Hi Nihal,

You have a powerful personal story and clear intent to drive public-sector change, but your current stats place you well below the bar for schools like HBS.

A 595 on the GMAT Focus equates to ~660 legacy, which sits far below the median for all three schools you’re targeting.

A 3.13 GPA doesn’t help offset the score either. These metrics will likely get you filtered out early at Harvard, and even NUS and ESADE will require you to show strong professional and leadership upside to compensate.

Your work with Jan Suraaj and your operational leadership at startups are compelling, especially if you can quantify your turnaround impact. But your short-term goal narrative needs focus; trying to pursue consulting, IB, and ops in sequence signals indecision.

For now, I’d recommend either retaking the GMAT (aiming 685+ FE minimum) or shifting focus to programs with a proven track record of accepting non-traditional public sector applicants: think ISB, Oxford, or IE.

Schedule a 1-on-1 if you want an honest and clear path forward for targeting the right schools.

Ameer Khatri, Admissions Consultant
Schedule a free 1-on-1 call with me for a detailed profile review:
https://calendly.com/ameer-khatri/profi ... th=2025-06

HI Nihal, I love your passion for the causes you believe in. Hopefully you will become a significant changemaker one day. Related to this is one question- why do you need an MBA to become that societal change maker? You can do this without an MBA. You are already on this track with your volunteering efforts and an MBA will not help as would on-the ground experience.
I will focus on your career goals. Your goals statement should have some connection between your past skills and experience and future goals. There should be on the clarity on the path you will take, especially in the short term, as you will just graduate out of b-school then, and the b-school would want to see you get employed within 3 months of graduation. So they expect you to have clarity on the path you will pursue. Between the 3 paths you have mentioned here- consulting/ IB/ operations- you must pick one that best aligns with your past career experiences, employable skills and future interests. Writing that you will pursue one path after another in your goals statement will make you come across as unrealistic and will not serve you well. Your short term career should be a preparation for the long term goal- so even this should be connected well.
So the questions- what are your goals and why MBA should be watertight- they should present a coherent storyline. I urge you to think more deeply about the career goals.
It would surely help you to retake the GMAT as your current score will not help you make the cut at any top business school. Also, the 3 b-schools you have mentioned are very different from each other. What's your rationale for selecting these?

Among the definite positives in your profile are your international experience and your volunteering efforts. You should highlight these to show leadership skills, emotional intelligence, evolved interpersonal skills and an ability to work with people from backgrounds.

Hope that helps.

Namita Garg,
Founder, MBA Decoder
Email: [email protected]
Reach out to us for a Profile Evaluation
Helping applicants achieve their MBA dreams since 2011

Hi Namita,

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. I really appreciate the clarity of your questions—they show genuine engagement with my profile, which means a lot.

Why MBA? Why Now?
Initially, an MBA wasn’t part of my plan. But through my experiences—especially during college and more recently with Jan Suraaj—I came to realize that the real bottleneck in governance isn’t a lack of talent or good intentions. It’s a lack of capable leadership—people who can manage complexity, align strong minds, and drive real outcomes.

Over and over again, I’ve seen well-meaning systems collapse not due to apathy, but because of poor coordination, unclear direction, and broken execution. I naturally gravitated toward fixing such issues on a local level, but I’ve also come to recognize that I need to refine these instincts further if I want to scale my impact. That’s where an MBA becomes critical.

A top business school offers exactly what I’m seeking: exposure to high-performing environments, world-class leadership frameworks, and a culture of operational excellence. Business, at its best, is ruthlessly outcome-driven—and I believe governments must learn from that, especially when public money and millions of lives are at stake.

To answer your question about why I’m not simply continuing down my current path—because I believe I need to be better first. Before I can lead others, I must learn to lead myself with higher standards. My time at Jan Suraaj has only reinforced this belief. I don’t want to be just another well-intentioned person in the system—I want to be one who makes systems work.

Short-Term & Long-Term Goals
In the short term, I want to build three key skillsets that I believe are vital to my long-term goal of contributing to public reform. These are the missing links I’ve identified in the current system:

Consulting – to sharpen my structured thinking, problem-solving, and strategic decision-making. A firm like MBB would push me to operate in high-stakes, results-driven environments where clarity and execution are critical.

Operations – to deepen the capabilities I’ve already developed, but at a much larger scale. I want to learn how world-class organizations like Amazon run highly complex systems efficiently—because governments, too, are machinery of moving parts.

Investment Banking – to develop financial judgment and an understanding of capital allocation. I may not need to specialize in this if I find the right people to rely on, but I want to at least have a strong grasp of how to manage large financial systems responsibly.

I plan to spend the next 15–20 years building these capabilities while working toward financial independence, because I believe strongly that one must first become self-reliant before attempting to lead others. Once I feel ready—both in competence and character—I intend to return to India and fully commit to public life, whether through policy, advisory roles, or by building an independent political platform.

Why These Schools?
You’re absolutely right to ask—I apologize for the confusion. Apart from Harvard, the other schools I mentioned earlier were random picks, as I was more focused on getting a sense of how my profile is perceived.

Harvard is the school I feel most aligned with—especially because of its clear focus on leadership and the values that consistently come through in every session and interaction I’ve had. I’m currently researching other programs that emphasize purpose-driven leadership and global exposure, such as Yale, Oxford, UCLA, and IE. Your feedback has reminded me to be more intentional and thoughtful about this list.

Please let me know if any part of my response still lacks clarity—I’d be happy to dive deeper. Thank you again for your valuable time and insight.

Warm regards,
Nihal

Thank you for your detailed profile @Nihal Abdurahiman. You bring a unique combination of startup leadership, grassroots political engagement, and a powerful sense of purpose that makes you stand out as an MBA candidate. Your motivation for pursuing an MBA, driven not just by career progression but by a desire to lead systemic change in governance and public systems, is both rare and admirable. This kind of authenticity resonates strongly with schools that value purpose-driven leadership, like Harvard, NUS, and ESADE.

Academically, your 3.13 GPA is slightly below average for your target schools, but not disqualifying, especially given your commerce background and the upward trajectory in your professional achievements. The GMAT Focus score of 595, however, is a more pressing concern. For competitive programs such as Harvard, even standout leadership stories can only go so far without being supported by strong academic indicators. Most successful candidates to HBS present GMAT scores above 665. For NUS and ESADE, while they are more flexible with test scores, aiming for a GMAT in the 695+ range will significantly improve your admission chances and increase your eligibility for scholarships.

In terms of professional experience, your 3+ years in operations, especially at startups, give you good leadership experience early in your career. Being promoted to Operations Manager, leading cross-functional turnaround projects, and dealing directly with customers and senior management highlights your ability to take ownership and drive outcomes. Your current involvement with Jan Suraaj, a grassroots political and reform movement, is especially compelling. It sets you apart as someone who isn’t just talking about change, but actively working toward it. This adds immense narrative value to your MBA application, particularly if you’re able to articulate how these experiences have shaped your worldview, strengthened your leadership philosophy, and prepared you for the next stage.

From a school selection standpoint, Harvard is a high-stretch option, not because of your story or leadership, which are exceptional, but due to your current test score and undergraduate GPA. That said, if you improve your GMAT significantly and craft deeply personal essays, your mission-driven background may resonate with their admissions philosophy. You can take a look at this blog on Importance of Personal Anecdotes in Your MBA Application. NUS can be a strategic fit, especially considering your regional familiarity and aspirations in consulting and public impact. Similarly, ESADE offers a collaborative, socially aware ecosystem where your profile could shine, particularly if you highlight the civic and systematic dimension of your long-term goals. You should also explore Oxford Saïd and IE Business School, both of which support non-traditional paths and offer merit scholarships to candidates with strong social leadership potential.

In terms of improvement, your most critical action item is to retake the GMAT Focus. Apart from that, focus on building a clear and emotionally resonant application narrative, especially in your essays. Share your experience with institutional resistance during college and your involvement in Jan Suraaj authentically and powerfully. These are the kinds of stories that elevate candidates beyond the numbers. On the recommendation front, ensure your recommenders speak not just about your accomplishments, but your leadership maturity and moral compass.

A question to help further personalize your strategy: Are you looking at post-MBA roles primarily in India, or are you open to gaining experience abroad before returning?

To conclude, Nihal, your profile is deeply meaningful. With the right academic improvement and storytelling, you can be a highly compelling candidate at several top programs. Keep the momentum going with your GMAT prep, lean into your authentic journey, and feel free to reach out for guidance with essays, interview prep, or school selection. Good luck! Feel free to book a profile evaluation session.

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

Thank you so much for your thoughtful and encouraging feedback. It genuinely means a lot—it’s given me both confidence and clarity, even in areas like my GMAT score where I know I need to improve. I truly appreciate your honesty and insight.

As for your question about post-MBA goals: I definitely want to gain international experience, starting with the U.S., to deeply understand how businesses operate and how leadership works in high-performance environments. Beyond that, I’m also keen on working in multiple countries, not just visiting them, because I believe the only way to truly understand the strengths and flaws of a system—whether it's cultural, economic, or governmental—is to live and work there for a meaningful period.

Some of the countries I’m most interested in include the U.S., Scandinavian countries, China, Japan, and Singapore. Each has a distinct way of doing business, governing society, and shaping civic behavior—and I want to experience those systems firsthand. These experiences will be crucial in shaping my long-term approach to public service and reform back in India.