Ask ARINGO MBA Admissions Consulting

I see two weaknesses here, that can be fixed, though, so that is the good news, as many applicants can’t really do anything about their weaknesses. One of the weaknesses that I immediately see is the GMAT score. It would maybe be enough for a non-Indian, non-IT candidate, but I don't’t think it will be for you. So a retake would be highly recommended, if at all possible.

The second weakness I spot is that post-MBA goal. It is a bit vague and it is not clear to me why you need an MBA for that, and how those specific schools tie in with the goal. I would therefore recommend you really work on improving that, as it can make a huge difference, and you might even want to consider getting a professional to help you with that part, if needed.

Due to your interest in Finance and Marketing, you might want to take a look at the schools that rank well that also offer a specialization in those fields. You will find the latest rankings for those specializations here:
https://aringo.com/mba-finance-specialization/
And here:
https://aringo.com/mba-marketing-specialization/

Hope that helps!

So due to your GMAT score, which is unfortunately low for an Indian applicant, I would look at schools with an average of 600 to 650 for now if I were you.

As for for schools that are strong in energy, Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, Rice, Duke, McCombs and Berkeley Haas come to mind, but you will need to improve your GMAT score for most of these, so I am glad you were planning to do that in any case.

Hi there,

So that is quite a diverse list of schools, I would suggest you think a bit about which are your top priorities as you should try to convince the schools of them being the perfect fit for you as well. If you have done your homework on that part, it will make a big difference, so it is worth doing research on the programs themselves in order to see what you like about them and so on.

That said, the most prestigious programs out of them will obviously be the most challenging to get into, meaning Princeton, Columbia and LBS, so keep that in mind.

Your profile is nice and competitive for a lot of these programs, however, so in the end it will all be up to how you present it all. Remember that working with a professional on your applications can make a big difference if you find that part challenging.

Hope that helps!

Hi,

Of course it depends on what type of job, what you would be doing there, if you would have a chance to lead others there or to be promoted etc. But in general it sounds like it makes sense due to your post-MBA goal.

And since you are based in Nigeria, the location is the natural one too, although I know that stock market is not one of the strongest on the African continent and it is not one we often come in contact with in. If it would somehow be possible for you to use that experience to transfer into a stronger stock market exchange at some point, that would probably be preferable, however.

I would really need to know more about you in order to answer that. Could you send us your CV here: https://aringo.com/mba-process-registration/
for us to take a look at? We should be able to give you a better evaluation then.

Hello,
Please find a brief of my profile below. I thank you in anticipation for your help!

Age – 30 years Male, Nationality – Indian, planning to apply for Canadian citizenship if I end up in a good MBA program so that I can avoid H1B circus post graduation  (applying only for US universities)

Education: B.Tech & M.Tech in Mechanical Engineering/Energy Technology from one of the top 5 IITs in India (GPA – 3.6/4 as per WES assessment), MSc in Mechanical Engineering from one of the top 5 Canadian University (GPA – 3.8/4)

GMAT – 690 (Q51, V31, IR6), planning to apply only for safe schools during R1 2018, need to retake GMAT to cross 730 to be able to apply for target schools during R2.

WE: Total 5 years by next year (4 years in Canada and 1 year in India : 2.5 years in a top energy management consultancy firm which runs energy efficiency programs in North America, 1.5 years in other energy audit firms, and 1 year in a big oil). Two promotions in past 1.5 years in the current company.

Internships: 2 research interns during undergrad – 3 months in an European university and 3 months in SIEMENS in its energy research group)

Publications – Couple of publications in reputed journals (Electrochimica Acta, Journal of The Electrochemical Society)

Scholarships – 1 during undergrad, 3 during grad school (2 of them are pretty reputed)

Extra curricular and Community Services:
• Digitally teaching students for advanced math and engineering preparatory courses - requirement to register for professional engineering licensure in Canadian provinces. Helped 50+ students to successfully pass courses
• Mentor and registration presenter for a professional engineering regulatory body of a Canadian province
• Charity member for Christian Children Fund
• Member of the Bridges program at the International Centre during grad studies. Delivered presentations to improve cultural awareness for India in local schools, community organizations, and post-secondary classrooms
• Participated as a judge in various science fairs held in a Canadian city and motivated participating high school students for science and technology
• Conducted mock exams of IIT-JEE (entrance exam for B.Tech courses in IITs) in an Indian city for the first time. Created market and improved uptake in subsequent year by collaborating with local students, tutoring companies and merchants
• Acoustic guitarist and member of the choreography team during undergrad
• Led, designed and conducted various design events at the annual technical festival during undergrad
• Secured All India Rank 2nd in the engineering entrance mock exam conducted by Mastermind Classes (tutoring company operating across India)
• Passed the requirements in mental and physical development for 3rd KYU in the art of **** RYU KARATE DO

Post MBA Goal – Energy IB

I will be applying for MBA programs and universities that are reputed for energy. On that note, I will appreciate if you could please suggest few safe as well as target schools I could pursue based on my profile. I am targeting to matriculate by Fall 2019.

Hello Aringo,

I am seeking a profile evaluation for MIT LGO program. post MBA goal is to work in operation & strategy segment of aerospace & defence. It would be great help if you can offer some advice on likely chances & areas of improvement.

Profile:
Nationality – Indian
Age: 32 yrs Female

Education: Bachelors of Engg in Biotechnology. Degree average 79% (scale of 100)[CGPA 8.25]
GMAT – 690 (Q47, V38)

WE: Retired Indian Air Force Helicopter Pilot (Cleared captain with supervisory rating) with 8 years and 6 months years. I have an exceptional professional record and have won several awards for my performance both in academics & flying.

Extra curricular: Have participated in variegated activities ranging from dance, public speaking, event management, sports and so on.

I would also request if you can suggest any colleges with Jan intake 2019, where i can still apply.

Hi Aringo,

Could you please evaluate my profile for Cornell Tech MBA & NYU Tech MBA , both 1 year courses.

Indian IT Female, 30 years, young mom
GMAT : 670 (q49, V34)
IELTS : 8

Total WE: 8 yrs+ all through with one of the Indian IT companies
Working in US (NY) as Technical Business Analyst for one of the clients (big insurance firm) of Indian IT for last 3 years
1 year previous international experience for a major bank as a BA
rest at different locations in India starting as developer and gradually move to BA role

* Domain Certifications for Insurance
* Technical certifications

Education:
Btech from a non premier institute in Delhi : 78%
12th : 80%
10th : 86%

*Participation in college/ school extra curricular activities
* active participation at employer opportunities

Goals:
To work as a product manager/senior management for a Tech company or FinTech post MBA.

Appreciate your feedback. I can provide more details on the profile.


Thanks,
Deepika

Hi,

in order to have a good chance of admission with a profile like this you would need to add some kind of “secret sauce”, meaning something that makes you stand out. So we are talking about overcoming difficulties, an interesting personal backstory or something along those lines. It is not clear from your profile if you have anything like that to work with, so I would suggest you really try to think about any angle like that that you could use to your advantage and then get back to us in order for us to give you feedback on that part. (You can do that off the board, if you’d like, here: https://aringo.com/mba-process-registration/)

Without it, I think you might be facing a bit of an uphill battle, unfortunately. But don’t get too stuck on the examples I mentioned as your “secret sauce”, those are just examples, and it could be a number of other things as well, the more creative you can be with regards to that, the better!

Hi there,

This is really a very interesting profile, however, it is missing a lot of detail, so it would be great if you could provide some more detailed information about yourself using this form: https://aringo.com/mba-process-registration/

But in general I think your chances of getting into most schools and programs - including MIT as mentioned - are really good, as your profile is so unique. What remains to be worked out is what is important to you in a school and where you would like to study etc., in order to find a good fit for you. So if you could provide some more information about that as well when you contact us that would really be a good starting point.

Hi,
I just sat for my GMAT and scored a 650(46Q,33V)(IR 5).
I have a 3.5 year work experience, including 2 years in my own start-up. Strengths and Areas of Exposure include Sales, Marketing, Ops. And, all of the experience is focused on the real estate industry.

I have a double graduation in Business(GPA 4.0) and Law(GPA 3.2), which was pursued simultaneously with full time work.

What kind of colleges should I be looking to apply to for fall 2019? I'm comfortable with colleges in Asia, Europe and North America.

Posted from my mobile device

Dear Aringo,

I had a question regarding my GMAT score today

I have just got a 740 with a 49 Q and a 41 V. Obviously very happy with that, but unfortunately I got a 5 in the IR as I completely misread one of the prompts that had 3 questions relating to it! My question is, if I am aiming to apply to HBS, Stanford and other top 10 schools will I need to retake the GMAt simply for the IR section?

Thinking of applying to start in 2020 or 2021

My profile is Arab from Gulf nation
3 years running a family retail business now going into one MBB consulting.

Will my profile make up for the low IR or should i retake the gmat?

Thank you in advance for your help

Hi,
And thanks for reaching out to us!

I really don’t have enough information about you in order to be able to answer that and evaluate your profile properly, but you are welcome to send in your CV with some more details to the ARINGO team for a free profile evaluation here:
https://aringo.com/mba-process-registration/

Please include details about any notable achievements and leadership experience you may have, as well as any extra curricular as well, as that may make a difference. And what is your post-MBA goal?

Hi,
And thanks for reaching out!

In general, I don’t have enough information about you and your profile to be able to answer that, as a lot of detail is missing here. Are you a male or a female? I would also need to know a bit more about that family business, as well as any notable achievements and leadership experience there. What is your post-MBA goal? Consulting as well? And are there any extra curricular activities to speak of?

Knowing all that would help me evaluate your profile better so you are welcome to send us your full CV, as well as the answer to the above here:
https://aringo.com/mba-process-registration/
for a free profile evaluation by the ARINGO team.

I would say, however, that it sounds like you could probably easily do better on the IR if you retake, so if I were you I would consider it, as it is important to feel like you’ve given this process your all before you apply (especially since you have some time on your hands), but without knowing more about you I can’t say if it would be a “must” or not.

Hope that helps!

Dear Aringo,

Here is some more info for you. I have also sent in my CV to your website for feedback but I would appreciate your opinion on here if possible also.

I am a 25 almost 26yo male from Kuwait
thinkinf of applying fall 2020/2021
Spent my highschool and university education in the UK but have since moved back to the Gulf
I graduated from one of the top UK universities in Modern Languages with a 2.1
I spent 3 years running my family footwear retail business. 1 year was spent in Kurdistan in the North of Iraq running the business there and 2 years after in kuwait
This year I have made the switch to Consulting as I mentioned in the previous post
Regarding post mba goals, depending on where I am within my current firm will decide whether I go back to consulting or move to PE
Extra curriculur, I set up my own music business while at university, used to play for my college football (soccer team) and have worked with not for profits in Iraq helping refugees
My goal in obtaining an MBA is to further develop the tool kit I need in order to achieve my longterm ambition of making positive change in the region of the world I call home, the middle east

I hope this is sufficient for now so that you can let me know whether retaking to improve the IR 5 is a must or not.

Kind regards,

yousefa

Thanks for the additional information, it helps a lot!

I actually think all these additional details make your profile a lot better, so I would say that in your specific case, retaking is not a must. I mean, if you can, it would be good to do it as it will certainly help, but if you are strapped for time or something, you do not have to do it.

You might want to keep in mind that they might ask about this in interviews, if you get there (that does not depend only on your profile, but also on your essays and letters of recommendation, as I am sure you know), so it would be good if you were able to explain what happened in a good way in interviews as well.

Also, while you did not mention anything about having a refugee background yourself, I just want to mention that that would be something that you could use in essays in order to distinguish yourself from the crowd, so to speak, if you do in fact have any background related to that. (Just mentioning this due to the fact that you live in Kuwait, known for providing refuge to many refugees over the years and volunteer with refugees)

So not knowing if that is indeed the case or not, I want to mention it as such a background could be a huge advantage for business school applications.

Good luck to you and I hope you succeed with your long term goal, it certainly is a very noble one!

Hello Aringo,
I was wondering if it's possible for you to review mine? Thank you so much.

Information
[*]Asian Female. 25 (right now)
[*]GMAT: 650 (28V 50Q 8IR) this is my second attempt, my first one was 620 (27V 50Q 8IR). Perhaps I will retake again (but not anytime soon, I am burned out)

Work experience
[*]Currently work in a company that me and my sister started about a year ago. We imported products from around the world into Taiwan. My work is mostly about the distribution network in Taiwan, marketing and public relations.
[*]Started an E-commerce site (it was more like a soft trial for the current business), which I sold after the current business was established (not sure whether to include this or not)
[*]Disaster Response Team for a top 10 NGO in the USA from Louisiana to Texas for 2 months.
[*]Course & Volunteer instructor for a NGO in Cambodia for 2 months. Teaching disadvantaged kids English, visiting their families, recruiting students (to convince parents to send kids to our school instead of working) are all my work. I was also responsible for after-work workshop to exchange ideas on teaching skills and improving relationship with kids.
[*]Team member in a social project to help kids and their families from rural area for 8 months. Raised over $8k for the kids. At the mean time, we also helped their families, mostly farmers, to market the their produces better, ranging from redesign the package to process the product into something else for better profitability.
[*]Team member for a NGO in Thailand for 2 months. Work is mostly basic construction (water supply network) and rebuild the community for the minority. During the free time, we usually do some project to help out the organization.
[*]Cryptocurrency and stock investment for 2 years now.
[*]Started my first company with my sister. The idea is similar as the current one. It was successful, but we had to shut it down because of supply problems. Opened for about 1 year.
[*]Team member for a NGO in Italy for 3 months. Work is mostly projects around the community and fundraising. The most successful event in the group was the one that my friends and I hosted. We raised over $3k in one night.
[*]Internship at an international trading company for 3 months. Had the opportunity to work closely with custom and people from around the world. (unsure whether I should put this one or not)

Extra Curricular
[*]Various instrument, especially piano. Been playing since I was 5. Passed the exam which is equivalent to a piano teacher. I also played trumpet and harp.
[*]Solo backpacking. Currently been to 26 countries with the money I saved from bartending and the investment.
[*]Visual Design. I enjoy graphic design and photography. I have redesigned websites for a few business.
[*]Community and volunteer work. Sorting recycles, mentoring kids, etc.

Education
[*]Undergrad GPA: 2.98 from the top university in Taiwan with a major in Business Administration. My GPA tanked to 1.1 during sophomore year because of some health issues. It went back up to 4.0 during my senior year. Overall, I ended up with 2.98.
[*]I also had a 2-year gap during university. The health problem I had made me decide to take a break. I moved to Australia for working holiday, made some money and traveled.
[*]Team leader for AIESEC for 1 year.

MBA Info
[*]Goal of MBA:
My longterm goal is to achieve a senior managerial/executive position in an established charity or NGO that focus on human rights and women’s rights. The more I worked with NGO, the more I realized that the impact is on such a small scale, as important as it was for certain people. I realized that if I want to have a bigger impact, I need to be in the decision group that creates the vision and forms the policy. And I think a MBA will fit perfectly in my profile and lead me to my ultimate goal.
Also, I would like to develop more management and analytical skill to further expand my current business. (I am not sure if I should include this because I have seen so many people said that entrepreneurship is not a realistic goal)
And of course, networking and the opportunity to study and live abroad.

[*]Target School:
I first set my target for top 20 because my GMAT prep score has been consistently around 720. Particularly Johnson, Notre Dame and Georgetown. Of course I wish to attend an even better school, but, because of my low GPA, I think I should be more realistic.

Questions
[*]Are my target school realistic with my current GMAT score? If no, according to my current score, what schools would you suggest?

Thank you so much for taking your time to review my profile.