Hi
Priyanka here from ARINGO. Speaking about your profile, you have a decent and fairly typical T15 profile with a solid finance foundation. Your experience across IB internal audit to accounting to financial analyst at a F500, plus some independent consulting work, shows good exposure and progression. Your GPA is okay, but will need to be balanced with a strong GMAT/GRE.

Your goals around consulting/strategic finance make sense, but they’re a bit broad right now, tightening this into a clearer narrative will help. Your extracurriculars are fine, but relatively light, so your application will rely heavily on work impact and leadership stories.

I’d be happy to offer you a free profile review for your target programs to see where you stand and how to boost your chances, happy to help!
No pressure, no strings - just helpful insights on where you stand and how you can strengthen your chances.

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You can also email me at: [email protected]
Good Luck!

Thanks for sharing your profile, @shasan3. Let's start with the school-by-school chances. Booth and Kellogg can be a stretch (but possible with strong execution). Fuqua, Ross, and Darden can be competitive target schools. Your profile aligns well with their collaborative, leadership-driven culture, and a pivot into consulting is common and accepted.

Your strengths:
1. Clear upward trajectory- Internal audit > accounting > financial analyst. Shows progression + skill-building.

2. Side consulting = hidden gold. This is actually one of the strongest parts of your profile: AI startup > strategic exposure and Restaurant > operational + financial impact. This helps you differentiate from “standard finance candidates,” and build a consulting narrative BEFORE MBA.

3. Leadership signal (soccer captain)- It's useful and shows team leadership + accountability.

Weaknesses:
1. “Generic Finance > Consulting” risk- Right now, your story could sound like, “I did finance and now want consulting.” That’s too common. You need a tight, specific narrative, like, “I’ve worked at the intersection of finance and operations, and realized I want to move from analyzing performance to shaping strategic decisions across functions.”

Then anchor it in:
AI startup > strategic modeling
Restaurant > operational finance
Manufacturing > real-world ops exposure

Make it: Finance > Strategy > Consulting (NOT random pivot)

2. Leadership depth (needs elevation)- BEFORE R1, you need at least 1–2 strong leadership stories, like leading a cross-functional project, driving measurable business impact, or influencing senior stakeholders. Schools like Kellogg/Darden care about this.

3. Your 3.3 GPA is not a dealbreaker, but below average for Booth/Kellogg. If GMAT/GRE not taken, aim high (this is critical).

Questions for you:
What are your quantified achievements in each role? (numbers matter)
Have you led people or just managed work?
Why consulting? What moment made you decide this?
What type of consulting firms are you targeting (MBB vs Tier 2)?
Any community service/volunteering beyond soccer?
What’s your GMAT/GRE status right now?

We’d love to learn more about your academic background, extracurricular activities, work experience, and personal journey so that we can provide a tailored profile evaluation and an honest school assessment. Feel free to book an evaluation session.

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma, INSEAD Alumnus
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond

Shasan3,
With few details abut your full time work experience, I will assume that you have had a good run, taken initiatives and piled some noteworthy achievements. Were there any promotions (is it the same manufacturing company or a different one?). Anyhow, use the resume well so show increasing challenges and correspondingly, bigger achievements. Being in your FP&A role, you should be able to quantify your achievements.
Any reason for leaving your job? you will have to explain any career breaks through the optional essay. Is the part time experience since the career break or from earlier? It will add to your resume for sure.
Your career goals are scattered and you need to say something more focused. Firstly, when you frame your goals statement for the essays, be clear on what roles you shall seek for finance strategy. Secondly- what kind of companies do you wish to work for and why? your past experience has been in a Fortune 500, but you want to work in a mission driven company- where did the inspiration come from? what is the motivation, what passion will this help you fulfil, what kind of impact will you create? How will your past experience help? You need to think deeper, make this simpler and jargon free.

Namita Garg,
Founder, MBA Decoder
Email: [email protected]
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