Clarity in goals can help, though your low GPA in the ORM pool (Indian, Male Engineer) may act against you, and would require you to submit your application with VERY STRONG Resume, Career Goals, LORs and of course essays that present compelling narratives. Given your choice of schools, and that you plan to apply to 11 in R1, I hope you have a very good mentor on your side, and lots of great prep.
Also, now that you should have been ready to apply to most already, why look for a profile assessment at this stage?

Hope that helps. Please submit your profile for a Free Assessment over a 1:1 call. https://theivyleagueedge.com/index.php/contactus/
_________________
Bala

1. The MOST recommended Admissions Consultant on Linkedin, WORLDWIDE
https://www.linkedin.com/in/balkrishna/
2. 100% 5-Star Reviews on PoetsandQuants
Poetsandquants(dot)com/consultant/bala-bal-krishna-shukla/

Thanks for sharing your profile @Malay Mohanta . Your profile seems to be well-positioned for your target schools if you package your technical + project impact into a clear product/strategy narrative and handle the CPI question convincingly. Your GMAT Focus 695 is a good signal (top percentiles) and compensates strongly for a modest CPI; use it. The employer (Bajaj Finance) + your quantified contributions are huge assets for both one-year (ISB/INSEAD/LBS) and two-year (Booth/MIT/Kellogg/Ross) programs. The GMAT 695 Focus, schools will notice.

Admit-odds:
INSEAD (one-year, Europe): Target / Reach depending on other factors. INSEAD’s class GMAT/metrics and mix favor strong international profiles and tech→product transitions; your score and fintech impact are compelling.

Chicago Booth / MIT Sloan / Kellogg / Columbia / Ross (two-year US): Reach > Target. These programs have median GMATs in the ~720-730+ range (Sloan/Booth medians ~729-730). Your 695 Focus is good, but may sit slightly low, still very much in range if your essays + recommendations present a crisp product trajectory and leadership. You can expect Booth/MIT to be moderately selective but achievable with great storytelling.

LBS / HEC / IESE / Oxford / Cambridge / Judge: Target / Good fit for Europe one-year / 15-21 month formats. Your fintech + tech background fits European recruiters for product/fintech roles; schools value quant proof + leadership. (School-specific odds will depend on essays + interview).

Main weaknesses/risks:
CPI 6.2/10- Risk: some adcoms may flag it.
Fix: brief (one paragraph) explaining context (grade deflation, final year timeline, extenuating circumstances, if any), then move quickly to proof: highlight coursework, grades in quantitative classes, GMAT quant percentile, and professional outcomes. Admissions cares more about trajectory than a single number.

Function clarity (Project Manager → Product Manager), Risk: adcoms want to see product ownership, not just delivery.
Fix: craft 3-4 essays/stories showing direct decisions you made about product features/prioritization, customer outcomes, metric ownership (not only project delivery). If you haven’t owned a product, create a small pro-bono product/POC or publish an investment/product brief showing roadmap + metrics.

Sharpen essays around product signal: Lead with the customer or metric you changed. Example: “I led a change that reduced disbursal time X% and increased conversion by 40%, unlocking ₹1,330 Cr incremental disbursements in Q3. Here’s how that taught me product prioritization and data-driven tradeoffs.” Numbers = persuasive.

Choose 2 recommenders who can speak to your strategic impact (one senior leader who can verify the ₹ volumes and conversion improvements). Provide them with a one-pager with impact metrics.

We would love to learn more about your academic background, extracurricular activities, professional experience, and personal journey so we can offer a more tailored assessment of your profile and evaluate your chances at your target schools more accurately. Feel free to book a profile evaluation session.

Register for our Coffee Session: “Tackle MBA Applications for Canadian Business Schools- Rotman, Schulich, Ivey & More”, which we are hosting on 5th September, 2025 | 9:00 PM IST | 11:30 AM ET. KNOW MORE DETAILS

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

Hi Malay
Priyanka here from ARINGO. Speaking about your profile, your profile shows strong progression from software engineering into project management with measurable impact, the scale of loan disbursements, process improvements, and backend systems you’ve led are very solid achievements. Coming from IIT Kanpur gives you academic credibility, and while your undergrad GPA is slightly on the lower end, your 695 GMAT FE will help you offset that. The combination of deep tech expertise and current leadership in scaling digital lending platforms is highly relevant for your post-MBA goal of AI-driven product management.

You have a long list of schools that you are targeting. For European/UK one-year programs, you’re a strong fit as they value tech/PM backgrounds, and your goals align well with their career outcomes. ISB is also a natural option given your India roots and fintech focus. For the US, Kellogg, Ross, Fuqua, and Sloan are more realistic than H/S/W/Booth/Columbia given the highly competitive Indian male tech pool and your GPA, but your impact-driven story still keeps you in the running.

You will need to address the GPA head-on and bring in leadership/impact stories beyond just execution. You haven't mentioned extracurriculars or community involvement, if you can add something meaningful here, it will help you balance your profile.

I’d be happy to offer you a free profile review for your target MBA 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.

Feel free to connect- Click here
You can also email me your CV at: priyankak@aringo.com
Good Luck!