.

- Current (approaching 2 years): small, niche consulting division in Big Four firm. Global group with only 30+ members. Focused on major real estate and construction projects ($100M+). Provide both qualitative management consulting and quantitative analytic services. Promotion after one year.

Total 5 years.


MBA Goal:
I transitioned to a consulting role because my passion is actually in the "business" side of real estate and construction, as opposed to the heavy "engineering" side. Therefore, I thought consulting would be a good segue.

The reason for wanting a top-MBA is so that I can further learn and develop my business knowledge in finance and management in hopes of one day being a c-level member of a major real estate or construction firm. Although I have extensive experience in RE&C, I'm not necessarily looking to go back to a specific RE program.

Schools:
Tuck, Duke, Booth, Wharton (dream school), HBS (another dream).

Open to others as well.

Extracurricular:

- co-leader of a yearly, global real estate and construction market survey. We contact over 130+ major companies in the RE&C industry around the world, and leverage our firm's partners across the world to meet with c-level executives of these companies and discuss future market predictions. We then take this data and form it into a formal document for presentation.
- assistant coach/volunteer for a golf organization that brings the game of golf to inner city children as well as teaching them life skills.
- lead organizer for Junior Achievement program within company. In charge of 30+ volunteers that go to inner city schools and help teach business/commerce to young children

Recommendations:

- expecting great recommendations from current supervisor as well as my previous supervisor
- also have multiple family friends who are alum and still involved with the following: Booth, Tuck, Fuqua, Wharton

Thanks so much for your help. Looking forward to your feedback!

rajkaranreddy wrote:
Sir,
I would like you to evaluate my profile and help me narrow down on the best b-schools i could apply to.
Nationality: Indian
GMAT:710 Q51 V35. AWA&IR: Not received yet.
Work ex: Asst. Manager, National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd., India, 24 months (till july 31 2013)
Acads: 82.6%, BTech Electrical Engineering, Indian School of Mines.
Recipient of Merit scholarship in bachelors.
organized various national level sports,cultural and technical events.
Received an award from President of India for services to Bharat scouts and guides(high school level).



Hi, Rajkaranreddy
Can you tell me what your goals are, in general, and what schools you are considering?
You have 2 years of full time professional experience since graduating from college? How old are you?
As assistant manager are you supervising anyone? Do you have any leadership experience, or managing others?
any other significant things you didn't mention?

Joy

sir,
I intend to pursue mba in finance. i have also requested for my official scorecard to be sent to ISB,NUS,Tepper,Simon,Mccombs. DO I stand a chance for these schools with my stats. Are there any other good schools that fall in my range.
Work exp: I work on operations desk in a thermal power plant, energy sector. it is a technical job but also deals with man management. The repercussions of any tiny error are huge. Involves ability to multitask.
leadership roles: organized many national level events in college. essayed many leadership roles in school and college.

Hi, I think you are on track. Your GMAT is higher than the average at at least several of the schools you are considering. In the same range you are shooting for, you can also consider Boston College. The biggest hurdle you have, I think, is the career change - I would try to highlight any experience you have that relates in some way to Finance, or will have prepared you for it. Also explain why you have chosen this new career.

All the best,

Joy
Senior Application Consultant
Aringo.com




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Hello,

Thanks in advance for your advice. Could you please help me determine my chances at some top tier schools?

Profile:
Female, 27 yr old
Nationality: US (of Indian ethnicity)

Education:
Carnegie Mellon University
3.50 GPA
BFA in Industrial Design
GMAT: 650 (expected, based on practice tests, I have not yet taken an official exam)

Work Experience:

- 5 years at Johnson & Johnson. Was hired as an Industrial Designer for the first year, then offered a position as a Packaging Engineer for Visine and Rogaine brands. While on these brands, I redesigned the packaging for Visine and Rogaine to achieve significant cost reductions.
- Promoted to Global Engineering and moved onto the Johnson's Baby Brand worldwide, and then onto Listerine worldwide, leading engineering and innovation for the Listerine brand.
- Leading sustainability within engineering in North America by building my knowledge of sustainable packaging and systems. Recently I implemented a decision tree tool for teams to use during the early stages of a project, which helps establish whether or not you are making progress in a positive sustainable direction with your product and packaging. This allows sustainability to be taken into account early on in the project, helping to shape the product and packaging in an environmentally beneficial way. I have also led efforts to track the progress of packaging reduction projects worldwide, and brainstorm new innovative ideas for sustainable packaging.
-Co-leading SAPNA, the South Asian Professional Network Association, which offers mentoring, talent development, and opportunities to give back to the JnJ community and beyond.
-Co-founded the "No Waste Project" at JnJ with two other employees, which is a program that looks for ways to re-purpose waste from the JnJ supply chain for societal and educational good. We recently re-purposed corrugate and office paper from 3 different JnJ sites to convert into 300 notebooks for the children of Project Head Start in East Harlem, NYC.

Extra-curriculars (concurrent with work):
-Recently redesigned the rain-barrels manufactured by the Non-Profit Watershed Association in Pittsburgh, which help people collect rain water for re-use (again showcasing my love for sustainability).
-Co-founded the New York City chapter of a non-profit org dedicated to furthering humanity through design. While working with this non-profit, I helped design an educational playground for the children in the HIV/AIDS orphan school in Kutamba, Uganda. This playground was featured in the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Museum in NYC as well as several books, such as "Design like you Give a Damn." Similar playgrounds have now been constructed at 26 other schools.

Extra-curriculars (concurrent with undergrad):
- Worked as a Resident Assistant 20+ hours a week all four years of undergrad to help finance my education
- Co-founded "CMU Fusion," a performance production that showcased the various cultural talents of students at CMU, and "fused" them together so that participants learned from each other's cultures
- Was active on the Student Activities Funding Committee
- Served as the student representative on the Public Arts Committee

MBA goal:
I want to pursue an MBA to better understand how to craft sustainability strategy for large consumer products companies such as JnJ. I think my design background and technical expertise enable me to understand tactically what to do, but I want the business acumen to know how to scale up, and how to measure success.

Schools:
Tuck, NYU, Sloan, Columbia, HBS

Do I have a chance at any of these schools?

Thank you very much for your time!

Hi, smp
First off - you seem to be in a very good position job-wise. You work for a renowned firm in a consulting position. Remember many MBA candidates are looking to transition directly from their engineering jobs into consulting, following the MBA, so the fact that you've already done it and are looking to advance in the same field is very good. I recommend that as you consider your career goals, you will stay in the same trajectory, as this makes the most sense in terms of your proven experience.

You have some strong leadership positions in your background, which is good, and teamwork as well - great. The low GPA is a weak spot, and you should ask your recommenders to talk about how smart and dedicated you are, to compensate. You might also try to find a way to talk about the low GPA, and point out if your last years were much higher, how you matured over the course of your studies, and of course bring in the family issues.

Again, regarding niche, it might be best to stay with Real Estate as you present yourself - although it could also be a good argument that you want to break into other fields of consulting, and that's why the MBA will be great, as if will expose you to many different fields so you can see with which you feel best. Your school choices sound good - perhaps consider one top 20 as a fall back, just in case, if you want an MBA regardless starting next year.

Good luck!

Joy
Senior Application Consultant
Aringo.com



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Hi, Nthatte,

Your GPA is fine; regarding the GMAT, the practice tests, in my experience, are not the best determiner of how you will actually do on the test. If you are consistently getting 650 on the practice, you might consider taking a GMAT preparatory course to help you improve your grade - and your grade on the actual test.

You are in a very 'sexy' niche - sustainability - and it's not just words with you; you have the work and extracurricular experience to back it up, and that's fantastic. In addition to the schools you have chosen, you might also check out schools that are rated very high on sustainability: Ross (Michigan) is #1, with the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise; Cornell (Johnson) - perhaps you get points for working for J&J and applying to J? - seriously, they have an MBA specialization for sustainable global enterprise; Haas and Yale come in at 3 and 4. MIT Sloan comes in at #6; the other schools you've chosen are not particularly noted for being 'green', but that doesn't mean you shouldn't apply.

Regarding chances, I suggest you click on the link down bottom, below my name, where you can answer a series of questions about your profile, and get a sense of your eligibility at the various schools in which you are interested.

Last thing - when you apply, I suggest you highlight as much as possible your leadership; I think you have a good deal of it, but it may not be coming off at the moment in your resume. Whenever you've actually led or supervised people, you want to spell this out very clearly.

All the best,

Joy
Senior Application Consultant
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Thank you very much

Hi Kana, about UT Austin – their mid 80% GMAT range is 620-730, so you fall close to the middle of the middle range. They're average GPA is 3.45, so you are a bit below that as well. They are a top 20-30 school, so not super competitive, however still it's only a little over 25% of the applicants being accepted. You haven't mentioned your career goals – I assume marketing, but in any particular industry? Or do you plan to return to KPMG or a similar company? These consulting firms are good recruiters at Austin. The modeling is interesting – you might try and find how it relates to your career and MBA; show you are able to extract important lessons from every experience. The RA is good – mentorship, leadership, etc. I would say you have a chance, and can look for similarly ranked schools.

To better understand your chances at the different programs, check out the free calculator we have (link below). Also, consider applying to a few schools first round, and working to improve your GMAT score to apply to additional schools second round.

Good luck!

Joy
Senior Application Consultant
Aringo.com




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1

Thank you for your response.

With my experience in feasibility studies, business plans and marketing, I eventually want to end up in a Business Development division and eventually start up something on my own (too far ahead to assess right now). My industry that I have experience in right now is telecom, and the marketing is consumer usage analysis, which can be transferred to other industries where data on consumer usage is easily available. That being said, would Austin be a good choice for my interests? I was very interested in their program, the place and overall reputation of the school. What other schools can I look at for the same?

Thanks!

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Hi

Please evaluate my profile and help me with my queries.

GMAT (on 22 Aug 2013):710(92%ile)- Q50 V35
Male, Indian, Engineer (Production Engineering)

Background-
2 Years in Teach for India, Non- profit, Full Time (2012 onwards)
2 Years in Pricing Panel of Tata Motors, Automobile (2010-2012)

Post MBA I want to work in a top consultancy firm. I have held positions which required me to come up with quick and effective solutions, and I enjoyed this part of my work the most. I prefer to work in diverse teams working mutually towards a positive outcome. I want to pursue MBA to be more competitive, to build a strong network during my degree, and to get into consulting, preferably related to education.

My Target schools are:
Darden, Duke, Ross, Tuck, Kelly and Emory.

My Questions are:
1) Does one require certain pre-requisites to target consultancy after MBA.
2) Is it a good choice of schools to target as per my profile?
3) Will the fact that I have a 75 percentile in Verbal lower my chances in the above schools i.e. should I retake GMAT?

PROFILE SUMMARY

EDUCATION
Bachelor of Technology- College of Technology, GBPUA&T
Production Engineering, GPA 7.7/10
- 3rd in a batch of 31
- received University Merit scholarship for 2 consecutive years for being the topper of my department

WORK EXPERIENCE (4 YEARS BY AUGUST 2014)

Tata Motors Ltd, Fortune 500 and India’s largest automobile company (2010 –2012)
Assistant Manager, Material Pricing
Key Responsibility: To lead the sheet-metal team of pricing panel division, generate and execute cost reduction ideas, conduct employee training, and negotiate commercial issues with the suppliers of 6 variants across 5 states.
In just one year, became the lead in the sheet metal department, heading a team of 14 members.

Teach for India, Non Profit Organization aiming to achieve educational equity in India (2012 onwards)
Accomplished a class-wide academic growth of 1.5 years in Math and 1.2 years in English in one year of teaching.
Classroom selected to represent TFI at InspirED(International Conference)

Extracurricular
- Facilitated counseling sessions for 150 adults and teenagers
- Advisor to 17 fellow teachers in the city, responsible for their troubleshooting and mentoring.
- Selected from 600 Fellows across India to represent India at the Leadership Development Conference attended by educators from 26 countries

OTHER LEADERSHIP ROLES
Founded an initiative to develop and conduct Character Development Workshops for students of low income schools across Delhi- Already impacted about 400 students and 60 parents across Delhi, resulting in transformed class culture and student outcomes
- Assembled a workforce of about 40 volunteers to run the initiative

Vice–President of the University Official Body of Production Engineering- led 140 University students to plan, fund-raise and organize National and University level technical and social events (such as Rural Classrooms, Clothes Donation Camps)

MISCELLANEOUS
- Finalist of National Business Plan competition on social ventures
- Winner of National Paper Presentation Competition
- Second Runner Up in State Badminton Championship
- Published a paper in a National Conference

Hi,

I gave GRE and scored 330/340 (Quant-169 , Verball 161). I havent given the GMAT and most of the universities are accepting GRE for MBA as well. ETS has released the official tool for conversion of GRE scores to their equivalent GMAT scores where my score gets converted to 740.
UG GPA :7.97/10

Work Experience: Oct 2011 to present . will have 34 months of experience by august 2014. I have worked in TATA cosultancy services as a developer in Oracle Peoplesoft Finance applications in Asset management , Expenses , General Ledger and Supply chain management in a functional as well as technical role.My clients were Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Covance Labs, USA. Recommendation letter from My tech lead will be fine i hope??

Certifications: NAtional Stock Exchange certified Market Proffessional - level3, National stock exchange certified Derivatives champion,and additional NSE certifications in financial markets, options tradin, Derivatives dealer and options trading strategy module . Also have an ITIL-V3 certification

Extra cirriculars: 12th Rank in National Junior Math Olympiad , Led my college team for 4 years and making it to the finals for first time in past 11 years. Played for my Corporate team which has an employee work force of 300,00.

Ambition: MBA with concentration in finance.

Could you please suggest the colleges i shud apply for and the chances in those colleges respectively. Also, will my GRE be a negatove factor in comparision to GMAT , although colegese have mentioned that there shall be no discrimination

Hi, Rohit,
You've really provided an in-depth view of your profile - thank you! Regarding what one needs to do to be recruited for a consulting job following the MBA, I don't have much information, though one thing you can check is which programs have consulting firms come to recruit there. If you are accepted to an MBA program and take the consulting specialization, they should be preparing you well for your future profession.

One thing you want to do is to tailor your resume to show any past experience that relates to consulting, so try to get the words 'consulted,' 'advised,' 'counseled,' 'created strategy,' etc. in there.

Your school choice looks fine to me - many of the chosen schools indeed have top consulting firms recruiting there. In terms of the GMAT, you've broken through 700, which is important. If you have the possibility of retaking it and think you can score higher, by all means do. At the moment, though, you are above the average GMAT score for most, and just slightly below the average at Michigan. As you brought up, though, increasing the GMAT can help to balance a lower GPA. If you choose to remain with the current GMAT, then you can also ask your recommenders to confirm your aptitude in the areas that the Verbal tests for, which are mainly: English grammar, reading comprehension and understanding of written arguments.

Good luck!

Joy
Senior Application Consultant
Aringo.com

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Hi, regarding the GRE I haven't much to add - I don't believe any of my clients have applied with the GRE instead of the GMAT, so I can't testify as to whether the schools really give it equal weight or not. Regarding which programs to go for, some that are strong in finance, and of varying levels of competitiveness in terms of acceptance are: Wharton, Chicago, Columbia, London Business School, NYU Stern, Cornell, Tepper, UCLA Anderson, Boston College, and University of Texas McCombs. You can do some research, see what firms recruit at each, and which one has the culture that most appeals to you. You can also choose a variety of schools where you will be competitive or a stretch as a candidate. For more about this, you can use the free online calculator we have below (see link).

The recommendation from your team leader is good - you'll need another one of course. And you'll want to try through your essays to explain why you've decided to make a career switch, and to discuss your passion for the world of finance.

Good luck!

Joy
Senior Application Consultant
Aringo.com

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What’s up Aringo!

I was wondering if you could kindly evaluate my profile…and I will love you guys forever

Summary: 27 year old Aussie male currently working as an IT Consultant for a multinational.
Undergrad degree: Computer Engineering from Uni of Sydney
GPA: No clue! My weighted average mark is approx. 70 (/100) and I graduated with 2nd Class Honours
GMAT: 650 (Q 47, V 32) AWA and IR marks are still being processed.

Work experience (5.5 years)
1. Graduate rotation position in the federal government sector (1 year)
2. Product engineer and solution architect for Australia’s largest telco (2 years)
3. Business consultant (internal) for a large global bank (6 months)
4. IT consultant (held different roles within the company all with the same generic title. i.e. data manager, team lead, tech lead consultant) (2 years)

Outside of work:
Competitive video gamer – won several tournaments with total prize money of $1500
Body builder – my current goal is to be able to compete in amateur competitions in approx. 18 month’s time
Past – I’ve played cricket and first grade level and soccer at regional level
(I lost a lot of focus for some years after uni where all I was doing was going out and partying. I am not in the same state of mind now!!!)

I want to complete an MBA because I want to get into a tech strategy/consulting role. I feel that I lack the financial/marketing/HR/etc skills needed for that role. Also, I want this MBA to be my ticket for overseas experience. And maybe I can find a wife

Schools:
IE Business School
Carnegie Mellon – Tepper
HEC Paris
Can you recommend others? I’m not fussed on the location of where I study.

So…where do I sit here? Thanks in advance!

Assman :D

Hi, thanks for stopping by!
1. Regarding your GPA - can you get in touch with the university and ask? 70/100 sounds fairly low to me, but you say you graduated with second class honors, so maybe I'm misunderstanding... In any event, to apply to an MBA you will need your transcripts and GPA, so you may as well start looking for it.
2. GMAT is okay, not great. Would you consider studying and retaking it, to see if you can improve your score?
3. Your professional experience is quite varied. You would want to start formulating your story, of why you have gone through so many different professions, so it makes sense and doesn't look like you get bored easily/can't make up your mind/ etc.
4. I would probably play down the video gaming stuff, the bodybuilding and sports is interesting, especially the sports.

You sound like you've well thought out your goals and why you need an MBA in order to achieve them - that's great.

Regarding school choice:
IE -I imagine you chose because of their strength in IT. Avg GMAT there is around 680, so you're just a bit low there, a strong application will balance that.
Tepper - here the average GMAT is close to 700, so more of a stretch there. Very small school; also have the IT emphasis.
HEC I haven't much to say about.
Regarding other schools, you might consider: Tuck, Emory, Duke, Kenan-Flagler, Georgetown, DePaul, Rice and UCLA.

Good luck! On the MBA AND finding a nice wife

Joy
Senior Application Consultant
Aringo.com

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