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

Hi and thanks for the question!

Unfortunately I am missing a whole lot of detail and information here, to the extent that I can’t really give you a fair assessment at the moment. Therefore, I need to ask you to contact us with more details through our website (https://aringo.com/mba-process-registration/) with more information about yourself than what you have provided here. (I can totally understand you not wanting to share that on a public forum of course)

But in general, I would say you have some options but they are quite limited due to the fact that you are only interested in 1 year options and due to your GMAT score.
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Aringo, please help!! i am freaked out about my GMAT score and maybe not so great rest-of-profile...

Stats:

GMAT - 660 (Q44, V36 , AWA 5, IR 4)
GPA - 3.76/4 or 8.93/10
WE at Matriculation - 5 years
Demographic - Indian, Female

Education
B.E (Bachelor of Engineering Electronics) from top private insitution India
PG Diploma in Fashion Design. (graduated as the topper) at a local design college India

Work Experience*

Database Engineer (Trainee) at a Fortune 100 MNC (Financial services) right out of undergrad - 1yr , India
Fashion Merchandizer at an e-commerce studio - 6 months USA
Founder / Entrepreneur of an e-commerce branding consultancy - 1 year , India; Continue to serve as advisor
Project Manager at a data science consultancy - 1.5 years and counting (current role) with some international (on-site) exposure

*I can quantify significant achievements/impact at each job role.

Extra-Currcs.
1) Photo-stylist - photos published in local media
2) Writer - Novel long-listed at a National Award; contributing author to a top 10 career blog in India
3) certification in at least 2 foreign languages.

Volunteering
1) Life-skills trainer at a Disability centre for 1 yr as company's CSR activity
2 Personally mentored four unemployed women resulting in their self-employment and significant earnings- 1.5 yrs and ongoing

Post MBA Goals:
Innovation Consultant or Product Manager to spearhead organization strategies with a triple bottom line benefit. (draws from my experience as designer, project manager of products, and engineering background). MBA adds the finishing cherry on the top (aka business side of the equation).

Target Schools:
Tuck, Darden, Kelley, Rice, Wisconsin Madison.
Dreamt of Kellogg, Stern and Harvard but gave up after my GMAT score.
May need to consider: UCLA, Carlson, Kenan Flagler?

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Is my profile anywhere close to what my target schools are looking for or is my profile really handicapped? Should i re-take the GMAT though i have no hope of improving on it no matter the prep i put in? (second attempt was a 630)

Hi!

I am an Indian male 28 years old and working as 2nd officer in Merchant Navy. Currently sailing on Oil Tanker ships. I have a diverse experience of sailing in different kinds of ships : Container ships, Bulk carrier ships and Oil Tanker ships. Total work exp. of 6 yrs (28 years old).

Education:

Grad. - 71% (from a reputed Maritime school, founded in 1927)


GMAT- 740 Q50 V40 IR 7 AWA 4.5

I have also worked in a small shipping company after my graduation for about six months as operations manager, in which I had also been given responsibilty to teach non shipping persons about the shipping operations before their employement in that company.

Active in sports during college and school days.

Volunteering Experience : Nothing substantial.

Please let me know of my chances in LBS, INSEAD, IESE and SAID

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.





Sent from my iPhone using GMAT Club Forum


Sent from my iPhone using GMAT Club Forum

Hi Aringo,

I would like to apply for MBA next year -2018. Would highly appreciate review of my profile, also, Will A score of 610 gmat sufficient ? Also, what should I take note of when applying for these b-schools . should I get a job while applying for a b-school or is it fine for me to continue working on my startup on jewelleries. However, it's still not making profit. Will a YouTube channel helps?
I'm having concern about my age as well.
Also which of the TOP 10 MBA school that has 1 year full time MBA with internship.

I do not intend to apply for EMBA, but MBA - as I'm looking Into internship and career switch.

My profile


Summary of Work experience:
I hv 9 years of working experiences As project manager/ business engineer in Singapore, working for mnc banks .
Banks: standard chartered, sumitomo mitsui, credit Suisse. Occasional in the previous bank which I worked for, I travelled around asia for project delivery.
I just left my job last month , and am trying to have my own startup onto jewellery platform--> (I have no idea how this is going to work out- it may not even make profit or it may lose money)

Age: 34
Gender: female/single
Nationality: Singaporean (country origin: malaysia)
Race: Chinese,

Education:
Graduated from a Malaysian uni in bachelor comp science cgpa:3.9/4 graduated in the year 2006/aug

Long term goal : switch career from IT banking to investment banking /fund houses as a portfolio manager.

Extracurricular :
Toastmaster Vice President membership 2014
Certified Jewelry designer


I intend to apply for few b-school.
Kellog , standford ,Wharton, Columbia, uchicago , insead, Harvard

I was in the states in cali for a year Travelling in and out cus of my ex-bf back in 2015.

Languages Chinese, Malay, English





Sent from my iPhone using GMAT Club Forum

Hi and thanks for reaching out!

Your question is actually a tricky one as there are several factors in your profile that I like (female Malaysian applicants are not overrepresented in anyway, your banking experience looks interesting as well, and so on) but there are some big negatives as well. Mainly your GMAT score is really not good enough for the schools in question, so you do need to get that up. Also, your start up experience could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what you get out of it and what your reasoning for leaving banking in order to start it was.

So I would recommend you give the GMAT another try, or even several if needed and really work on your story (including how it all connects to your post-MBA goal) for now. It’s going to be difficult for you to get into the schools you mentioned but that does not mean it is really impossible, with the right essay.

Good luck!
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Hi and thanks for reaching out!

Your profile is unusual and interesting and one you don’t see very often, so that is GREAT! Too bad there are not any extra curriculars to add to the list too, that could have been really interesting as well. But that said, you have chosen the schools you listed very well, I think you would be a good fit for them (rather than US schools, for example) so I do think your chances are good, given that your essays will be really good as well.

So give the essays your all and even consider working with a professional on them and getting in should not be an issue as I see it!
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I can understand where you are coming from and the GMAT score really is an issue in your case. You could be admitted to the schools you mentioned even with this score as I see it, but it is a bit of a long shot in my opinion. So even if you feel certain that you can’t get a better score, you should try, maybe using a better method to prepare for the test or something, in order to increase your chances of admission.

The reason I say this is that while your profile does have some positive and impressive parts, it is not unique enough to guarantee admission in any way, so you really need to do what you can - which at this stage is pretty much the GMAT score and your essays - in order to improve it.

The school selection looks pretty good though, besides the dream schools, as they are probably out of reach for now.
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Many thanks aringo consultant !


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Thank you so much! I was just wondering about the timing of the GMAT re-take. There seem to be no dates at the centre in my city for the next 3 months (all booked), and that means R1 application dates for most of my target schools would have passed before i can re-take [traveling to another state is currently not an option for me given my work commitments, lack of leaves]. Is applying in R2 to these schools a good idea, since i don't want them to feel it was my second-choice school? I'm also wondering if i should include ESADE to the list of my target schools?

Hi Aringo,
I would really appreciate if you can review my profile.

Stats:
Demographic - Indian, Female
GMAT - 710 (Q50, V35, IR 8)
GPA - 3.40 (Based on a 4.0 scale)
WE - 4 years( 2013 - present )

Education
B.Tech in computer Science from IIt-BHU, Varanasi, India

Work Experience/Achievements at job*
Software Engineer in Arista Networks, India( based in US ). Worked for a month on a project in HQ( Santa Clara, US ).

1) Interviewed for internship and full-time positions in a campus hiring program at 2 reputed institutions.
2) Mentored interns and new hires every year after my 1st year at the company.
3) Won twice ( 1st and 2nd position) in hackathon( a 24-hour event to hack/design/create ideas ) organized every year in company.

Extra-Curricular & Volunteering
1) Playing Badminton. Reached semi-finals in a college badminton tournament.
2) Multiple event management experiences in college and in workplace.
3) Participation in Community Service organized by company semi-annually.

Post MBA Goals:
General Management or Product Manager roles in technology/ecommerce industry.( To utilize learnings from my experience in engineering background ).

What are my chances in Kellog, Columbia and Tuck ? Should I even bother applying to these?
Also, do I have decent chances at INSEAD, Darden, Duke, and Ross ?

What are the other colleges you would suggest based on my profile assuming medium-to-strong essays and application ?

No problem at all! That's what we try to be here for

I don’t think the schools will see it as them being your second choice, so I would not worry about that part, but you are right that Round 2 is not ideal. Still, in your case I would probably plan for Round 2 given the circumstances, as the GMAT score really is an issue here. (If you believe you could get the score up by retaking, of course)

In my opinion ESADE could be a great addition to your school list, as could some other European schools, so I would definitely recommend adding them if they interest you. Have you looked at other European schools as well?
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How long have you been working at your current job? I take it you have not been promoted or had any management experience there? Is there any particular reason why that has not happened that you could explain to the adcom in an essay?

For most of the schools you mentioned, the adcoms will be looking for a more unique profile and a higher GMAT score as well, especially for an Indian applicant. So I am not too sure about your chances in those schools, with Kellogg, Columbia, Tuck and INSEAD being the most out of reach schools, the others could be possible but I would not call them sure bets either in any way.

Is there any compelling or unique backstory that could add some “flavor” to the profile at all? Or anything else you have not mentioned here? I feel you would need to spice up your profile somehow, but not sure how for now, to be honest.
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Thanks for the reply Aringo.

4 years at my current job. My company has a very flat hierarchy with only software engineers and a few managers( contributing individually as software engineers themselves ). When I joined the company in 2013, it was a start-up and had only 50 employees in India. It attained IPO in 2014 and as of today has a 3-year avg sales growth of 63%. It is placed 3rd in Forbes Fast-tech-25 list and reached $1 billion in revenue last year.( I dont know if all that is relevant here but just implying the impact of the work in the company ). I had a salary-hike thrice in this period and multiple bonuses which are equivalent to promotion.
As far as management experience, I have led teams and projects; organized events at workplace.

Do you agree if Tepper, UNC, LBS and Emory would be atleast my SAFE bets?

Hi Gil,

I would love a review of my profile, if you'd be so kind:

FT MBA, planning R1 2017
GPA: 3.29 GPA (from a NESCAC school)
EC's: co-led a dance group; member of intellectual/debate society; member of young alumni leadership committee during sr year
GMAT: 700 (Q44, V42)
Work Experience: 1 yr at non-profit; 2 yrs at marketing/consulting firm serving mainly SMBs (promoted once); 3 yrs at analytics software company (promoted twice)

EC's: hardly any...I fundraise for my undergrad college's annual fund, but haven't had time for much else.

Target Schools: Kellogg, Yale, Michigan, Tuck, London Business School, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Cornell

Also, how critical do you feel it is that I take a "math for managers" or other pre-MBA course to show my quantitative ability? And do you think my lack of volunteer/EC experience as a professional will be a disadvantage?

Thanks!
Sarah

Hi Aringo,

Could you please evaluate my profile.

Background and nationality - Indian / Male / Engineer

Undergrad Information - B.tech in Electronics and communication, Karunya University, with 7.3/10 GPA.

GMAT: To be done in next 20-25 days (700 in prep)

Work experience and leadership -
1) 1 year at a leading NBFC as Technical manager digital technologies and innovations. Working with new age tech like Augmented reality,iot etc. Probable promotion by next year. Heading a 8 member team and liasons with startups/vendors for innovations and project delivery.
2) 4.5 years at Tata Consultancy with 4 promotions. Worked up from Developer to technical manager heading a team of 22 members managing product development.
-Youngest Lead in the team.
-Multiple performance awards.
- Part of C level meetings and consulting

Community and others -
1. Part of Work CSR application team for Kumbh Mela Organisers (Large festival in india with over 50 million attendees)
2. Co-founder of a Food delivery service in college
3. Co-organiser for stalls in college national level tech fest, resulting in a 100% YOY increase in revenue
2. Member of dramatics and toast masters club (College)
3. NCC and Red cross member (College)
4. Speaks 4 Indian languages

Post MBA goals
1. Initial plans - Consulting and strategy
2. Long term goal - Technology leadership in F500

Looking at the following schools, could you please let me know about my chances.
Sloan,Tepper,Stern,Ross, Duke, Foster

Please suggest any other schools you would recommend based on my profile

Thanks in advance

Your reply is a breather! I will concentrate on my GMAT re-take and hopefully be ready to apply R2.

I did see a couple of other European schools, but i was only worried about my post-MBA employment opportunities. The alumni network may not be so strong in my country as well as some schools like ESADE are not very well known here, and getting a job in Europe itself may be even tougher. So I'm not very confident about what happens next after my MBA in Europe. Otherwise, i think many European schools would be my first choice!

So if we are assuming that you get 700 in that GMAT in the end (if not, feel free to report back with the actual score of course) I would say your chances of admission are okay as both your work experience and extra curriculars are impressive.
Anything above 700 would increase your chances by a lot of course. Admission would naturally require you to bring out strong essays that focus on everything you have accomplished and your strengths as well.

I would rate your chances as the best at Tepper, Foster and Duke, while Sloan, Stern and Ross would be a bit more of a stretch.

Feel free to be in touch once you have the final GMAT score if you want help with your essays or anything else!

JL
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I see where you are coming from regarding the European schools so I think you should probably focus on the schools already on your list for now. It does seem like you have given the school selection a lot of thought so not sure you need any improvement there.

JL
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Hi and thanks for reaching out and let me start with what I can answer already: No, I don’t think the lack of extra curriculars will be a big hurdle in your case, as your profile seems solid otherwise as well, so even very impressive extra curriculars are not likely not make a very big difference.

Now to what I have some trouble evaluating and that is your chances of admission for these particular schools, simply because - as I am sure you know - some of these are some of the toughest schools of all to get into and I would need more details about your career, promotions etc. Therefore, I would like to ask you to contact us here: https://aringo.com/mba-process-registration/ with some more details about your work experience in order for us to be able to give you a better evaluation of that, and of the need for an additional course. (Although as for the course you mentioned my hunch is, without being 100 % sure that it might not be completely necessary, but that also depends a bit on the roles you’ve had at work)

JL
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Hi Aringo,

Please evaluate my profile-

Indian Male, Age-26
X- 83.6% in 2006, XII- 83.6% in 2008 from UP board

Bachelor's- Mechanical Engineering from Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU), India in 2012.
Got 75.86% ( Ist Div-Hons)- in the top 5% students. Based on my 1st year academic performance, college offered 50% fee waiver for the entire duration of course.
Cleared GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering), a national level exam, in 2012(during final year of college), & secured AIR 365 ( 99.65 percentile ).
GMAT- 1st attempt-530. 2nd attempt-640 ( Q-49, V-28, IR-6)

Work Ex.- Working in oil & gas sector M/s Indian Oil Corporation Limited ( top Indian company in Fortune 500 list)as an Assistant Manager for the last 5 years. Got one promotion also.
Handling maintenance & automation related projects of crores in value. Managing 50+ manpower in the plant. As far as diversity factor is concerned, I was exposed to different culture & conditions in the beginning of my career itself ( Posted in southern India for 4 years).
One of the 5 employees across India to attend International conference in New Delhi during 2016-17.

Extra Curricular-1) Awarded for best innovative idea under Idea Conclave. ( Cash prize too)
2) Volunteered for NGO Bhumi during my tenure in Southern India for about 2 years.
3) Continuously engaged in company's CSR activities.

Post MBA goal- Want to explore options in & out energy sector.
Considering my profile & low GMAT score, are there any good schools to target for R1?

Thanks in advance