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vj1994
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GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V39
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Ask Personal MBA Coach 08 May 2019, 00:00
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Hello ,

I request you to scan my profile and suggest some colleges as I would apply for MBA September - 2020 intake .

GMAT :710

Bachelor's : 3.1 GPA
Post graduate diploma in advertising and Marketing communications - 75%
St. Xavier's , Mumbai

Work experience - 19 months

I would be entering the batch with a work experience of around 2.5 years

Work profile : Brand Strategist

I have worked at a national experiential agency for above a year where I would conceptualize events , activations and campaigns for various multinationals such as HUL , SAP , SIEMENS , ORIFLAME etc.

Worked as both - leader in projects worth 7 million dollars for SAP and team player for other projects , I have extensively worked in conceptualization and execution of Advertising and marketing communication for a range of industries that span across IT , FMCG and AUTO .

Number of employees in company : 250-300

Company background :
One of the largest and oldest experiential agency in India with work heavily skewed towards designing on ground consumer experience.
Shobiz Experiential communications

My projects constantly involved heavy interaction with the Account Management team , design team and the main client to align the Marketing communication and thus , I have heavy cross-functional team experience.

Extra curricular :
Worked on a start-up project while pursuing PGD that leveraged the concept of upcycling and succeeded in producing the product. This required me to team up with professors at my PGD .

LED a group of volunteers to impart education and certain set of skills to less privileged kids

Served in the capacity of Cultural President at high school for a year that helped me in organising all the events and co-ordinate with a team of juniors.

During Bachelor's , I served in the capacity of marketing manager for a state-level initiative of organising a business festival for 15 days .

I will be waiting for feedback.

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delain
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Ask Personal MBA Coach Updated on: 21 May 2019, 06:45
Originally posted by delain on 11 May 2019, 06:40.
Last edited by delain on 21 May 2019, 06:45, edited 1 time in total.
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PersonalMBACoach
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Ask Personal MBA Coach 13 May 2019, 10:06
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vaibhavijobalia
Hello ,

I request you to scan my profile and suggest some colleges as I would apply for MBA September - 2020 intake .

GMAT :710

Bachelor's : 3.1 GPA
Post graduate diploma in advertising and Marketing communications - 75%
St. Xavier's , Mumbai

Work experience - 19 months

I would be entering the batch with a work experience of around 2.5 years

Work profile : Brand Strategist

I have worked at a national experiential agency for above a year where I would conceptualize events , activations and campaigns for various multinationals such as HUL , SAP , SIEMENS , ORIFLAME etc.

Worked as both - leader in projects worth 7 million dollars for SAP and team player for other projects , I have extensively worked in conceptualization and execution of Advertising and marketing communication for a range of industries that span across IT , FMCG and AUTO .

Number of employees in company : 250-300

Company background :
One of the largest and oldest experiential agency in India with work heavily skewed towards designing on ground consumer experience.
Shobiz Experiential communications

My projects constantly involved heavy interaction with the Account Management team , design team and the main client to align the Marketing communication and thus , I have heavy cross-functional team experience.

Extra curricular :
Worked on a start-up project while pursuing PGD that leveraged the concept of upcycling and succeeded in producing the product. This required me to team up with professors at my PGD .

LED a group of volunteers to impart education and certain set of skills to less privileged kids

Served in the capacity of Cultural President at high school for a year that helped me in organising all the events and co-ordinate with a team of juniors.

During Bachelor's , I served in the capacity of marketing manager for a state-level initiative of organising a business festival for 15 days .

I will be waiting for feedback.

Posted from my mobile device

Thanks for posting!

Are you looking to apply to American MBA programs or international ones? Please let me know what your focus is so I can give you a better idea of where you might stand.

What was the breakdown of your GMAT?

Regards,
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Ask Personal MBA Coach 13 May 2019, 10:33
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delain
Hi,

I was hoping I could get some clarity on my profile and answers to a couple of questions. I'm looking to apply this fall for the 2020 intake.

BACKGROUND


    GPA: 4.0 double major (Global Studies & Communication) at a large state school
    GMAT: 710 (Q46 V42 IR – 8). Will be retaking
    Age & Nationality: 26 (on matriculation) White Female (American)

WORK EXPERIENCE


    1 year at a well-known international education non-profit, promoting summer study abroad programs for high school students. I was primarily in charge of promoting our programs and recruiting students and partner high schools to participate.

    Currently, 1.5 years in a Japanese company (in Japan) where I manage our international suppliers, most of whom are from Europe and other Asian countries. The job involves imports, exports, shipping, and logistics and include maintaining relationships with these suppliers and coordinating/interpreting regular meetings. I also do a lot of paperwork in Japanese – not sure if that matters or not.

    In addition to these, I held several internship and research positions for two years when I was in college. Not sure if this counts toward my work experience, but the total time would be over a year across 3-4 different roles.

OTHER INFORMATION


    I had many extra-curricular activities during college, but the one constant has been English and cultural exchange classes that I continue for people at my current job and community members. I also am using my experience to help a couple of non-profits in India as part of a remote project. The project involves launching a spoken English curriculum for over 1000 children/beneficiaries supported by these non-profits.

    I’m business proficient in Japanese and fluent in Brazilian Portuguese. I also did a couple of exchange programs to Japan and Brazil.

    Recipient of a couple of fellowships/awards in college. Also had several leadership positions in clubs/organizations.

GOALS


    Looking to pivot to consulting in the short-term. I find that my background has developed a foundation for solving problems in cross-cultural situations. I would like to build upon these strengths by helping companies solve their organizational challenges and applying these skills to a wide range of management/business projects. While I prefer to start as a generalist, I’d be interested in eventually specializing in marketing projects (this is an idea, but I'm not 100% clear on this yet).

    In the long-term, I would like to start my own boutique consultancy. I was thinking that it would specialize in international marketing projects (or projects with a cross-cultural/international aspect to it). I think an MBA would complement my international background and degree in communications and people skills to prepare me for my career goals.

TARGET SCHOOLS


    Kellogg – my dream school. Also looking at Tuck, Yale, Ross and a couple of others.

QUESTIONS


    1) First and biggest question is about my choice of recommenders. I’m getting one from my former supervisor, but I have a choice for the second one and was wondering which would work better. My options are:
    Option 1: Getting one from my company in Japan. This would be exceptionally hard as it is a very traditional company and they will not be supportive of me leaving to get my MBA. That said, I do know one person who would be willing to write it, but he’s a senior and not my direct supervisor. He’s also not familiar with my job/duties and his English level is lower intermediate at best (though I suppose I could pay someone to translate a Japanese letter). I’m also not sure how aware he is of what an MBA recommendation requires and how much I’ll be able to coach him through the process. The advantage here is that it is a professional recommendation.
    Option 2: My other option is getting one from the non-profit I’m working with in India. The disadvantage here is that I started working with them recently. I would have only completed 6 months by the time applications are due. That said I was brought on-board specifically for this project that has been stalled for a while and am confident that I can bring it to completion before its time for me to apply. So while I wouldn’t have been there too long, I would have completed an entire project working closely with my recommender. The advantage here is that she is extremely familiar with the MBA process and I would have no doubts about the quality of the recommendation.

    2) Am I being realistic about my school choices, given my background, GMAT score and goals? Do my short and long-term goal make sense?

    3) While I am trying to improve my 710 (Q46 V42), how much importance should I give this? Should I stop at nothing to improve the 710, or am I a competitive candidate with this score?

Thank you in advance for your response!

Hi delain!

Thank you for the detailed post. After reading and digesting, here are my thoughts:

1. Go with recommender from the startup in India, especially if you are confident you can take the stalled project to completion. This individual, like you said, understands the MBA admissions process and knows how to write a proper recommendation. They will be able to succinctly describe both your accomplishments on the project and potential as a business leader. While things could turn out ok in the end with the Japanese manager, I don't think the gravity of his/her role is enough to warrant the risk of non-completion or having to basically write it for them. The last thing you want is it to be a week before the application is due and this individual still hasn't produced a workable recommendation.

2. I think you are an incredibly strong candidate, and you will be successful in this process. There aren't many white females who are proficient in Japanese and fluent in another language, not to mention with experience working internationally. You've also got a very coherent story and yes, I think your short and long-term goals show self-awareness of your career path and absolutely make sense. Schools are going to be lining up to offer you admission. Now, does that mean you should coast through this process? No! If anything, it should make you work harder to assure you are putting your best application forward to try for scholarship money.

3. I honestly think with a 4.0 GPA your GMAT of 710 is completely fine, and a 46Q without a finance or engineering background is very impressive. That being said, I do think a 730+ would make your applications a knockout and increase your chances of a scholarship somewhere. If you've got the capacity to take it again, I would see if you can't bring the quant up a bit more to 47-48, which can be done with some of the more advanced books out there or private tutoring. I think it's an investment you should think about making.

All in all, you've put yourself in a great place for next year's application cycle. Let me know if you'd like to discuss potentially working together on your applications, I think we can really knock this out of the park! Feel free to shoot me a message at [email protected].

Regards,
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Ask Personal MBA Coach 17 May 2019, 13:03
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Good afternoon,

I was hoping you could evaluate my profile and see what you think about my choices for Business School.
I was considering Wharton, NYU, Columbia and Georgetown.

Male, 28 yo
Brazilian

Bachelors in Mecahnical Engineering in one of Brazil's top schools GPA 3.1
Masters in Material Science GPA 4.0

GMAT Score - 700 (Q 48, V 38)
Essay 5
Integrated Reasoning 8

Work Experience -
3 years of experience working as an Engineer for a big multinational in Brazil. For this job, I was one of the 24 selected people out of 4800 applicants. Promoted while working there and had some project management experience.
1 year working as an engineer/estimator at a Construction Company in the United States. Here, I help prospect projects and assign them to our several offices around the country. I also manage one of the software the company uses to keep track of its projects.


Volunteer Work -
Volunteered at an animal shelter.
On the advisory board of an organization that helps immigrants.

I lived for a year in France, where I studied and did an internship and am now living in the US for 2 years.

Fluent in Portuguese, English and French.

Thank you!
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Ask Personal MBA Coach 20 May 2019, 07:04
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Draud
Good afternoon,

I was hoping you could evaluate my profile and see what you think about my choices for Business School.
I was considering Wharton, NYU, Columbia and Georgetown.

Male, 28 yo
Brazilian

Bachelors in Mecahnical Engineering in one of Brazil's top schools GPA 3.1
Masters in Material Science GPA 4.0

GMAT Score - 700 (Q 48, V 38)
Essay 5
Integrated Reasoning 8

Work Experience -
3 years of experience working as an Engineer for a big multinational in Brazil. For this job, I was one of the 24 selected people out of 4800 applicants. Promoted while working there and had some project management experience.
1 year working as an engineer/estimator at a Construction Company in the United States. Here, I help prospect projects and assign them to our several offices around the country. I also manage one of the software the company uses to keep track of its projects.


Volunteer Work -
Volunteered at an animal shelter.
On the advisory board of an organization that helps immigrants.

I lived for a year in France, where I studied and did an internship and am now living in the US for 2 years.

Fluent in Portuguese, English and French.

Thank you!

Hey Draud,

Thanks for posting! You've got a solid profile overall - GMAT is good (but not great) and it appears you went to a top undergrad institution for your country. How does the 3.1 GPA compare to the rest of the people in your major? If you were in the top 10% that makes the 3.1 look a lot better in comparison to a number without context.

What are your specific goals post-MBA? These can help me decide which schools would be better fits for you, both from an admissions standpoint and a career standpoint.

I really like that you've worked in a lot of places and can speak to culturally diverse business and social experiences, which schools will love. I'd like to dig deeper on your work experience to find out how your progression compared to that of your peers and how much management responsibility you were given. Leadership experience is something schools look at very closely and can be a major differentiator between two otherwise similar candidates.

So, overall I do think you have some things going for you. Wharton is going to be very tough based on the lower GMAT and GPA. Columbia is also going to be a bit of a reach for the same reasons. I think realistically you should focus on the 10-20 range for schools, with CBS as your reach. NYU and Georgetown are more realistic, and I think you could be very competitive at a place like McCombs or Fuqua based on your background.

Let me know if you'd like to chat more and feel free to reach out at [email protected] to take the conversation offline!

Regards,
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Ask Personal MBA Coach 27 May 2019, 08:32
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Hi,

This might be an unusual request, but at the moment and I am out of ideas and I thought who to ask better, than the person dealing with MBAs for a living.

I'm at a career cross-roads at the moment, and I want to make sure I am making the right decision, and not daydreaming and making misinformed and wrong conclusions about what effect an MBA might actually have on my career.

I've read countless posts, forums, talked to people, but it seems I still can't wrap my head around how to, for the lack of a better term, properly switch careers.

I'm a 30 years old, currently working as a Marketing & Communication Director at a small company (think <10 people) who deals a lot with startups, accelerators, incubators, investors, VCs, etc. I've been at this position for almost 3 years.I also hold a Master's Degree in Public Relations, and Image, Brand and Identity Management. I do not like what I do, at all, and I have to do something to not get stuck in a position I do not want, gaining even more experience in something I am not interested in. I am sure a lot of people have experienced the same thing.

I am, however, very interested in business, business development, investments and management, and looking at different universities and their respective MBA curriculums, that's exactly what I want to study and do. I would use this MBA to pivot my career closer to business and business development and management, and move away from marketing/communication work.

My question to you is, being a PR/PolSci major, is it a pipe-dream to think an MBA will significantly contribute to me changing careers? I'm asking because as you all know, an MBA is both time and money intensive. I know it can't hurt having an MBA on your CV, but for that price tag, I'd want a bigger effect on my employability. It is worth mentioning that only online options work for me since there isn't an MBA available in the city I live in, or even the country (there's one that offers an EMBA, but wasn't even ranked globally), and I can't really afford moving and not working 1-2 years to attend the full time version. Doing Bachelor's in BA, and a Master's right after that is also not an option since I can't really afford quitting my current job and be unemployed for at least 3 years while I'm studying. I'm based in the EU.

I've read a lot of articles and forum posts that emphasize the networking aspect of doing an MBA as the most important thing, and subsequently the biggest negative of the online version. I do not seek to be employed by a huge company right out of the gate. What I am hoping this MBA would do is help me acquire knowledge and skills necessary for pivoting my career and opening doors towards more business/management related roles, and potentially further down the line, with some additional education, land a position in a VC fund.


I can also rephrase the question a bit. What jobs can I expects with an MBA if you mostly ignore my journalistic graduate degree, and to a degree my experience since I have not been doing a whole lot of business development in my current position?

I'm also thinking about MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from HEC Paris and then and MBA after that.

Am I being naive here?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Ask Personal MBA Coach 28 May 2019, 07:03
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KarloNorge
Hi,

This might be an unusual request, but at the moment and I am out of ideas and I thought who to ask better, than the person dealing with MBAs for a living.

I'm at a career cross-roads at the moment, and I want to make sure I am making the right decision, and not daydreaming and making misinformed and wrong conclusions about what effect an MBA might actually have on my career.

I've read countless posts, forums, talked to people, but it seems I still can't wrap my head around how to, for the lack of a better term, properly switch careers.

I'm a 30 years old, currently working as a Marketing & Communication Director at a small company (think <10 people) who deals a lot with startups, accelerators, incubators, investors, VCs, etc. I've been at this position for almost 3 years.I also hold a Master's Degree in Public Relations, and Image, Brand and Identity Management. I do not like what I do, at all, and I have to do something to not get stuck in a position I do not want, gaining even more experience in something I am not interested in. I am sure a lot of people have experienced the same thing.

I am, however, very interested in business, business development, investments and management, and looking at different universities and their respective MBA curriculums, that's exactly what I want to study and do. I would use this MBA to pivot my career closer to business and business development and management, and move away from marketing/communication work.

My question to you is, being a PR/PolSci major, is it a pipe-dream to think an MBA will significantly contribute to me changing careers? I'm asking because as you all know, an MBA is both time and money intensive. I know it can't hurt having an MBA on your CV, but for that price tag, I'd want a bigger effect on my employability. It is worth mentioning that only online options work for me since there isn't an MBA available in the city I live in, or even the country (there's one that offers an EMBA, but wasn't even ranked globally), and I can't really afford moving and not working 1-2 years to attend the full time version. Doing Bachelor's in BA, and a Master's right after that is also not an option since I can't really afford quitting my current job and be unemployed for at least 3 years while I'm studying. I'm based in the EU.

I've read a lot of articles and forum posts that emphasize the networking aspect of doing an MBA as the most important thing, and subsequently the biggest negative of the online version. I do not seek to be employed by a huge company right out of the gate. What I am hoping this MBA would do is help me acquire knowledge and skills necessary for pivoting my career and opening doors towards more business/management related roles, and potentially further down the line, with some additional education, land a position in a VC fund.


I can also rephrase the question a bit. What jobs can I expects with an MBA if you mostly ignore my journalistic graduate degree, and to a degree my experience since I have not been doing a whole lot of business development in my current position?

I'm also thinking about MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from HEC Paris and then and MBA after that.

Am I being naive here?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Karlo!

Your questions/concerns are some that many folks have, and are not naive at all. You've got a lot here, so I'm going to try and get straight to the point:

Your type of profile is one that is extremely common for those looking to get an MBA. You've got good experience in a field that you no longer have interest in and are looking to pivot career trajectory. I'd say the majority of folks who do go to a top MBA fall into this category. While an MBA is not cheap, it's an investment that pays off over the long term and the debt burden that people take on is one that is paid off relatively quickly compared to other types of student loans.

To your point about an online MBA: for someone looking to switch careers, I would not recommend this option at all. An online MBA is meant to be more of a buffer for those who are still working to polish their business skills or learn new ones at their own pace while continuing to work their current job. The firm may have recommended it, or the individual may simply have capacity to do the coursework on the side. The networking and career-building opportunities that a full-time MBA are know for are simply not built in to the online MBA.

If you were to decide to pursue a full-time MBA, you'll be happy to know that schools don't necessarily care about your college major. What they care about is your experience and who you are as a person. As a marketing and communications director, you've likely got great interpersonal skills, which is something schools love to see. Soft skills are just as important as hard in the workplace nowadays.

You have ambitious plans, and eventually going into VC will require both a solid full-time MBA and a bit of patience with your career trajectory. You already have one Masters, so I'm not sure you would need another from HEC Paris. I understand the financial burden of an MBA looks daunting, but the opportunities the degree opens up are endless. You basically become a blank slate to a lot of recruiters who are looking to hire highly intelligent, motivated people, without bias towards past experience. I think you should at least think about it, and I'd be happy to help walk you through some of the financial aspects of the degree.

Feel free to reach out at [email protected] to chat more. I think you're in a good position to begin thinking about a full-time MBA, as it will get you on the path that you are looking for!

Regards,
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GMAT 1: 680 Q50 V31
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Schools: Duke '21 (D) Anderson '21 (M) NUS '21 (D) Ross '21 (D) Kenan-Flagler '21 (WL) Tuck '21 (D) Jones '21 (A$)
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Ask Personal MBA Coach 03 Jun 2019, 03:59
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Hello Team Personal MBA Coach,
I have admits from UCLA (no scholarship) and Rice Jones ($60k scholarship). I am also waitlisted at Kenan-Flagler. I am a bit confused about whether I should join UCLA Anderson or reapply next year.

Background:
Indian, 27, Male
GMAT 720 (Q50 V37) GPA 8.15/10
Undergrad from IIT Dhanbad: Bachelor of Technology in Petroleum Engineering
WE: 60 months. Have worked at Cairn Oil & Gas in technical stream
I believe overall I have a good profile in terms of leadership and achievements, extra-curriculars and community volunteership.

Post-MBA career goals: Consulting/Strategy (though open to other streams as well). Looking to get into a school that can have a long-term impact on my career.

Didn't utlilise any consultant last year. Applied to 7 schools as follows:
Round 2: Duke,Ross (denied without interview); UCLA Anderson (admitted, no scholarship); UNC Kenan-Flagler (waitlisted); NUS Singapore (denied post interview)
Round 3: Tuck (denied post interview); Rice Jones (admitted with scholarship).

Currently am in a dilemma whether it will be worth joining UCLA Anderson with such a large debt or reapply next year to other schools in T10/T15 (and look for scholarship opportunities as well). Although I know there is no guarantee that I may get admitted to a stronger program next year (plus there will be no significant additions onto my profile in coming 2-3 months and probably won't re-take GMAT as well).

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Ask Personal MBA Coach 03 Jun 2019, 04:15
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Hi!

I’ve been working for about 5 years. The first four were in marketing (with a focus on ops and analytics) and the last 1 has been in business intelligence.

I’m strongly considering an MBA in the next 2-3 years as I believe the network and general boost it could provide will be key for the rest of my career. I’m not looking to pivot, I’m interested in a career in analytics/operations.

My question is I may have the chance to become a manager in the next two years and I’m wondering if it makes sense to wait to go back to school until after I have some management experience. My thought process is if I have management experience before MBA it will be easier to get a management job after. Does this make sense or seem like what other people have experienced?

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Ask Personal MBA Coach 04 Jun 2019, 13:39
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Hello,

Let me first congratulate you on the job of helping people understand the value of their profiles for B-schools and helping before we become your client. We don’t see this everyday.

My biggest question so far is what kind of scholarship I could get from my preferred schools.
I’m going for an Online MBA program as I’m in Sao Paulo, BR, and don’t plan on taking some time out of work. I would prefer going to a program that offers a high scholarship now, otherwise it would make more sense to wait a few years as I’m a bit short on capital atm – just bought an apartment and planning to get married.

My profile:
33 years old White Brazilian male
GMAT not official results around 660 – Going for 700 in the official test, hopefully.
No rush to take it as I plan to apply somewhere around Q1/2020, that’s why I expect to increase the result.
Working experience: 1 year at IT Outsourcing company as IT Jr Analyst; 5 years at IT for investment banking (BNP Paribas) where I went from jr analyst to coordinator for Latin America Infra; 7 at service lease (fleet services, part of BNPP group) where I went from IT PMO to Head of New Business Development (managed up to 30 people directly plus 20 contractors); recently joined a established tech startup in the Brazilian market as COO (stock options been part of the package). Several recognitions along the way, most notably been selected as one of the top 20 senior level talents of the entire group (over 6.000 employees/500 senior managers and directors worldwide) to take part in the first Talent Care program, launched 2018.
Graduated in Business from a not prestigious school but with a high average: 8.9/10
Got accepted into a A-level university to study Aerospace Engineering but dropped as it would require quitting my job and it didn’t make sense at the time.
I expect high praises in my LORs from my former superiors, both CEOs at BNP Parias Service Lease company. One is also a Cornell MBA alumni.
My top choices, in that specific order are:
1. Michigan Ross
2. USC Marshall / IESE
3. Carnegie Mellon Tepper / Warwick Business School

Outside the top 5 I have Indiana Kelley, UNC Kenan-Flager and Florida’s Warrington as good options but haven’t rank then in any order. Not sure I should consider other MBAs in the list as this seems long enough.

So, do you think I have a decent profile to get a significant, maybe even full scholarship at the schools on the top of my list? What about the ones in my ‘second tier’? Should I consider other online MBAs which are not on the list but carry the same ‘value’ as those ones?
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Hi,
First of all thank you for the help! I am trying to help an international friend to identify schools she should apply:

Background:
Chinese, Female, 32
GMAT TBD - she is very smart - lets assume 690-720 range for this exercise
Grad School in Management - she thought MBA might be redundant but out of grad schools this might open more doors than a Master?
Career: 7 years in Corporate Finance and Investment Banking. She has done very well for herself, basically making MBA money in China but her family is in US so she is forgoing her career to come here.

Post MBA goals - Corporate Finance/Consulting

Target School Goals:
1. Close to VA/MD/DC area (maybe 5hr radius)
2. Good ranked school/Name recognition

Can you give some advice on what 8 schools 3 reach/3 target/2 safe she should aim for?
I can think of UNC,Duke,McDonough, Tepper,Smith(?), NYU, Emory, Darden, wharton as a few. Would love your input!
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Max.MayankG
Hello Team Personal MBA Coach,
I have admits from UCLA (no scholarship) and Rice Jones ($60k scholarship). I am also waitlisted at Kenan-Flagler. I am a bit confused about whether I should join UCLA Anderson or reapply next year.

Background:
Indian, 27, Male
GMAT 720 (Q50 V37) GPA 8.15/10
Undergrad from IIT Dhanbad: Bachelor of Technology in Petroleum Engineering
WE: 60 months. Have worked at Cairn Oil & Gas in technical stream
I believe overall I have a good profile in terms of leadership and achievements, extra-curriculars and community volunteership.

Post-MBA career goals: Consulting/Strategy (though open to other streams as well). Looking to get into a school that can have a long-term impact on my career.

Didn't utlilise any consultant last year. Applied to 7 schools as follows:
Round 2: Duke,Ross (denied without interview); UCLA Anderson (admitted, no scholarship); UNC Kenan-Flagler (waitlisted); NUS Singapore (denied post interview)
Round 3: Tuck (denied post interview); Rice Jones (admitted with scholarship).

Currently am in a dilemma whether it will be worth joining UCLA Anderson with such a large debt or reapply next year to other schools in T10/T15 (and look for scholarship opportunities as well). Although I know there is no guarantee that I may get admitted to a stronger program next year (plus there will be no significant additions onto my profile in coming 2-3 months and probably won't re-take GMAT as well).

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Max,

Congrats on the UCLA admission! Anderson is a great school and you should be holding your head high.

Based on what you have shared, I would accept the offer and not re-apply next year. While Rice is a good school, it doesn't hold the weight/brand appeal that UCLA does, unless you wanted to go into O&G in Texas. As your goal is consulting/strategy, UCLA will provide the best opportunities with top west coast firms.

As you probably know, competition is fierce amongst candidates from India. To be competitive at a top-10 school, it really helps to have a 740+ and to gain any type of scholarship money at a 10-20 school, you need something between 750-770. The waitlist at UNC is a little surprising, but shows me that maybe there were some deficiencies in your application that need to be addressed.

If you were willing to re-take the GMAT, I would be more open to you re-applying, but without any changes in your profile it seems like you may have topped out. Nonetheless, I think you will have a great experience at UCLA and while it may have slipped a touch in the rankings, it is still a powerhouse school with an amazing network.

Regards,
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Ask Personal MBA Coach 06 Jun 2019, 07:22
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Acohen04
Hi!

I’ve been working for about 5 years. The first four were in marketing (with a focus on ops and analytics) and the last 1 has been in business intelligence.

I’m strongly considering an MBA in the next 2-3 years as I believe the network and general boost it could provide will be key for the rest of my career. I’m not looking to pivot, I’m interested in a career in analytics/operations.

My question is I may have the chance to become a manager in the next two years and I’m wondering if it makes sense to wait to go back to school until after I have some management experience. My thought process is if I have management experience before MBA it will be easier to get a management job after. Does this make sense or seem like what other people have experienced?

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Hey Acohen04,

Your train of thought does make sense. Schools like to see management/leadership experience on the resume and having it will make your interviews, both admissions and recruiting, much easier to navigate - espcially the behavioral parts.

What I would be cognizant of is the fact you already have 5 years of work experience, and I wouldn't let that number creep much higher than 7 if you were planning to go for your MBA. The question I have is - do you have a chance to manage now for the next two years, or become a manager in 2 years? The exact timeline matters. Ideally, you would have 1-2 years of direct managerial experience before applying but if you aren't slated to assume that role until 2 years from now, I would push for an MBA sooner.

Have you taken the GMAT yet? A higher score would give you more flexibility and allow you to stay in the workforce longer to gain that direct management experience. If you haven't, I'd recommend you begin studying for it and working with some practice materials to get a sense of where you fall now and how much work needs to be done going forward. Does all of this make sense?

Regards,
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Ask Personal MBA Coach 06 Jun 2019, 10:33
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fstanq
Hello,

Let me first congratulate you on the job of helping people understand the value of their profiles for B-schools and helping before we become your client. We don’t see this everyday.

My biggest question so far is what kind of scholarship I could get from my preferred schools.
I’m going for an Online MBA program as I’m in Sao Paulo, BR, and don’t plan on taking some time out of work. I would prefer going to a program that offers a high scholarship now, otherwise it would make more sense to wait a few years as I’m a bit short on capital atm – just bought an apartment and planning to get married.

My profile:
33 years old White Brazilian male
GMAT not official results around 660 – Going for 700 in the official test, hopefully.
No rush to take it as I plan to apply somewhere around Q1/2020, that’s why I expect to increase the result.
Working experience: 1 year at IT Outsourcing company as IT Jr Analyst; 5 years at IT for investment banking (BNP Paribas) where I went from jr analyst to coordinator for Latin America Infra; 7 at service lease (fleet services, part of BNPP group) where I went from IT PMO to Head of New Business Development (managed up to 30 people directly plus 20 contractors); recently joined a established tech startup in the Brazilian market as COO (stock options been part of the package). Several recognitions along the way, most notably been selected as one of the top 20 senior level talents of the entire group (over 6.000 employees/500 senior managers and directors worldwide) to take part in the first Talent Care program, launched 2018.
Graduated in Business from a not prestigious school but with a high average: 8.9/10
Got accepted into a A-level university to study Aerospace Engineering but dropped as it would require quitting my job and it didn’t make sense at the time.
I expect high praises in my LORs from my former superiors, both CEOs at BNP Parias Service Lease company. One is also a Cornell MBA alumni.
My top choices, in that specific order are:
1. Michigan Ross
2. USC Marshall / IESE
3. Carnegie Mellon Tepper / Warwick Business School

Outside the top 5 I have Indiana Kelley, UNC Kenan-Flager and Florida’s Warrington as good options but haven’t rank then in any order. Not sure I should consider other MBAs in the list as this seems long enough.

So, do you think I have a decent profile to get a significant, maybe even full scholarship at the schools on the top of my list? What about the ones in my ‘second tier’? Should I consider other online MBAs which are not on the list but carry the same ‘value’ as those ones?

Hi fstang,

Thanks for posting, and I appreciate the support!

My first question for you is why do you feel you need an MBA, and what is your ultimate goal post-MBA? And you're currently enrolled in an online MBA in Brazil if I understand correctly? You're 33 with a good deal of experience and a COO role within a tech firm. Maybe an executive MBA would be a better fit?

Regardless, applying to business school with the intent on only going for a scholarship is the wrong way to think about it. Brazil is not an underrepresented country for a lot of schools and generally those who will receive scholarship money and are not a desired demographic score 750+ on the GMAT. It will be difficult for you without a high GMAT score to garner money, and 660-700 isn't going to cut it. If you're serious about attending a top US program, I would really buckle down and focus on the test, as doing as well as possible will alleviate the burden of being an older applicant.

Right now, you've got to really decide what your end goal is here. Are you trying to change industies? Gain access to the US market and network? Without clear goals lined up it would be difficult for me to recommend full-time programs, and your work experience and resume sounds more like someone who would benefit from an executive MBA. I'd love to try and help you through the process, but I need a bit more information!

Regards,
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Ask Personal MBA Coach 06 Jun 2019, 10:49
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shaselai
Hi,
First of all thank you for the help! I am trying to help an international friend to identify schools she should apply:

Background:
Chinese, Female, 32
GMAT TBD - she is very smart - lets assume 690-720 range for this exercise
Grad School in Management - she thought MBA might be redundant but out of grad schools this might open more doors than a Master?
Career: 7 years in Corporate Finance and Investment Banking. She has done very well for herself, basically making MBA money in China but her family is in US so she is forgoing her career to come here.

Post MBA goals - Corporate Finance/Consulting

Target School Goals:
1. Close to VA/MD/DC area (maybe 5hr radius)
2. Good ranked school/Name recognition

Can you give some advice on what 8 schools 3 reach/3 target/2 safe she should aim for?
I can think of UNC,Duke,McDonough, Tepper,Smith(?), NYU, Emory, Darden, wharton as a few. Would love your input!

Hey shaselai,

Can you be a bit more specific about the work experience? Was your friend an IB analyst? Associate? Brand name bank with an office in China (e.g. Morgan Stanley or JPM) or Chinese bank? A progression of her history would be very helpful! What are her goals post-MBA?

Let's assume she has a 700-720 with solid English communication skills and decent extra-cirriculars:

Reach: Wharton, CBS - I didn't see a true "reach" on the list, but Wharton and CBS most certainly fit the bill. With a 720-730 and a great application I could see some chance at an M7, but application needs to be flawless. Women with IB experience are highly coveted at these schools, although the skew is toward native English speakers. If English is fluent, I don't see an issue here.

Target: Fuqua, NYU, Darden - As stated above, with solid application execution, these should be right in the wheelhouse. GMAT score lines up with the medians and really great finance opportunities from each.

Safety: UNC, McDonough, Emory - All good schools here, just a tier below the targets. All provide good opps, but tend to be more regional than the two groups above. Again, it depends what she wants to do.

Any other questions I'm happy to help!

Regards,
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GPA: 3.85
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Ask Personal MBA Coach Updated on: 18 Dec 2019, 12:13
Originally posted by urkdul on 08 Jun 2019, 14:53.
Last edited by urkdul on 18 Dec 2019, 12:13, edited 1 time in total.
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urkdul
Hi PMC, Would love to get your thoughts on my profile.

Background:
29, Male and Indian. Grew up in Thailand (primary to high school), completed my undergraduate degree in UK, and my graduate degree in USA.

I will be 30 years old when I start next year in Fall.

Academics:
730 GMAT

Undergraduate: Imperial College London
GPA Equivalent: 3.8/3.9+?? (First class Honors)
Major: Chemical Engineering

Graduate: Duke University
GPA: 3.9
Major: Masters in Statistical and Economic Modeling

Work Exp:
After Undergraduate Degree:
- ~2 years - Fortune 200 company as a Project Development Engineer. Basically leading engineering proposals and bid presentations for customers to build turn-key plants by working with a team of business development, project management and engineering resources. A good balance of technical and business focus. Quit to go get my graduate degree.

During Graduate Degree (focus was on using data for energy policy work):
- Worked for an international organization (think World Bank, UN etc.) as a research assistant to scope out the benefits to the South Asia region for free trade of electricity. Turned into a whitepaper.
- Work with a large US Goverment organization to build a series of tools to better benchmark energy efficiency of factories (similar to the energy star benchmark). Published a paper.
- Started a social enterprise to build portable solar power for street vendors in urban slums. Lead a team of 4 to raise capital through social enterprise competitions and build a prototype to test the idea.

After Graduate School:
- working as a Data Scientist, leading implementation of AI/Machine Learning solutions for clients
- 1.5 years - Work as a data scientist in a Big 4 consulting firm. Working on actual AI projects for major Fortune 500 clients.
- 1.5 years and continuing - Moved to the center of excellence of another Big 4 consulting firm. Joined as a senior and promoted to manager in 1 year.

Extra curriculars:
More during undergrad (leadership positions for social enterprise club and cultural club). Some since, but not in leadership positions.

Goal:
To build skills in other business areas (finance, and strategy especially). Short-term: Join the digital/analytics arm of MBBs. Long-term: be a principal/director of product management for an AI/analytics focused tech company (e.g. Google Cloud, Tableau, NVIDIA etc.).

Target Schools:
HSW, MIT Sloan, Kellogg, Chicago

Thanks! Please do let me know how realistic/unrealistic the goals are. I am also concerned about my age, and I will be retaking the GMAT.

Hey urkdul,

Thanks for putting together this very detailed profile! At first glace, you're extremely strong across the board and have exceptional career progression and a variety of international experiences. I think your short term and long term goals make a lot of sense too (without doing too deep a dive). While a lot of folks like to throw around buzzwords like AI and machine learning, it appears you have tangible experience in these fields and a strong understanding of how the tech works.

I wouldn't worry too much about the EC profile - we can build that out as we get closer to applications. Your work and research experience at Duke should make up the bulk. I also don't think being 30 is a huge issue, maybe 33-36 it starts to creep up a bit. But international applicants are generally older anyway.

Overall, I think you have a very good chance at the schools you have listed. A GMAT of 740-750 would really be a slam dunk here, as it brings you to the median of those in your specific demographic. What was the breakdown between quant and verbal?

That being said, if you don't improve the GMAT and apply with a 730 I can still see you being very successful in the process, especially with your strong GPA. It will mainly come down to application execution and making sure your essays and story are on point! Feel free to reach out at [email protected] to discuss your profile in more depth and to see if we could possibly work together on your applications.

Regards,
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GPA: 3.85
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Ask Personal MBA Coach Updated on: 18 Dec 2019, 12:10
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shaselai
Hi,
First of all thank you for the help! I am trying to help an international friend to identify schools she should apply:

Background:
Chinese, Female, 32
GMAT TBD - she is very smart - lets assume 690-720 range for this exercise
Grad School in Management - she thought MBA might be redundant but out of grad schools this might open more doors than a Master?
Career: 7 years in Corporate Finance and Investment Banking. She has done very well for herself, basically making MBA money in China but her family is in US so she is forgoing her career to come here.

Post MBA goals - Corporate Finance/Consulting

Target School Goals:
1. Close to VA/MD/DC area (maybe 5hr radius)
2. Good ranked school/Name recognition

Can you give some advice on what 8 schools 3 reach/3 target/2 safe she should aim for?
I can think of UNC,Duke,McDonough, Tepper,Smith(?), NYU, Emory, Darden, wharton as a few. Would love your input!

Hey shaselai,

Can you be a bit more specific about the work experience? Was your friend an IB analyst? Associate? Brand name bank with an office in China (e.g. Morgan Stanley or JPM) or Chinese bank? A progression of her history would be very helpful! What are her goals post-MBA?

Let's assume she has a 700-720 with solid English communication skills and decent extra-cirriculars:

Reach: Wharton, CBS - I didn't see a true "reach" on the list, but Wharton and CBS most certainly fit the bill. With a 720-730 and a great application I could see some chance at an M7, but application needs to be flawless. Women with IB experience are highly coveted at these schools, although the skew is toward native English speakers. If English is fluent, I don't see an issue here.

Target: Fuqua, NYU, Darden - As stated above, with solid application execution, these should be right in the wheelhouse. GMAT score lines up with the medians and really great finance opportunities from each.

Safety: UNC, McDonough, Emory - All good schools here, just a tier below the targets. All provide good opps, but tend to be more regional than the two groups above. Again, it depends what she wants to do.

Any other questions I'm happy to help!

Regards,

Thanks PersonalMBACoach.
She has done a mix of corporate finance, ib and personal investment too. She worked at a couple of big chinese banks (top 4) and now is manager for the finance department. She doesn't want to get into full IB post MBA since its tons of hours and she wants to settle down. So maybe corporate finance and consulting might be in her wheelhouse.

In terms of essays on "what do you want to do" - it is probably best to focus on corporate finance side of positions since the trajectory makes more sense? Also, do you think her having a management master in China have any negative impact of MBA in US?
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