My Chances at Harvard - Post All Profile Evaluation Requests Here!

Background and nationality:
American Caucasian
Undergrad Information:
Double major in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mathematics with two minors in Nuclear and Aerospace Engineering 3.78/4 GPA at a public school in VA
GMAT: 164/167 on GRE
Work experience and leadership:
48 months in the army starting as a Platoon leader all the way to the BN S4 (Logistics Officer). I have led teams from 43 to 3 personnel in high intensity environments. I led redeployment from the Baltics and was in charge of coordinating and executing million dollar contract. Creating lasting impact through the establishment of procedures for moving equipment throughout the Baltics for follow on units.
Community and others : Vice president of Marathon club at College. Volunteered with children whose parents were deployed and ate breakfast with them.
Post MBA goals: Manage a team that creates effeciences and improves the overall supply chain management of a Company. Staring out at an operational level and eventually I fluencing strategic level decisions.

Anything else? Have international experiences through a deployment this past year. Can speak French and some Arabic.

Posted from my mobile device

Jack Ryan, is that you?

Thanks in advance for reviewing my profile. Shall look forward to objective advice in terms of starting the application

Background and nationality: Indian , Gender: F

Undergrad Information : B-Tech from West Bengal University of Technology (9.02/10) Electronics & Communication

Graduation and Masters: MBA from Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (3.7/4.33) Top 5 in Batch

GMAT: 720

Work experience and leadership : Tata Group Leadership Program ( TAS) with experience in functional areas of sales & marketing, strategy across industries like FMCG, lifestyle retail and education. Previous to my MBA have worked in IT consulting for 1.5 years. Total Work Experience (4 years)
Professional achievement: Set up the customer experience program for the largest lifestyle retailing company in India, driving growth in repeat business by 25% and leading the organization to win multiple National and International accolades for leading the curve in service design and customer experience ( Mostly notable being listed as a global case study in KPMG's customer experience thought paper, being recognized by industry bodies like NASSCOM and being a finalist at International Cx Awards 2018 )

Community and others : 3 months of immersive work in tribal education based out of a remote village in India
Trained in Indian classical music and have won multiple debates at intra and inter college competitions

Post MBA goals: General Management/ Consulting

Anything else?
I am working in a very niche domain of customer experience and service design in a highly acclaimed leadership program in India, the Tata Administrative Services, As part of Tata Group Leadership Program participant I have had cross-functional experience in Sales, Marketing and Strategy functions in FMCG, Retail and developmental sectors. Previous to this, I have earned a masters degree in Business Management from IIM Kozhikode, one of the most premier institutions in India.

My motivation for a second MBA is a global exposure and more importantly the experience of attending Harvard University.

I have had a fairly meritorious academic record, moderate exposure to diverse extra-curricular activities like Indian Classical music, debates, news article writing, swimming and a continuous track record of shouldering leadership responsibilities at school, college and at work along with a decent exposure to social development project having spent 3 months in a remote village in Jharkhand district of India in setting up Tata Trusts foray into tribal education in the area.

At the personal front I had lost my dad as a child of 10 years and the emotional, financial and social trauma of trying to make ends meet with my brave but severely ailing mother, has made me stronger as a person.

I am broadly aware about the stellar profiles which compete for a seat in HBS and am really eager to polish my application to be able to make the cut.

Hi Jukta89,

Thank you for your post and for sharing your profile. I like what I read, and would love to learn more about your history. From what I see, I would urge you to consider retaking the GMAT if you think you can increase your overall score by 10-20 points. Aside from that, I strongly recommend you build a strategy to telling your story to the HBS adcom. Telling your story (personal history, work experience, community engagement, motivations) in a genuine way is pivotal. You must also convey why a second MBA makes sense and why you require it to progress in your chosen field. I hope this helps!

Good luck!


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Hello,

I am a Male chemical engineer of indian origin (UK national) looking to see if you guys can guide me with my odds at Harvard/Stanford/Sloan. I have lived in around 7 countries including all countries within UK.

GMAT - 730 (can retake to get 750+ if needed as I only did 4 week of prep).

Undergraduate - Top 20 world (Russel Group in UK) - Bachelors of Chemical Engineering - First Class (Think its 4 in GPA).

Postgraduate - Top 100 world Red Brick Russel Group in UK/top 3-5 for Chem Eng in UK - MSc Chemical Engineering - Merit (missed out distinction by 1%) - not sure what the GPA is.

Work Experience - 3 years at Tata Steel across UK/Netherlands/France. Worked as engineer and strategy consultant with promotion in year 2 to engineering manager position that usually takes normal graduates atleast 10 years of experience.

I know TATA has close links with HBS due to a donation by Ratan Tata - Harvard AMP and Tata Steel alumni.

I have heard that international GPAs matter less due to only USA GPAs affecting the rankings and that steel industry is a unique one in business school. I know being indian engineer is not ideal but looking to see what you guys think and was wondering if my engineering background and GMAT will offset my merit in postgraduate

Hi multirealman,


Thank you for your post. Overall you have a great profile. As you pointed out, you fall under the "Indian Engineer" applicant pool. Because of that, I recommend you retake the GMAT and try and score higher. As I mentioned in my previous post, H/S/M look for more than just high quantitative score; they look to admit those who are well rounded (qualitative perspective). I recommend you address your values, your motivators, and your aspirations in your essays to each school. Of course, you will also need to state why is it that you require an MBA and why from each school (obviously extensive research is necessary to address the latter component). I hope this helps.

Good luck!



_________________

Did fairly poor in undergrad. While in college, was a caretaker to an ailing single parent battling cancer who unfortunately did end up passing away. The death of my parent really did impact me emotionally and physically and as a result my grades suffered.


Nationality
African American (Black)

Gender
Female

Academic
B.A. in Humanities Top 25 Liberal Arts College
Cumulative GPA - 2.7

GMAT
740

Work Experience
Summer Marketing Intern at well-known consumer media company (think Disney, HBO, Spotify)
Associate Product Manager at high-growth, stealth start-up (think ZocDoc, Lyft, Airbnb) for 1.5 years
Associate Product Marketing Manager at top consumer tech company (think Google or Facebook) for 2.0 years (at time of matriculation)

Extracurriculars
Very involved in diversity and inclusion initiatives across all experiences. Leadership roles also abundant.

Hi there ,
Request you to help evaluate my profile for Harvard intake .

- Age : 33 years.
- Gender : Male
- Nationality : indian.

Work Experience : 11 years.

Industry : Retail.

Bach. Degree : from National Institute of Fashion Technology , India.
GPA : 3.35.

GMAT : Yet to take the exam , targeting Oct '18 end.

Professional Experience :
1. Job 1 ( 18 Months ) : started with India's then biggest retailer as management trainee mainly into product and vendor management for Women's western wear. Key takeaways were Industry experience and vendor management .

2. Job 2 ( 17 months ) : Started Working with a global Sportswear brand as Asst. Product Buyer , got introduced to dynamics of an international brand environment , used my previous learning to improve Product and processes for the brand.

3.Job 3 ( 36 Months ) : Started working as Manager - Merchandising for a Global Fashion retailer, which had just entered the Indian market space then , spearheading the merchandising and product department . With previous exposure of International brand dynamics , was able to set a up the merchandising dept from scratch to multiple retail stores in India.

4. Job 4 ( 60 Months ) : Joined the current biggest retailer in India started working with yet another international and Global sportswear brand. Currently heading their Merchandising/ product / sales Departments . Have seen through the brand journey from 2 points of sale to 60 points of sale and big ECOM portfolio considering the current ECOM boom in India. The job gave the much required International exposure considering multiple trips to Brand headquarters based in France and working with the French Brand team for almost 5 years now.

Extra Curricular :
Have won multiple awards in School time for various GK Quiz.
Have also been involved in various activities like choreographing a complete Fashion show during college festivals.
Unfortunately , No Volunteer work as of now.

PLs let me know .

Thanks

Hi FusciaCricket,

Thank you for your post and I am sorry about your parent's passing.

I would like to learn more about professional background and career aspirations to adequately review your profile. As you pointed out, your undergraduate GPA is low. I do recommend you talk about that experience either in your personal statement or as an addendum to the application.

Good luck!





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I am applying to harvard in the next few months (R2). please let me know what you guys think!

Background and nationality: Singaporean Male, age 29 (will be 30 when I join the MBA)
Undergrad Information: Singapore Management University (majored in Quantitative Finance, GPA 3.0, my class only had 30 people out of the 2k+ that were in my school, so the average GPA was between 2.9-3.1)

GMAT: 650

Work experience and leadership (total 4 years now, will be 5 by the time i join):
1) worked as an algo-trader at a tier 1 investment bank in singapore
2) currently working at a mexican startup (in mexico), where i'm head of all securitizations and strategic planning. have raised USD 90 mm so far for the company (making us the most well funded startup in mexico). led one of the first asset purchase programs in Latin American history between an international bank and a start up. work constantly with top tier VCs for funding + day to day operations. only finance person in the company that programs

Community and others:
- spent 2 years in the singapore army (was a 1st lieutenant in the army). ran local and overseas missions, had a platoon of 50 men under me.
- am a semi-professional standup comedian. have performed in 3 different countries. have opened for several top comedians in mexico. one of the few to do standup in both spanish and english


Post MBA goals
- want to shift to consulting/IBD. relates closely with my current job of solving problems/helping w funding. with the MBA, I'd want to scale these responsibilities.

Anything else?
I'm trilingual. English, Hindi and Spanish all at professional working capacity/native fluency

Hi, Can someone please analyse my profile for Harvard. Im not too familiar with US schools' requirements and would like to know if I stand a chance on applying.
Thanks in advance!

Background and nationality: Pakistani Female, 29, grew up in the UK and KSA
Undergrad Information: Medical Doctor, from leading national university.
GMAT: 680 (Q42, V40, IR 8)
Work experience and leadership:
2 years in clinical training (fellowship) Pakistan
1 year in clinical training Saudia Arabia
1 year as a hospital administrator/ general manager of 20 bedded semi-urban hospital
2 years at Swiss MNC (working here currently), launched the first nationwide tele-medicine network in
Pakistan.
Manage a team of 12 doctors. The network provides medical services to over a million patients,
Went to Indonesia and Cambodia to launch markets there.

Have done an executive education course (Healthcare and Innovation) at INSEAD
I'm an Acumen Regional Fellow for Pakistan. Acumen is a leading impact investment fund.
I was previously a World Bank Fellow (a program focused on developing women in business)


Community and others:
Im founding member of an NGO that provides vocational training to illiterate low income women so they can become micro-entrepreneurs. We have trained over 200 women in remote areas.


Post MBA goals: Consulting for some time. Then industry job that merges insurance and healthcare
Anything else?
Speak 3 languages. Been living in about 5 countries.

Dear gamesfreak, could you please tell why the age matters while applying to top schools? And what is the age range for tops? Thanks in advance!

GPA 2.78/4.00
GMAT yet to appear, practice test around 730-740(will appear in 2nd week of Dec)
From Pakistan, have found a library, and volunteered in many other NGOs nationally and internationally, was active in student bodies
Working in a media house since past 1 year, before that had experience of 5 internships and 1 year part-time job, by august next year will have 2 years full-time experience
250$ is my 1 month salary currently
Worth a try??

Hi all! Do I stand a chance at HBS?

Background and nationality: White female

Undergrad Information: Univ. of Notre Dame, BS in Mechanical Engineering (GPA 3.2)

GMAT: 720 (Q47, V41)

Work experience and leadership:
- Product Development Engineer at Fortune 10 consumer products (manufacturing/tech.) company - 3 years;
- Co-Leading (and worked with upper management to establish) professional development/social network program for young professionals within the company

Community and others:
- Volunteering with underprivileged kids in inner-city
- Church involvement
- Hobbies: Running, Downhill Snow Skiing

Post MBA goals:
- Rise to senior management in tech. industry; involvement with Business Strategy

Anything else?
- Essays should be high-quality
- Letters of recommendation likely average

Thanks in advance for reviewing my profile. Shall look forward to objective advice in terms of starting the application
This Application Review is for the Harvard 2+2 Program.

Background and nationality: Indian , Gender: M (22 years)

Undergrad Information : B-Tech from Amity School of Engineering & Technology (GPA :3.6/4) Computer Science
GMAT: 740

Work experience and leadership : I've just completed my Final year of Engineering and since the first year have done internships.
1st year : Small internship in computer science area + Summer Course at Harvard
2nd year : Internship with a managerial position + Started my own Startup and automated
3rd year : Startup failed after 10 months so did an internship again in Government of India office to learn things.
4th year : Part Time Job in managing teams as reached 21, so around a year of part time job.
I got great recommendations from my internships , my college professors and from the people high up in the company I worked in.

Community and others : have contributed and volunteered in NGO's because I've loved it.! + I got certificates.
Was a part of RHA.

Post MBA goals: Entrepreneurship / Finance
Anything else?

I have had a fair academic record, moderate exposure to diverse extra-curricular activities like Indian music, debates, news article writing, swimming and a continuous track record of shouldering leadership responsibilities at school, college and at work along with a decent exposure to social development project having spent months with RHA to feed people so they don't go to sleep hungry at night.
I've always been a sporty person and have taught myself discipline over the years by sports, with habits like waking up at 5:30 to job or everyday playing a certain sport without fail.
I've lived with that since I was 20.

I am broadly aware about the stellar profiles which compete for a seat in HBS and am really eager to polish my application to be able to make the cut.

Hello,

I am considering applying for the 2+2 MBA program at Harvard, and I wanted to know if I have a decent shot before I spend the time writing essays and asking for recommenders. Here is some info:

Senior Undergrad at USC / UCLA / ND / Georgetown tier school (graduating in May) with full scholarship
3.7 GPA, Computer Science & Business Admin Major
5 internships, including as a software engineering intern at Google
Will be returning to Google as a software engineer upon graduation
Taking GRE Jan 4th 2019, but my SAT was ~2300/2400 (with 800 math and 800 writing) so I think I will do well
In terms of career goals, I want to work as a software engineer for 2 years, so that I can learn the ins-and-outs of world-class software development, and then move into venture capital post-MBA and use my knowledge to help evaluate the tech at companies. Is this a career path that Harvard would like, or is that not consistent with what they are looking for?

I know I don't have a ton of time, so I need to make a decision about whether to apply or not. I am also considering applying to Stanford's deferred MBA program.

Do I have a good shot?

I'll keep it REALLY real: HBS is looking for proven, demonstrated leaders. People who -- even at a young age and before they're out of college -- have gone above and beyond and racked up some extraordinary leadership experience through their extracurricular, community, volunteer or personal activities. People put too much emphasis on "stats," in my opinion. Yes, you will need a good GMAT score and GPA to be considered in the first place, but those are just like "check the box" hurdles. After that it will come down to what others in the class will be able to learn from you during case discussions -- what will you bring to the table?

If you feel like you don't have a lot to say for yourself on that front, then that would be an issue for HBS. I would recommend really focusing on leadership experience in your early career and taking on a leadership role at a nonprofit that you care about and STAYING in that role for a few years -- showing deep commitment. That will then position you much more strongly to apply when you have 3-4 years of work experience under your belt.

Hope that helps!


_________________

Maybe this is a decent thread to ask advice on how to proceed with overall planning...

28y/o female at a US medical school in my 2nd year and graduate at 31y/o. To be clear, I am already in medical school.

From cursory searches, it appears there is a de facto hard stop on the age of the typically accepted applicant to HBS — supposedly 35 y/o. I am not sure how true this is and what this means for me since I am graduating med school at 31y/o. Regarding residency, I would most likely do Family Medicine or Internal Medicine, which are 3 year trainings.

Other factors possibly of interest: I have a STEM degree. I grew up disadvantaged. I am not anywhere near the top of my med school class, but I forced myself to achieve goals that most people where I'm from are not able to do. I grew up without certain exposures on how to succeed, and my appeal on this forum is to how approach thinking about a Harvard MBA….

I will be a published first author of a novel laboratory/research method within the next year. My research lab intends to build on my research to create a new drug-delivery mechanism.

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Hi guys,

It will be great if someone can evaluate my profile and let me know what GMAT score should I target to bag a call.

Nationality:Indian

10th(CBSE)- 83%
12th(CBSE)- 78%
Computer Science Engineering(B.Tech)- 69%
Completed Business Leadership Programme with a top Indian Bank(MBA banking and finance)- CGPA of 7.0 (an elite programme with the bank)

Work Experience Total - 6.5 years+
1. IT- Systems Engineer- 3 years

Here I worked in Core JAVA projects.

2. Banking-
a. 2016-2018(Commercial Banking): Worked as Account Manager for Big corporates. My primary client base included many SME clients. Also, I led many New Client Acquisitions for my unit.
b. 2018-present:I am working in Operational risk profile as a Risk analyst with various groups mapped under me for Risk evaluation. Also I played a Key role in driving a software induction for my group within the Bank.

Achievements:Acknowleded for Highest Advance Tax collection across my zone.
Co-curricular- Plenty and plenty of award for various events,Debates,dramatics,including University level award and State level beauty pageant(won subtitle ),
Volunteering: Worked as Placements officer with Make a Difference(NGO)

Age:30 (I will be 31 by the time I apply for 2019-20)- Just to add, I am a proud mom of 19 month old baby.

Thanks in advance!