nishantd88 wrote:
Hi all,
I am looking to apply to INSEAD in R1 for the September '19 intake. So I still have about a year to go before the application. I have got the GMAT out of the way and am keen to understand what the gaps are in my profile so that I can use the next few months to work on plugging them.
Nationality: Indian
Age as on 2018 Sept: 30
GMAT: 750 (Q50, V40; IR 8; AWA 5.5)
Education
Graduation (2007-11): Bachelor in Engineering from top 10 non-IIT university in India. GPA 8.63/10 (First class hons.)
Post-graduation (2014-16): Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM. GPA 3.2/4.33 (top 30% of batch)
Work experience
Total work-experience during matriculation: 6 years
1. 2011-2014: Technology consultant at a big4 firm. Based in India. Includes an 8-month stint in the Middle East. Though there was no promotion, I was made the team lead after a year.
2. 2016-current: Strategy consultant at a boutique international consulting firm. Based in Malaysia. Worked on a project in Thailand too. Have been working as the lead consultant from my second project onwards, leading a team of 2-3 individuals.
International experience: Worked in India (26 months), Saudi Arabia (8 months), Malaysia (6 months) and Thailand (9 months).
Work Achievements:
1. 2011-14: Received highest performance rating for 2 consecutive years in the big4 firm. Also received awards for client appreciation and team work.
2. 2016-17: Helped the firm in developing proposals in bidding for consulting projects. Contributed to winning projects worth USD200k. Note that at my level, one is not expected to work on proposals. So this is something I have done beyond the expected responsibilities.
Extra-curricular activities/achievements
1. Elected member of sports committee during PGDM.
2. Campus champions and national finalists at several case study competitions during PGDM organised by corporate such as Deloitte, Panasonic, etc.
3. Member of the IIM sports team for three different sports.
4. Worked as an online columnist at 2 leading sports websites in India. Authored 120+ articles. Still engaged with one of them, but not very frequent.
5. Former columnist at one of India's leading satire and humour websites.
Community Service
1. Was part of the corporate social responsibility team of the big4 firm. Worked with several local NGOs. Awarded a certificate of appreciation by the firm
2. Have been involved as a volunteer with a few other NGOs. However, I have no documentary proof of my involvement. Hence, not sure if this would count.
Post-MBA goals
Short-term: Top-tier strategy consulting for 2-3 years
Medium to Long term: Start-up on my own
Recommendations
Have a query here. I can get a recommendation from my manager in the first company with whom I worked for 2 years. He can write a strong recommendation and is currently the director at the firm. Will this be a good option for a recommendation? Or will it be weakened by the fact that it was about 5-6 years ago?
Please let me know what are the areas I can improve upon over the next year to improve my profile.
Hello,
Congrats on getting the GMAT under your belt, and on planning ahead as that will only benefit you overall.
You have a lot of strengths to your profile for INSEAD, including:
-solid work experience, team lead experience, consulting experience etc
-international work and life experience as you detailed across a number of countries
-GMAT
-undergrad grades (looks like that diploma gpa was just ok)
-awards, recognition at work
-some examples of initiative taken as mentioned
-extracurricular and community involvement (note: documentation not generally required)
In terms of weaknesses and challenges, nothing jumps out as a major weakness, but there are of course a large # of male engineering grads applying from India... that said you will be fairly differentiated given your experience since university, so that is not a huge concern, but of course you're not applying from say an under-represented country or anything.
Overall there is just the challenge that INSEAD admissions is quite competitive overall in any case.
To your q on recommenders--- ideally someone more recent would be preferred yes.
Re: what you can work on in the coming year.... consider:
a) current, consistent community involvement with a cause you are passionate about
b) considering and cultivating relationships with potential recommenders
c) researching post-MBA goals, connecting with others at firms you are interested in etc
d) research INSEAD And any other schools..... talk with at least 3-4 students/alum and get a good feel for the program and student culture, read student blogs, research curriculum etc.
All of the above will help when the time comes for putting together applications. Good luck and best wishes!
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20 Aug 2017, 13:22
