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

Hello abhimukh19,

Are you interested in full-time MBA programs? While you have some great experience, the M7s will be hard to crack at age 37. While European schools tend to trend older, you may also face some difficulty here.

That said, there are a number of other options, like part-time and EMBA programs. If you secure a strong GMAT, you should be well-positioned for your target schools.

Since you are coming from a consulting background, it will be key that you differentiate yourself from the pack in your applications, as it is a competitive field.

Take a look at our comprehensive services to learn how we can help you put together strong applications, and do not hesitate to reach out to scott@personalmbacoach.com to learn more. Founded by a former consultant, Personal MBA Coach helps numerous consultants get into top MBA programs and earn significant scholarships each year!

Best,
Personal MBA Coach
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Hi Everyone ,

Shaunak Here...Same old same old...question...
Its time for my MBA profile evaluation-
Nationality - Indian
Work Exp - 42 months (29months international in Africa and Saudi arabia) as a Procurement Engineer
GMAT - 770 , IELTS - 7.5
Under Grad - 6.93/10 (Topper had I guess - 8.5) nagpur uni (year 2016)
10th - 91 % ; 12th - 68%
Extra Curricular - volunteer exp full time - 7 months
LORs - 2 (one from HOD/GM and other one from ex colleague)
Skill sets aquired - SAP MM , soon Will enrole for six sigma
Currently working on SAP integration projects
-
So what are my chances for Good MBA colleges(top 20)
Yale , MIT , Duke , HEC , Insead , cornell , Hass, Columbia? Etc...)
Do suggest some other options as well


Point to conaider -
Work exp is into oil and gas and EPC sector , not typical indian IT guy
And LORs from ex boss is very good as I helped and saved (sort of) his life when he had an heart attack, full disclosure - he is all right now☺☺

Regards
Shaunak
Do suggest and comment ...☺

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Everyone ,

Shaunak Here...Same old same old...question...
Its time for my MBA profile evaluation-
Nationality - Indian
Work Exp - 42 months (29months international in Africa and Saudi arabia) as a Procurement Engineer
GMAT - 770 , IELTS - 7.5
Under Grad - 6.93/10 (Topper had I guess - 8.5) nagpur uni (year 2016)
10th - 91 % ; 12th - 68%
Extra Curricular - volunteer exp full time - 7 months
LORs - 2 (one from HOD/GM and other one from ex colleague)
Skill sets aquired - SAP MM , soon Will enrole for six sigma
Currently working on SAP integration projects
-
So what are my chances for Good MBA colleges(top 20)
Yale , MIT , Duke , HEC , Insead , cornell , Hass, Columbia? Etc...)
Do suggest some other options as well


Point to consider -
Work exp is into oil and gas and EPC sector , not typical indian IT guy
And LORs from ex boss is very good as I helped and saved (sort of) his life when he had an heart attack, full disclosure - he is all right now☺☺

Regards
Shaunak
Do suggest and comment ...☺

Posted from my mobile device

Hi shaunak075,

Congrats on the great GMAT. Though just part of the equation, this will help strengthen and elevate your candidacy for HBS.

As for your work experience, Personal MBA Coach has worked with many clients from oil and gas backgrounds and we can certainly talk with you about how to best position this experience in the context of your MBA applications.

You have a solid list of target programs thus far. What are your post-MBA goals? Building a school list depends upon your personal interests, learning style, and aspirations so these will be important to reflect upon.

Take a look at our comprehensive services and feel free to send a note to scott@personalmbacoach.com if you are looking for help putting together strong applications for top programs!

Regards,
Personal MBA Coach


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Hi - Would love some perspective on my chances at H/S/W. 26 year old white male applying R1 in 5th year of post undergrad experience. 730 GMAT (47V / 44Q). 3.67 UG GPA from Cornell (Applied Economics & Management Major). On-Campus business / investment organization leadership roles. 2 summer internships Top-Bulge Bracket TMT IB (GS / JPM / MS) and 2-years in analyst in same program full time before joining TMT private equity shop with large H/S footprint (>$5B Fund). Chair various firmwide employee committees at work and involved in 3+ philanthropy junior boards (underprivileged youth mentoring & fundraising - engagement chair of leadership council, endowment of UG organization internship grant board, other mentoring roles). Welcome any thoughts - thanks!

Hello Tornado72,

For a white male in finance, a 730 GMAT should be raised if just you are just targeting Harvard, Stanford and Wharton. The average Q is 49 and for a white male in a top finance role, we want to get to at least 49 and ideally higher. So targeting 750+ (possibly 740) with a 49 or higher is the way to go. While your current score may suffice, the odds are lower.

On the surface, the rest of your profile looks very solid – strong finance background, leadership/philanthropy experience, and a reputable undergrad institution.

With the right type of essays and positioning, you'd certainly have a shot at some of the top schools. H/S/W can be a bit of a black box, so it's often difficult to pinpoint exact chances since sometimes wonderful applicants get denied while weaker ones get accepted.

That said, Personal MBA Coach has helped numerous applicants with similar backgrounds to yours get into these programs each year. We would be happy to discuss our comprehensive services and application strategy with you to help maximize your chances of acceptance (this includes targeting a broader range of programs as well, since candidates are now applying to 5-8 schools on average).

Feel free to send a note to scott@personalmbacoach.com if you are looking for guidance in putting together strong applications!

Regards,
Personal MBA Coach


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Hi Tornado72 - I would add to the feedback you already received that your chances at H/S/W will most heavily depend on how well you tell your story and connect all of the dots in terms of what you've done so far; what impact you want to have in the world, and why; and how an MBA from each specific school will best help you get there. Do you have a strong sense of where you're headed and the impact you ultimately want to have in the world?

Your extracurriculars look particularly great, both in terms of your employee committees and board roles - can you also demonstrate leadership and impact (ideally beyond your peers) in terms of your job?

You otherwise do seem like a compelling candidate for these top schools. I agree a higher GMAT (especially Q) would help, but if you can otherwise demonstrate quantitative readiness (through undergrad quant grades and the quant aspects of your job), I would be even more focused on pulling together a very compelling story.

Hope this helps! I would be happy to dive in deeper to your specific profile via a 30 minute free consultation - if you're interested, you can sign up here. In any case, best of luck to you!!
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Hi everyone!

I wonder what do you think of my chances based on the profile below?

28yo, first gen, white male

Nationality:
Czech Republic

Education:
-BA (Hons) in Business Management from a non-prestigious university in the United Kingdom
-Exchange semester in Germany
-Mentee in the University’s Mentoring Programme
-Vice-Chancellor Scholarship Award

Grade:
4.0 GPA (1st Class)

GMAT:
720

Current Role:
S&OP Manager Amazon (2 years)
-Managing Sales and Operations planning for three countries

Work Experience:
-Business Analyst Intern at a boutique Management Consulting firm in Luxembourg (return offer received)
-Supply Chain Management Intern at Amazon in EMEA (return offer accepted)
-Management Intern at Enterprise Holdings in Scotland (return offer received)

Extracurriculars:
-Pro-Bono Management Consultant working on projects for social enterprises, non profits and start-ups within NA and EMEA regions
-Winter Internship Experience in Consulting - project based
-Volunteer English Teacher in Germany and Czech Republic
-IBM Data Science professional certificate
-Numerous certificates in data analytics from Coursera, Udemy, EDx, etc.
-Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate
-Former member of the Czech Republic National Boxing Team
-Toastmasters Member

Skills:
-MySQL, Python, VBA, Excel, Tableau

Languages:
-Czech
-German
-English
-Slovak

Post MBA Goal:
-return to Amazon as a Senior Programme Manager in Supply Chain Management -> grow to a director/VP level
-long-term: work in Ops/Supply Chain Management division in a consulting firm

Posted from my mobile device

Hi everyone,

Please let me know what you think of the profile below. I'm considering applying to schools in the top 15 range:

Demographics: 25 years old, Male, African American

Education:
Columbia University
GPA/Major: 3.5/Economics
ECs: Board member of large sustainability group on campus. Founded non-profit focused on supporting first-generation and low-income college students

GMAT: 720 (Q48, V41, IR7)

Work Experience
- Currently an associate on the private equity secondaries investment team of a large private equity manager (Blackstone/Carlyle/Ares/TPG)
- Came in as an analyst and was promoted
- Will have ~48 months of WE by matriculation

Leadership post graduation:
- have been involved in a mentorship program focused on providing guidance to minority students at my alma matter
- Part of the recruiting team at my firm
- started professional development initiative for junior professionals at my firm
- Unofficially have served as a mentor to the analysts on the team

Essays and Recs are a WIP.

Schools: As mentioned above, I'm looking to apply to schools in the T15 range, but am wondering if I have a shot at M7 schools.

Notes: I plan on applying during this application cycle, but would like to gather feedback on where I stand. I am open to deferring my application to next year if there are holes in my application that need to be tightened up.

MBA2024:

Yes, you are definitely in the M7 range. You have the scores, undergraduate program, demographics, work experience and extracurricular activities to put yourself in contention.

As you indicated, essays/narrative and recommendations are the two outstanding x-factors. Those will be the difference between getting into any of those schools and being waitlisted or denied, especially coming from a competitive demographic (Ivy League + finance.)

If you are seeking professional help, we are available at Admissionado to best meet your needs. We have essay-focused packages if that's where you too think you need the most attention.

https://admissionado.com/free-consultation/

Hello, Please let me know the chances of FT MBA :

Indian - Male, Age 31, First Gen College

GMAT - 710 ( Q 49 , V 38, IR 5, AWA 5 ) - hoping to improve to 740+
Education - Bachelors in engineering from Tier 1 college in India ( NIT)
selected to job through on campus recruitment

Work Experience :
8 years in India in a Fortune 500 company
* Oil & Plant commissioning and project management
* Production Operations - managing a team of 10
* High Value Contract Management - 15mil $

Extra Curricular :
* Elected member of governing body of employees ( 1000+) & member of various policy advocacy groups
* Lead disaster relief teams
* Started professional society chapter at workplace
* Involvement in Corporate Social Responsibility
* High altitude trekking programs
* Student Governing body member in school

Target Schools M7 :
Essays being written - hope those are strong & connected essays

Post MBA Goals : To move into operations & later to leadership positions in Energy Companies
Weak Points:
No international experience, though multi cultural exposure in India & a GPA of 6.9/10 ( First Class)

Planning to apply in R1 this year

Hi David26 - I'm happy to provide my thoughts on your profile. I know from your other posts that you also are thinking about LBS, MIT, Wharton, Yale, INSEAD, HEC Paris, and Stanford. Obviously there is variation among those schools, but generally you have some strengths in your profile that will help you, even among the stretch schools on your list (we feel that the very top schools are stretch schools for even the very best candidates).

Your great undergrad grades, international experience, and what seems like strong EC experience will all help you. The fact that you're first gen will also help differentiate you, as you likely already know. Your GMAT is under the average for HBS and many of your other schools, but close. Do you think you would get a higher score if you take it again? How was your quant score, and do you have other ways to demonstrate quantitative proficiency (either via undergrad quant courses and/or via your work experience)?

I have a bunch of questions whose answers will drive how competitive a candidate you will be. It's great that you had offers to return to all three jobs -- were these internships during your time at the university? In terms of your primary job since graduating, do you have specific accomplishments, impact, and leadership experience you can demonstrate? Have you been promoted? Schools will want to see evidence that you performed better than your peers.

Likewise with your extracurriculars - can you demonstrate leadership and impact at any of these? It's a little unclear which ones of them are current.

Finally, it would be helpful to know more about your goals - particularly your longer term goal. Why is this your goal? What impact do you want to have?

Your ultimate success will depend on how well you are able to describe and connect the dots between what you have accomplished, where you want to head (and why), and how an MBA from each of these schools will uniquely get you there.

If you would like to dive a bit deeper into your profile, feel free to sign up for one of our free 30 minute consultations here. In any case, best of luck to you!

All my best,
Soterios


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Hi MBA2024 - I know you've already received some feedback, but am happy to provide my thoughts as well. I agree that from what you've shared you will be compelling at the T15 schools, perhaps including the M7. It's great that you were promoted at work - was that sooner than your peers? These schools will want to see evidence that you have performed better than your peers - hopefully at least one of your LORs can also speak to this. Your leadership and EC experience look good. Are you able to demonstrate specific accomplishments and/or impact at work and via your ECs?

I think the biggest question for me is where are you headed? Do you know your short and long term goals yet? You will need to be able to explain to these schools where you are headed, and why, and how each of these schools is best suited to help get you there. Depending on your goals, really researching which schools are the best fit for you will help you figure out where to apply, and also will help you explain in your essays why each school is such a good fit.

If you would like to dive deeper into your profile, please feel free to schedule a 30-minute free consultation here. In any case, best of luck to you!

All my best,
Soterios

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Hi pemathew - I'm happy to share my thoughts on your profile.

Overall you have some great things going for you, but as you know you come from a highly overrepresented demographic. At these schools, you will be competing with many other Indian males who have 760+ scores on their GMATs. It will definitely help you to get to 740 and help even more to get to 760+.

I like your work experience - especially that you are managing a team. Have you been promoted faster than your peers? Schools will want to see that you have performed better than your peers, so hopefully you can demonstrate that via promotions (and your LORs can also speak to this). Do you have specific achievements or impact you can demonstrate at work?

Your ECs look great. It seems many of them are still current and at least a few demonstrate leadership, which will definitely help you.

Your essays should really flesh out your short and long-term goals. What impact do you want to have in the world, and why? Although the M7 schools are all great, they are also very different from each other. Which schools would be best to help you reach your goals and why? Doing the research to figure that out may help you narrow down where to apply, and also will help you explain why each school to which you do apply is uniquely suited to help you reach your goals.

I hope this is helpful - if you would like to dive deeper into your profile, feel free to sign up for a free 30 minute consultation here. In any case, best of luck to you!

All my best,
Soterios
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Hi pemathew,

Thank you for sharing your profile. Your profile looks good on the surface. Starting with stats, your undergrad GPA is on the lower side, and if you improve your GMAT score (740+), it will compensate for a low GPA and maximize your chances. As you come from the most competitive pool, you must weave your stories carefully to stand out. On the work front, you have a good 8 years of work experience, which I feel can help you bring impactful narratives to the table. You have good 'leadership' experiences at work, and you will need to provide some anecdotes that speak to the 'impact' part. Aptly and convincingly describing your work experience will help you stand a decent chance at M7 schools.

Talking about your ECs, they exhibit your leadership abilities. You can speak about trekking, it will bring diversity to your apps.

Your post-MBA goals make sense, but attempt to expound on them. Adcoms want to know what your ambitions are and how an MBA can help you reach them. As a result, you must communicate yourself clearly in your essays and interviews.

Concerning your second weakness, international experience, even if you have not traveled outside your country, you may have global exposure that you are unaware of if you have engaged with international clients or worked in a multicultural environment. You’ll be able to write a compelling narrative.

Overall you seem to be ticking all the right boxes - provided you do good work on your essays and explain your career goals clearly, you should have no problem getting into an M7. If you’d like, we are happy to hop on a call with you sometime this week to discuss your profile in length and further chances to the b-schools. Feel free to book a free session with us as per your convenience.

How to work on international experience, resume and LOR

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond
Testimonials
Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com
What s app: +65-97158525









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Hi there MBA2024,

If you successfully articulate your goals and write compelling essays, you should certainly have a shot at the T15 range and are a contender for the M7s as well. Of course, you will want to have a balance of “reach” schools, some “more likely” schools and some “safer” schools.

While your profile looks quite good on paper right now, personal story development will play a large role in your candidacy. This is a cornerstone of Personal MBA Coach's support and the area where we find our clients need the most guidance.

Feel free to reach out to scott@personalmbacoach.com to discuss your profile in more depth. We work with a lot of folks from private equity each year and would be happy to help set you up for success.

Best,
Personal MBA Coach


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Hi MBA2024, I don't always post on this thread but I happened to notice your entry and while I know you've gotten advice from a lot of admissions consultants, I wanted to encourage you to check out the Consortium, which I don't think anyone else has mentioned. The Consortium is an amazing program that can provide full tuition scholarships at a lot of top MBA programs along with some very strong networking opportunities for candidates who have shown a commitment to diversity, which you clearly have. CBS is the only M7 school that's a part of it (announced this year, I don't even know if the page is updated yet on the Consortium's web site), but if you are planning to apply to any of the schools it works with anyway, I can't imagine why you wouldn't do it through the Consortium so you get considered for the full ride. It gets you a streamlined app and lower application fee and later deadline to apply that way, too, at least for the schools that are members. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you are looking at schools outside the M7 and/or are interested in a full ride (M7 financial packages can vary, and some like HBS/Stanford almost exclusively do need-based aid, while others might consider you for merit scholarships as well, but not necessarily always a full scholarship).

I think your profile is great for Harvard and the rest of the M7 too, mind you, but they all are fairly different. You don't mention your goals, but if you're looking to stay in PE, you probably have a pathway in mind. Do you want to stay in secondaries or move to more of a primary investing role? Would you go back to your current firm or not? I work with a lot of PE clients, and I know that not everyone gets the nuances of the different types of firms and roles and what programs are the best match.

Harvard is definitely a possibility for you, and my guess is that there the decision will come down to personal qualities, leadership and recs (along with how well you do in the interview). Wharton as well. In terms of which other programs might be best, it might depend on what you are looking to build/do and where, and in CBS's case, whether you'd go back for a second Columbia degree. As for WE, you're a little on the light side, esp. for HBS, which tends to prefer 5-6 years at matriculation for males who apply, but I think you could potentially do it this year with strong recs and leadership. If you want to chat more in depth about your personal situation, you can book a consultation through our website or PM me to set one up, but in general, I think you should give it a shot.

Good luck!

Julie-Anne Heafey
Senior Consultant
mbaMission



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Would love a review of my profile.

Age: 26
Sex: Male
Ethnicity: Caucasian (American) 1st Generation College
Schools: Yale, Tuck, Booth, Wharton, Georgetown, Duke

GMAT
730: 49Q, 41V, 8IR, 6 AWA

Academics:
-BS in Finance, minor in Mathematics from a Private Jesuit University (NE US)
-3.3 Cumulative GPA, 3.4 in Major, 3.5 in minor
-Dean’s list Junior Year
-75% Scholarship (Academic)
-Orientation and Freshman Mentor Leader
oSpeaker at 2014 & 2015 Freshman Orientation
-Founder of Wounded Warrior Club, President of Food Drive
-Study abroad in Italy

Work Experience:
-4 Years in Technology Consulting Company – Privately Held 10,000+ employees
-Focused in Business Development – selling services related to Data Analytics, Agile & Cloud Transformation.
-Promoted 4X – Now leading a national sales team of 6 focused within Financial Services (clients including AMEX, Mastercard, etc.)
-Helped build a fraud analytics program that has saved client $25MM to date – recognizing patterns in Fraud Rings and fake applications for credit cards.
-Previously led our team supporting an Ivy League University, growing annual revenues from $2MM to $10MM+ over a two-year stretch.
-Lead my office Employee Resource Group (ERG) focused on Community Engagement
-Part of Hiring Committee for my office group

Extra Curriculars:
-Volunteer for local organization focused on Education enablement and College Prep for first-generation students currently in high school. Mentoring them and doing mock interview/resume workshops
-Started charity for Veteran Suicide awareness – raising $10k+ for a local Vets’ home in my hometown.
-Taught myself guitar
-4 handicap golfer

Goals:
-Short term: Work in consulting – ideally working my way into the Public Sector Practice
-Long Term: Lead the area of the Obama/Gates/Clinton Foundation focused on economic enablement in lower income areas through education. Creating Public/Private partnerships that educate for jobs that will exist for next 20 years rather than the past 40. (Tech, Analytics, Clean Energy, etc.).


The low GPA was due to my sophomore and senior years at school - my father is in the military and was deployed and I spent a lot of time commuting back and forth from school to my hometown to help my mom with my younger brother and the house in general. I had a tough time managing everything and ended up with a 3.0 average those two years compared to a 3.6 in my Junior & Freshman years.

Hi ZS24,

Overall, your work experience and extracurriculars look strong. It's great that you are focusing on results and transferrable skills in the context of your work experience. These bits of information will be useful when fine-tuning your MBA resume. Your extracurriculars show real impact and value as well.

As for your low GPA, this can be explained in the optional essay section. We often advise candidates to remain brief and to the point here. Do not offer long-winded excuses or any more information than is needed.

Taking additional coursework (particularly quant courses or those related to your future field) can be a great way to boost your profile. Keeping that in mind, think about your post-MBA goals and what type of course would best complement these aspirations, since it is important that all components of your application fit together to tell a consistent story.

Personal MBA Coach works with applicants who have low GPAs and get into top programs by acing the GMAT and putting together strong applications.

Take a look at our services and feel free to reach out to scott@personalmbacoach.com if you are looking for guidance! We regularly help folks get into all of the b-schools on your target list each year.

Best,
Personal MBA Coach


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Hi - please see below details of my background. I am looking to apply to HBS this year. Thank you for doing this. I look forward to your feedback!

Basic details: I am 23 years old, and have lived in four different countries, including India, South Africa, The Netherlands and now, England.

Education: 3-year Bachelors Degree (BSc Management) at the London School of Economics with a First Class Honours (not sure what the GPA equivalent is).
Currently pursuing a professional CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) qualification.

Work Experience: I have been working at J.P. Morgan in London as a Finance & Business Management Analyst since September 2019. I am part of a 3 year rotational programme. See below for rotations:

(Sep 2019 - Oct 2020) - P&L Controller for one of J.P. Morgan's largest UK entities.
(Oct 2020 - Present) - Business Manager for Corporate & Investment Bank Equities Operations (tasked with supporting senior Business Heads in the Equities Operations organisation).
(Oct 2021 - TBC) - Equities Financing Product Controller.

Before my full time job, I also interned at J.P. Morgan (Equities Valuations Control Group), alongside KPMG (Deals Intern) and SaturnF1 (E-Learning Analyst for the e-commerce arm of Apollo Tyres).

My current GMAT score is 710 (Q49 V38), but I am preparing for a resit to improve my score.

Extra-curricular activities: Playing cricket (was part of the team that won the national youth Dutch tournament). In addition, I was the Vice President & Treasurer of the LSE SU India Forum, which is a day-long conference that hosts dignitaries from India across fields such as Business, Finance, Sports, Politics and Entertainment. In addition, I was also the Designer and Treasurer for the LSE SU India Society. I have also had the experience of co-hosting the Captain of the Indian Women's Cricket Team and the Captain of the Indian Men's Football Team in an online webinar, which I organised alongside a friend. Currently, I am part of the Learning & Development Pillar of the F&BM Analyst Committee at J.P. Morgan, which organises and hosts training and development sessions for graduates on the programme. Also a volunteer in the J.P. Morgan Markets Operations Diversity & Inclusion Council. In my free time, I engage in financial literature and enjoy reading about business leaders and management.

Post-MBA aspirations: I wish to transition into Investment Banking for a few years to enhance and develop my skill set (e.g. analysing company fundamentals, teamwork and leadership skills etc.) following which I would like to pursue opportunities in Social Enterprise/Impact Investing.