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2 years ago

Welcome and nice profile.

Another school to recommend that used to be quintessential CPG program is Kellogg. This used to be their bread and butter many many moons ago.

Not sure if you’re considering accounting any financial aid or scholarships but they come less abundantly with executive assessment scores. I am sure you had your reasons to take the EA. Potentially, GMAT focus is very very similar but my guess is you probably not interested in another encounter with the GMAT. Nobody is.

CPG has been somewhat lagging and losing the battle to tack and consulting in business schools, in part due to lower compensation and more traditional roles and slow growth frankly. However having that background, makes you strong contender and schools like people who are not switches.

licia11

Hi! I just updated my post a bit more to give background!

Awesome!

I missed your point about focus on New York and East Coast and I think it makes sense to be in Columbia or Stern and to be right there. I don’t know how many CPG jobs are in that area but I’m guessing there’s a little bit of everything in New York 😎

I see the strategy behind the school choice now thank you!

Thank you! NYC is kind of where my heart as my family/fiancé/his family are here but I’m open to looking at Kellogg if they are well known for it!

I am considering taking the GRE. I took it once and didn’t do great, so I am still studying to it. However, if the GMAT focus is an option, I may consider it!

GRE is a bit like EA in the eyes of the admissions. Unless you get a really high score, it’s not going to get you in with any fancy scholarship money but if you get none of your stellar score, you can sneak in with a lower than average much easier than with the GMAT. GRE is also more common and doesn’t get admissions wondering why did you take EA instead of GMAT or GRE … type of thing.

By the way, have you applied for the forte foundation or considered their program or is this too late already? Have some amazing offers for application fee waivers if you sign up for their program.

I am apart of Forte MBALaunch and used/will be using their waivers for most of my schools. I also worked with a consultant on my applications. Honestly, I struggle with standardized tests. It’s just not my strong suit and I fully admit to it. I really wanted to stick with the GMAT because I think I can do well with it for my R2 schools. But I’m so burnt out from switching between exams/studying generally.

Awesome. I’m glad you got great support from forte and the consultant. Don’t worry about the test too much. It is what it is and people have gotten in with lower or even no scores at all… there are many roads you can take. If you can demonstrate strong academic rigor with a good profile, your test is not a big driver.

PS. I know it’s outside of your general geography but you may consider Ross and Darden to bump your chances and instead of studying for the GMAT/GRE/etc

I am hoping my essays/WE show my passion for why I want to go back to school and balance out my EA score

There is a rumor which is probably not helpful to spread but what else do we have to do, with ChatGPT making everyone an amazing writer, there’s a good chance résumé and your professional achievements will take the first and the most decisive role in the application and I feel you Should have the lease concerns in that regard and feel a little bit less paranoid.

Another theory I’ve heard is that applying to more schools and increases your chances and I think I could agree with that, the more shots you have the most likely one of them will be lucky one. 🤷‍♂️

Good luck!

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TheMBAEdge

Opportunities from McCombs tend be focused in Oil & Gas Banking in Houston, although there are a tonne of them and I personally feel it will be less competitive than NY Banking. If you dont have an O&G inclination would suggest looking at Johnson, Stern which tend to be feeders in top tier IBs on Wall Street. From a profile standpoint it should be fairly easy to transition from Corp Banking to IB.
PE / HF tend to be focused in NY so maybe keep that in consideration and quite a few of them tend to sector agnostic.

Nice username! I learned something new! Been to Austin many times but have not heard of Spamtown until I googled it now.
I would probably recommend Darden as a more proven IB/Finance career school. It is on par with McCombs and can rival it even if you are getting the in-state tuition in TX.

P.S. Have you considered perhaps working for a few more years? Perhaps 4 or 5 and getting a few promotions and then heading to a place such as Booth, Wharton, etc if your career track is steep enough? I wonder if having a bit more experience under your belt will make your attractive as a hire for IB/PE?

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Since you will have 2 years of experience would suggest exploring the deferred MBA route of maybe a Masters in Management. Most MBA programs globally look for around 4 years of experience since that much is required for you to add value in the program and share your experiences, the curriculum requires participation and sharing of your views.
With a 720 CBS maybe a stretch. Would suggest you have a relook at your profile and your program selection.

Reach out at info@thembaedge.com | +918368000961 if you have any other queries.

Sudutt

Thanks a lot for your review!
I have edited the profile a bit more. Could you please suggest which programs might be open with this amount of work experience? Also, should I consider retaking the GMAT or should I be focusing more on program selection?

For MBA would suggest you wait for 1 or 2 years (preferable), build your professional career and get some interesting projects / leadership experience under your belt. You already have a good international mindset which will be a positive and the profile broadly looks okay. If you feel you can improve the GMAT definitely give it another shot and see how high you can reach. Do explore the deferred option and see if that works as per your expectations.
For MIM would suggest targeting the LBS, HEC, INSEAD MIM programs which are really good for early career candidates and will enable you to transition into Management Consulting. You can subsequently do a top MBA after getting some work post your MIM (have been seeing a lot of candidates take this route as well).

Comments 1 comment

Hey Kaustubh,

730 maybe a borderline score for LBS given the volume of Indian applications, plus from a fit perspective havent seen a lot of Manufacturing guys being represented in LBS given their focus towards Finance and Consulting. Check out some other programs like HEC, IMD and even some US ones which will be solid bets for a career transition from Manufacturing to Consulting.

Reach out at info@thembaedge.com | +918368000961 if you have any other queries.

HEC is probably the most solid MIM with a strong track record. The French Ecole have a solid structure where you can take a year to do an internship which will aid your job search, so do have a look at the Ecole MIM as well.

Comments 8 comments

Welcome! We have quite a vibrant group from Vietnam here. Just search for some of the profiles in the last couple of weeks and you’ll see quite diverse group group. You’re definitely in good company!

PS. I don’t know a whole lot about NUS but I think it’s definitely one of the top programs in Asia. I guess NTU could be another option. Are you applying to any other programs? Are you planning to work in Singapore in the ideal state?

Check this link: https://gmatclub.com/forum/decision-tra ... ake_year=0

Phuong5

Yes, I will apply to NTU. The reason I choose Singapore because I intend to return to Vietnam to work post-MBA (may be not immediately, but definite after graduation about 2 years). Actually, I want to go deep into digital transformation and innovation; given Singapore is the Asian innovation hub and the school's tie to the APAC market (also low cost as well), I want to go to NUS or NTU MBA.

Makes sense. There is a decent MBB presence in Singapore or I would rather say strong.

Coming from consulting/Big for background is great so you’ll definitely get picked for the interviews but keep in mind that interviews are really tough for MBB consulting. They’re pretty selective and very competitive. Often they start just a few months after you start school so very quickly.

I guess another option would be INSEAD. Singapore campus.

cup_vt

Hi, we do have a group of Vietnam applicants for next year intake. PM me if you would like to join. We share info/lesson/exp to apply.

Vuong

@cup_vt Hi, can I join the group. I am going for the 2024 Fall intake.

You’re welcomed. Please DM me. I couldn't find your username in the directory

SMU is another solid option in Singapore although would rate it par with NTU and slightly below NUS. Consulting positions are there in SG although I have seen most of these filled by US B-schools / likes of INSEAD etc. Dont see a lot of presence of NUS MBAs there and my sense is most of them try for Fin focused roles.

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Welcome to GMAT Club. Happy to share some thoughts on your profile.

1. What's attracting you to the European programs?

2. If you want to move to Canada or North America after school (not eventually but rather immediately), usually I would recommend picking a school there. It will be easiest and best to recruit in the country you are attending. Yes, LBS or Oxford brand may be cooler than Rotman but it is always easier to be on the ground in the city (or at least country) where you want to recruit. Curious what's the driver for EU.

3. I think Tech is a great transition. It will be a fairly minor adjustment with a major bump in pay. Or at least that's how it was until the Tech crash last year. Either way, you should have a leg up in your recruiting compared to some of the folks without tech or digital experience.

Comments 2 comments

Thanks for posting. The top three are very hard and competitive so it’s hard to tell anyone that they have great chances
. Not only these programs are competitive but everyone applies.

Your profile looks great and looks attractive. I think the difference will come from how far beyond the Norm and how diversified you were in your focus. For example, were you amazing at your job and then dabbling with something else or were you just purely focused on your job and nothing else. I’ve noticed some of these patterns with programs, they like people who are driven and entrepreneurial but it’s not a cookie cutter either. They have a big class of 900 people at Harvard and another 450 at Stanford so hopefully that’s decent chances. 🤞

The fact that you have other extracurriculars is awesome. It will probably depend on their strengths. For example did you win some competitions or perhaps achieve the particular goal or simply helped people. They show different sides of your personality. Both are helpful but some are more impactful than others.
PS. Splitting hairs here 😂

Welcome another member from Vietnam! it feels soon this may be an overrepresented group on the decision tracker 😇 We have a number of your countrymen here in case you wanted to connect or network.

Harvard is hard for anyone. The best applicant supply there. As the result, I would say to most people to not count on it but definitely try.

Last year we had one person from Vietnam admitted to Harvard that I can remember, you can look her up on the decision tracker. it takes being the best, engaged and impacting across your entire career and university. It’s hard to tell from a brief comment so maybe is the best answer I have.

PS. IELTS score does not really matter. It’s a pest fail but try to get a nice gmat score.

VuongDo

@bb Thank you so much. I probably know who you are mentioning about

. I have contacted her and currently wait for response.

Great! Sorry I can’t remember their username of top of my head but they were very helpful in the Harvard topic discussion as well in the Harvard subforum.

Comments 4 comments

I think you have some good components of the application. It would be good to see some salary and promotional progression.

Also the fact that you have worked in a consulting company is a positive so you’re not technically switching industries and the fact that you have a strong brand name that’s recognizable is also really helpful. You just need a decent test score and some confidence to come through in your applications and interview.

PS. In terms of consulting recruiting in the US, most of the top 15 schools half Good facilities and chances for consulting. Soon in case you were looking for some scholarship money and you happen to have a really high GMAT score, you could go slightly lower in the ranking chain without Really changing your career outcome. Just thinking out loud 😇

abhinavchoudhary

Hey bb
Thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention in the description that I have scored a GMAT of 760 - Q51, V40.

Just a minor detail 😂 amazing score! Congratulations on that one! Definitely very competitive. It’s going to come down to being able to demonstrate accomplishments and performance that outpaces peers… which I think should be very doable for the European schools. And totally, it seems the competition there is not as tough as the HSW.

Got it. Thanks for the insights.

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Welcome to GMAT Club!

You have a solid stats profile for any school really. In terms of chances and opportunities, it won't help for the top 10 to get a higher score or anything like that. The higher score only kicks in if you ware looking for scholarships and that's more predictable in the 10-20 band of schools.

Your work experience sounds super unique and exciting and I think that may be a more likely candidate of making you an attractive applicant and having a school offer a scholarship. One idea could be applying to a variety of schools, meaning not just the M7 but across T15 and then leveraging offers. I have heard people having to leverage multiple school offers to improve their scholarship situation. E.g. first a school would offer 25%. They would have to get a 50% offer from a peer school and up it to 40% for example and then use that 40% offer to go a third school. You have to work for your money and the situation is the same with scholarships. Sometimes it works out but in reality, we usually all have to work for it.

The good news is that most T15 programs have strong feeder programs into consulting and MBB. Obviously there is a small mid-life crisis happening there right now with MBB recruiting but that's expected to be largely gone by the time you are looking for an internship or a job. People can be yoga instructors only for so long

(I hope you know the reference as otherwise, it will be super weird). So I would consider applying to some of the strong consulting placement programs such as Kellogg and Booth, Sloan obviously (there are some interesting other possibilities there too), in mid-tier perhaps Tuck and Fuqua as well as Darden on the end of the spectrum. Darden has been very generous with scholarships last few years but this is assuming you have the energy to make so many applications. (There are ways to waive the app fees by the way https://gmatclub.com/forum/list-of-all- ... 67465.html) but don't underestimate the pressure on your recommenders if you are going to apply to 7 or 10 schools. It is hard work for everyone and while there are reusable parts, some are not reusable and the stupid grids in the LOR's can be daunting and the last few LOR's won't be really high quality as they click and breeze through them). Again, it is hard work but applying to a spectrum of schools and larger quantity has benefits - both as data feedback and also as a probabilities game.

-BB

rezaazer

Thank you so much for your detailed response and I will definitely take everything you have said into consideration! Hoping to make it in to Kellogg's or booth as those are my 1a and 1b choices but I understand how difficult the competition is and they would ultimately be my reach schools. How do you feel about Cornell/Ross/Columbia as as schools to apply in the T15 range?

I don't know if you're interested but UOT Dallas Jindal has a 1-year Master in Energy Management and the average GMAT there is around 600. It pretty much fits with what you're looking for (energy sector, Texas area, etc.)

macjames67

I appreciate the suggestion for sure! Looking at two year programs in the Northeast/East Coast for School. Texas would be more of an option for life after B-School! Going to send a friend request to you now, looking forward to keeping up with your journey!

Glad to connect with you. My background is in energy too (oil and gas project management) and I want to work in renewables post-MBA.

Maybe think about SMU Cox as well?

Said is probably not the best option for IB related roles, please remember that Investment Banking Associate roles are typically filled from the internship pool and the challenge with 1 year programs is that there are no internships. So in the best case you are looking at a situation where you complete the program and subsequently land an internship. Also, remember that UK/EU markets have banks filing Associate position through internal promotions and thus MBA recruiting is fairly limited.
A US based MBA program would be a solid bet for a career in IB particularly in you case since you are transitioning from Software to IB, so an internship would be critical.
Would suggest having a relook at your plans and schools shortlist.

Reach out at info@thembaedge.com | +918368000961 if you have any further queries.

Comments 6 comments

Hello and welcome to GMAT Club.

To be very frank, 640 for one with demographic from Asia is a tough sell. If you have taken GMA multiple times and hit a wall, try the jury. You may be able to hit much closer to the average or perhaps even above. Otherwise you’re looking at schools with the average of about 600 or 620 and that’s pretty low down the list. At least in the US. I wish I had much better news but I figured no reason to blow smoke and waste your time.

dpkpndy

Thank you so much, experts, for your honest opinion. Your insights are really helpful. I have decided to take one more attempt (probably my last attempt) on the GMAT and if it doesn't work out again, then I will try the GRE. Can you please tell me if it's worth taking another attempt at the GMAT? I want to take another attempt because I was getting a V35-37 score consistently in my official mocks and in other well-reputed test series (including Gmatclub), so I feel I can achieve this score or higher in my next attempt. Your input would be highly appreciated, thanks in advance

MBAGuide

Hi,

The silver lining, I see is your Quant score of 49. However, with a V28, not only are you less competitive within your demographic, but the V28 also highlights a fundamental issue with your verbal abilities across multiple attempts (at least that is how it may appear to the admissions committees). Consequently, they may be concerned that you would be at a significant disadvantage in a global cohort, where discussion-based pedagogy is fundamental to the curriculum. They may also think you would struggle with networking or at recruitments eventually.

If I were in your position, I would aim for a top business school in India, submit a strong application, and work toward international career opportunities gradually. I would not compromise with a Tier 3 school in the US with a GMAT score of 640, that has a poor brand recall elsewhere (especially if you ever have to move back to India).
You can connect with me for a one-to-one discussion.

Get candid personalized advice tailored to your specific situation. We do not cap discussion hours with our applicants

Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD alum, former INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer)
MBAGuideConsulting
LinkedIn |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/ | Message: +91 9971200927| email- mbaguideconsulting@gmail.com

Thank you so much for your valuable insight!!

Hey dpkpndy,

Totally understand your situation as I have seen many go through the phenomenon of GMAT plateau where they are unable to bump up their score after 3 attempts. As others have already pointed out that being from the Indian pool, the score wont make a cut for any renowned MBA program given the cut throat competition for GMAT. Thus, my advice would be to explore the GRE test as an alternative and see if that is better suited to your aptitude and test taking skills. Lately, schools are agnostic to either scores and GRE is gaining prominence amongst the test taking community. So it may make sense to pivot into GRE and see if that lands you a better score and relook your application strategy once you have the score. Further, GRE also has a wider acceptability with the realms of other STEM / Business focused courses.

Hope that helps? Reach out at info@thembaedge.com | +918368000961 if you need any further guidance.

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For round two, would also recommend Fuqua, Darden and Tuck for consulting. Obviously don’t know your preferences and priorities there are some recommendations for scholarship driven programs. Chicago schools are also very strong as well as MIT Sloan.

Great profile! I had to also look up what GMIM was so thank you for educating me!

As always everyone could use a little bit higher score but it won’t hurt to try. Do you have a quite unique profile so that may be a positive. You can consider taking the Jerry if you have time to see if you can bump your chances slightly up.

PS. The fact you’ve had consulting internships and could secure that line of work should be a very strong and positive message to the university. If for some reason your plans don’t work out, you can always consider coming back for an MBA in three or four years…. 😇

Comments 5 comments

Welcome!

I would also recommend considering Johnson as a strong investment banking school. Tuck is almost exclusively consulting and Fuqua is also heavy consulting. The only other school I can think of would be Simon but that’s more of a scholarship play.

PS. That GPA of 2.4, is that a pretty low GPA for your country or is that solid?

Beto793

Hello, thank you for your time.

My GPA is low, I know it is my biggest weakness. I’m not sure if I’m calculating it correctly, 2.4 is my undergraduate GPA (the time I was studying my career at collegue).

After I graduated, I enrolled in a Finance Diploma Program in another business school here in Peru, I got 3.5 GPA and the curriculum was 80 hours long.

I’m not sure if that, and my GMAT score and work experience, would suggest that I’m trying my best to get back on track and will be capable to show that I fit in the MBA program.

It’s great you have another degree after college. That will absolutely generally address and cover any concerns there may be with your college GPA. You don’t need to convert it to the 4.0 system but temporarily our decision tracker only supports 4.0 system so will be updating it shortly.

I don’t think you need to worry too much or more about your GPA. I would just write two or three sentences in the optional comments that your undergraduate GPA was not representative of your ability due to whatever reason you want and that’s usually pretty good.

PS. There’s a GMAT Club member I know well who is at Darden right now who was from Peru, his name is Renato. If you have not reached out yet, definitely start reaching out to current students. His username is Lure1415 if you want to message him.

Thank you for taking your time to answer. I will definitely contact him.

Just to clarify, I have a bachelor’s degree in Economics. After that I obtained a Certificate in Finance in another school. I don’t think it is considered a degree, but I performed better than I did in college.

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Welcome to GMAT Club and awesome job working towards your goal. Great score too!

I don’t think you realistically need to wait until you get managerial experience. I mean if you get a promotion in the next 6 to 12 months, we expect one, then there could be some benefit but if you are expecting it, you can include it into the application and ask you recommend her to perhaps mention it. If you were expecting anything.

CPA is a valued credential and a very respected one. I have to complement you on the choice of schools. I don’t have much to recommend in addition.

Great school choice and I think your GMAT will totally address your lower GPA. I also think being married and supporting your family demonstrates a certain level of maturity and thoughtfulness and responsibility. That should come through in the application.

Overall, I think you’re doing all the right things and hitting all the right points. I would say you’re going beyond the expectations.

PS. I see you did not put Wharton on your list. My guess is concerned about the GPA. You can always consider it once around one results are out.

🤞 good luck!

haighter

Thank you for the reply.

I am glad my list of schools makes sense, as I spent a long time narrowing down my list. I considered Harvard and Wharton, but I figured that both schools were long-shots (and application fees are steep!) and a lot of the finance-focused students at those schools may have previous IB experience and would be targeting PE or VC roles. I thought a school with a higher number of pivots into IBD would make sense, as we will all be on the same learning curve.

Essentially I targeted schools with a high number of IBD placements each year that are known to have structured recruiting processes.

Good choice and great strategy. You want a school that has a pipeline into target companies and target industry, has a relevant club and second year students who can coach the first years.