Hello Souvik,

I recently gave the GMAT and scored about 710 (Q47 V40). I'm 25 years old with 1.5 years of work experience, and have no engineering/commerce/business background. I am an English major who did a masters in public relations (which was the field I worked in for said 1.5 years), and am looking to get an MBA to pursue marketing. I am currently trying to make the switch to marketing by looking for a job that will offer me such a role to get hands on experience of the kind of work it entails.

More about my education, I scored 95% in class 10, 91% in class 12, after which I pursued one year of engineering which I later quit to study literature. In terms of extra curricular activities, I was an active parliamentary debater in college and held leadership positions. I also topped my college during my post grad in public relations.

My initial plan was to apply for ISB (batch to 2020), but I have been told that the average work ex is 4 years, and they might not look favourably at my low quant score (63 percentile) despite getting an overall 91 percentile. I am also uncertain about studying abroad since it is quite difficult for students who choose marketing to get work visas in the country of study, and recovering the cost of the MBA in India might not be a good idea.

I will be looking to retake the GMAT in the next couple of months to improve my quant score, only if ISB is a viable choice for someone with my profile. I am not sure what the preference (or lack of) is like for media/advertising students applying to ISB.

Could you advise how I should go ahead with this? Do I need to retake the GMAT and what score would help me present myself favorably to admission committees, given that I have a very unconventional profile. Do I also look at schools abroad, and which would be good schools to target? Would it be wise to apply with my current score?

Thanks!

Hi Souvik, Great initiative you have there!!! I have a few questions which have been bothering me for a while. I hope you could guide me through as I am a novice in the GMAT realm.

I am employed in an Indian Public Sector Bank for 2.5 years. Mostly, my work is involved around retail banking. But I am more interested to pursue investment banking in the coming years. Would an MBA help me in achieving that goal? If so, how much do I need to score on GMAT to get an admit to a moderately good school? Plus, I don't have good undergrad scores, merely 65% but I have secured some certifications in the financial sector, like NISM Financial Advisor, and some more, could such certifications help improve my profile? Another thing I want to ask, would it be wise to leave a government job, as it is considered the most financially secure job in India, to pursue higher studies?

It'd be a great help if you could ping back!!!

souvik101990. Thanks for taking this up man. Congrats on the great admits! I would like help with my resume and profile evaluation. Can you PM me your personal email id. Will send my resume and brief description of my profile to your email as I don't want to post my resume here. Thanks in advance.

Hi Souvik!


Thanks for taking this initiative man, it'll be of great help!


Here's my profile:

Planning for 2019-20 batch, open to both one-year and two year programs. One year is preferred though.


Here is a little background on my profile:


Age: 25 (Indian Male)

Class 10: cgpa 83.2%

Class 12: 72.6.5%

Graduation: 69.3% ( BE in CSE from Panjab University)

GMAT: 690 Q47, V38.


Internships & Work Ex: 

*Infosys Ltd. (Feb '14- June '14)

*Infosys Ltd. (July '14 - Present) - 3.7 years.


 Extra Curriculars

 - Organised a lots of events at college Level.

 - Have been an entrepreneur at heart since college. Developed and flipped websites. Have invested at studied in 

   Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain. Have worked as a freelancer for some overseas clients. (Can get the recommendation

   letter from them.)

- Avid traveler and trekker. Have trekked to a few popular peaks including Mt Everest Base Camp.

- Intermediate Level Guitar player.

- Have played Cricket at college level.

- Team Lead at College Placement committee.

Concerns and Advice requested:

1) I'm planning to quit my job and start my own venture and I think I'd have 6-8 months of entrepreneurship experience, but that might not be enough to take my venture to success. However, I really want to pursue MBA in 2019 batch. Should I start my venture and give it one extra year and plan for MBA in 2020. In case my venture fails, will it be considered a negative point in my profile?

2) Another option is quit my job a little late(adding a few more months to my experience) and apply for a good university. Which one will be better?

Target B Schools: I haven't really researched much, but ISB, SP Jain, Brigham Young University are few of the preferred. Which other good business schools should I plan to apply. I don't have any particular location preference for the B School.


Thanks a lot!


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NOTE TO EVERYBODY: YOUR 10th and 12th scores DO NOT MATTER - you were 15 and 17 years old back then!
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First off I am impressed that you typed the whole thing on your phone. I think I am getting really old. Anything more than 50 words, I hunt for my computer.

Instead of combing through your profile, which looks decent and typical (except for the GMAT - that needs to improve).

1) I'm planning to quit my job and start my own venture and I think I'd have 6-8 months of entrepreneurship experience, but that might not be enough to take my venture to success. However, I really want to pursue MBA in 2019 batch. Should I start my venture and give it one extra year and plan for MBA in 2020. In case my venture fails, will it be considered a negative point in my profile?


Not really. Plenty of ventures fail. More ventures fail than succeed. The more important question is, would you know whether your venture is successful from less than a year? To be brutally honest, I know LOTs of Indians who have done this - start a venture a year from school to show some entrepreneurial chops with the idea of it failing. It's the same scheme as joining or starting a not for profit (I was accused of that. To my critic's surprise I stayed in not for profits for half a decade). Regardless of whether your venture succeeds or fails you have to answer the question - Why MBA? Why Now? If not in the essays, definitely in the interviews. How would you answer? If you have an answer ready (I have some ideas here), great! If you don't, I'd try figuring that story out before quitting your job.

Target B Schools: I haven't really researched much, but ISB, SP Jain, Brigham Young University are few of the preferred. Which other good business schools should I plan to apply. I don't have any particular location preference for the B School.

That's an odd choice. You have 2 solid Indian school and a pretty remote school in Utah - that does not add up to me. Start your research. It would be hard to recommend schools without knowing what you really want. At first all schools will look and sound the same. First figure out your final GMAT score. If it is 690, take 5-6 schools which has a GMAT average of 660-680 and figure out which schools appeal to you. Talk to current students, alums and industry folks who are doing the stuff you want to do. Only then you will be able to feel vibes and make a more informed choice. Hope this helps!
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Yeah IB is really popular among b school students. What should be your target GMAT score? As an Indian applicant, I would recommend 20-30 points above the school's average. Narenn has done some excellent analyses on GMAT scores for Indian applicants so you should check those out. As a thumb rule, a 730+ score puts you in a decent place. A 750+ score almost seals the deal for an interview in the top 20 school.

Whether it is wise to leave a government job for an MBA - I don't know man - it depends on your risk appetite. You can think of it as a trade off game. Worst case scenario - you will have to come back to India with a better job but a heavy debt (so you will probably end up earning the same net, but have a higher earning potential over time) OR you could live wherever you want with a 130K+ salary. I would say an MBA is worth it, but you gotta expand your options beyond IB. IB can be hard beyond the top 20 schools. Most internationals end up recruiting for tech and consulting.
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Appreciate it. This thread serves as a community learning. I don't think I will be able to evaluate your profile over PMs/email. You could post a sanitised version here - nobody would know. Unless you are a celebrity, in which case, why would you go to business school?
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Hi Souvik!


Thanks for taking this on. You are truly an inspiration.


Here's my profile:

Planning to apply in R1 for class of 2021.


Here is a little background on my profile:


Age: 24 (Indian Female, currently living in US)

Graduation: 87% ( non-IIT, renowned college )

GMAT: 750 Q50, V41. (planning to retake it in a couple of months).


Work Experience: (~5 years by the time of matriculation in 2019, graduated in 2014).

*Vanderbilt University Medical Center. (March '17- present) -- Working on applying data analytics in medicine. Youngest member and the only foreigner in the team of highly qualified individuals

*Deloitte Consulting. (October '15 - March'17)

*Cognizant Technology Solutions (June'14 - October'15)


Extra Curriculars

- Bachelors -- Co-founded a non-profit during bachelors (Acted as technological partners to NGO's)

- Bachelors -- Spearheaded Social Responsibility Division at Model United Nations.

- Post-Bachelors -- Strategy Advisor at American Field Service, an international youth exchange organization.

- Have played Cricket at college level.

- Received Prathibha award during class 7 and class 10 for excellent academics. Central Government scholarship recipient during high school.

Questions I have:

1) How do I improve my profile as a re-applicant. I have already done few things (Won a case competition at Vanderbilt, Started taking up more challenging roles at work as a promotion isn't feasible, started working on improving my GMAT score) but want to know what else I can do to make my candidacy stronger for top 5 business schools in US.

2) Have you used a consultant during the process? If yes, whom would you recommend. I'm planning on using one.


Thanks much in advance!

GmatHopeful2021 - quick question before we proceed further. A 750 GMAT with your split (which is great BTW) is MORE THAN ENOUGH for an Indian female such as yourself. Why would you waste time retaking? The only other Indian woman I have seen do such a thing is kmwantstogoschool who wanted to improve her quant (750-770 - she's crazy!).

One more thing: which schools did you apply to and what were the outcomes? If it was just Yale, it does not mean anything!
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souvik101990: I applied to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth and Sloan in R1 and got dinged without invites. I applied to Yale in R2 just for a reality check to see if my profile can even land an interview invite at a top school (I was devastated by my R1 results and lost confidence). I got dinged at Yale after landing an interview invite. I know a 750 is more than enough. But this is my last attempt trying for a top 5 school as I can't drain myself more emotionally and financially. With that being said, I want to give it my best shot this time and improve my profile in every single aspect I can. I'm confident that I can score a 760/770 with some decent effort (Not planning to spend too much time on it though, just 1-2 hours a day).

Name: Hitarth Parmar

GMAT: 710 (Q48, Q39); IR - 8; AWA - 5.0. [Recently appeared for my GMAT on 16.02.2018]

Work Experience: 57 months [as on 01.04.2018] at a Public-sector Oil & Gas industry in India. I worked for 53 months in Operations & Maintenance department as an Officer, and was responsible for managing the Routine Maintenance Schedules, Breakdown maintenance with Root Cause Analysis and Report Generation; was responsible for a critical design change which was universalised in the company.

Recently, I have been transferred to Projects department since 3.5 months and been looking after Project Scheduling, Planning, review and approval of procedures, materials, managing and co-ordinating with other agencies (Consultant, contractor, inspection agencies).

Extra-curriculars: Have won a team event at a national level sports fest in the game of Table Tennis; was associated for 1 year with an NGO.


Question:
1) I expected a better GMAT score than 710 - I used to receive around Q49 and Q50 as well as V41 and V42. Basically, I think I have room for improvement and wish to appear once again around May. Is that a good time to appear for the GMAT or should I concentrate more on Essays, LoRs and such?

2) Considering that I have my work experience in Projects and Operations and thereby plan on pursuing MBA in Operations/Project management, should I aim for a better score in Quant? (something around 49-50)

3) Which are the best schools for MBA with specialisation in Operations and Project Management? How good is ISB for the same?

Your help will be thoroughly appreciated.
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Hello souvik101990 , I have been reading your debriefs and I would like to have your feedback on my profile.

Gender - Male
Age: 25 years

Work Experience (3.5 years)
2018 onwards Business Operations at UpGrad for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Program Vertical
2016 - 2018 - Associate Consultant - Worked on Business Transformation Projects, and Leadership Development
2015 - CEO at AIESEC in Mumbai - Led an Executive Body of 12 Members with an annual budget of INR 1 crore, driving top-line revenue worth 65 lakhs through four products (B2C and B2B), led an overall work-force of 200 members
2014 - Headed Operations at AIESEC and worked at Godrej and Boyce as a Supply Chain Associate

Academics:
BE - Mechanical Engineering - Mumbai University
2012 - 2014: Represented the college at National (2012 and 2014 - SAE India) and International Competition (2012-2014) at Formula Student Germany Competitions by building a prototype race-car. Delivered through roles of Project Manager, and Production Engineer
Placement Co-ordinator
Grade: 60% (First Class)
12th: 78%
10th: 91%

Extra-curricular:
1. AIESEC: Started from a member in 2013 and went on to be elected as the President/CEO of the Mumbai office for the official term of 2015-2016
2. Formula Student Germany Competition in Germany (2012, 2013, 2014)
3. Blogger for AOL Media (2012-2013)
4. Nokia Ambassador
5. State Level Sprinter - 100 metres, 400 metres

GMAT - scheduled for 1st June (highest Mock score has been [i][b]630 in MGMAT Mock)

I am looking forward to applying to the below colleges:
1. ISB (also has an AIESEC scholarship worth 5 lakhs)
2. NUS
3. NTU
4. SP Jain
5. IIM Ahmedabad (next year for Exec)

I know I really have to work on my GMAT score. Maybe around 720.

Would definitely love to know your thoughts on the profile and how to go about the same.

Cheers

May I request for profile evaluation ?
2010 - Grad, Computer Engineering, Delhi College of Engineering.

Work experience

2011- 14 months work experience with bank of America in Business Intelligence. (Resigned from Job)
2011-2013 - Prepared for Civil Services. Not able to get through.
2014 - Co founded a national NGO for differently able.
2015- Co founded, a partnership firm to teach cadets for NDA at schools under defense ministry.
2016 - Co founded a start up for providing free quality material for competitive examinations in hindi language as it comprises of 45 % of our population. For the same raised pre seed funds from DTU IIF.

Sports profile

2011- Silver at National Championship in Para Table Tennis.
2012- Speaker at International Conference for London Olympics at Delhi University.
2013- Represented India at Para Table Tennis Thailand. World rank 72.
2016- Successfully negotiated with Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), Sports Authority of India (SAI) and International Para table Tennis Committee (IPTTC) for National championship of Para table Tennis which was due in India since 5 years and no one was ready to provide any solution. I intervened and helped in formation of national body to take care of Para Table Tennis under TTFI. Consequently, we were able to win medals in Para Asian Games (1 Bronze), Thailand Open, 2017(3 Bronze) and Jordan Open (9 medals, highest in India). Recently I have been able to get funds allocated for national championship which was due 5 years and also presented a separate budget for Para Table Tennis of 1.5 crore which is about to pass in a month. Presently I have been selected as players representative for Para Table Tennis but it is not a legal sanctioned post.

Which MBA school I stand a chance for scholarship ? GMAT :700

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Souvik
Thanks a lot first of all.
I Wanted to know how are the MBA programs in Canadian business schools ? In terms of ROI and post MBA job opportunities considering Canada has a smaller job market as compared to the US.
Also, roughly how much GMAT score should I target if I am looking for top 10 schools in Canada.

Thank you!
Mani

Sent from my XT1562 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Name: Abhinav
Nationality: Indian
WE: 49 months (Oil & Gas) ( Project Management & Tech Operations)
I have been involved in construction & commissioning of an LNG terminal
GMAT: 710 (Q-50, V-36)

Extra Curricular:
1. Represented the university in various cricket tournaments
2. Prepared a technical review paper
3. Was the university sports secy
4. Organised a few events at the university

Academic Background:

B.Tech(Petroleum)- 74.6%

Awards & Achievements:

1. Was among the top 1% performers in the organisation
2. Was placed at the highest paying company from the university and I was among the top 5% of my batch ( i dnt know if this is an achievement )
3. Was a part of the school team in the district level tournaments conducted by the hyderabad Cricket asssociation

School Preference:

I am mainly looking for a 1-year (at max 15-months) MBA program preferably in English speaking country.I want to work in the general management or operations vertical. I am looking for colleges in any country , where in I could get into these business verticals. I have been waitlisted at ISB , but could no cut through after that.

As far as what I've experienced , i understood that the colleges generally pick those students , whom they would find no difficulty in placing. Can you please suggest me some good colleges ,where in my profile would suit

The colleges , which i am looking into are

NTU
NUS
ISB

Thanks in advance.
Abhinav

Okay here goes

For Q1 - you can always try the GMAT again. Considering it is May, I hope you are going hard at those quant and verbal questions, if you feel you can up the GMAT by 30-40 points, you will make a remarkable improvement to your candidacy to top business schools. The 710, would not cut it to top 10-15 schools. If it does, it will definitely be a very outlying example.

For Q2 - Q49/50 would be pretty awesome. That's pretty much as good as it gets. In my personal opinion, there is a massive difference between a Q49 and a Q50, but Q50 and Q51 are often interchangeable. Your most ideal split would be a 740 (Q50 V40) or above.

For Q3 - It is hard to say to be honest. Operations can be a pretty vast space and you have to dig further into what you really want to do. For example Operations at Amazon would look significantly different (and droolworthy) compared to say, Apple or FedEx. Both ISB and top schools can get you to these places. Some schools to look at would be Ross (it is pretty much THE school for operations and there is an option to do a joint degree with the Tauber institute of operations). In addition, I would also look at Tepper, McCombs and perhaps ASU (it is one of the best for SCM functions).
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How is your GMAT Prep going? Your experience looks really interesting (with startups etc) and I think ISB would be happy to take you in if you crack a 730 or above on the GMAT. Is there a reason you don't want to apply to American schools? i think you can make a strong case with your differentiating work experience and with a high GMAT score, I don't see off-the-top-of-my-head glitches on the top 10.
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The average/median GMAT scores for Rotman, Schulich, and Ivey are available on their website. Generally, I would recommend aiming at a GMAT score that is 30-40 points above the school median with a cap at 750-760.

The ROI for Canadian schools are pretty solid. i know 3-4 people at Rotman who did not have an issue with getting jobs in Canada but you would most likely be limited to working in Canada - if that is something that you are cool with, Rotman is your best bet. It has also become more selective since last year because of you-know-who.
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Sorry the last 4 posts took longer that usual, but considering that it is only beginning of May - most of you folks haven't yet started flexing those application muscles. There is still a LOT of time - or is there? :O
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