ISB Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hello Guys,

Please review my profile. I am planning to give my GMAT within next 6-8 months and targeting joining an MBA course by mid-2019.

Education:
12th- 79%
B.TECH. Computer Science- 74.5% from Punjab Technical University in May, 2011
M.S. IT Management - 3.76/4 from The University of Texas at Dallas, USA in May, 2016

Experience:
1) 2.5 years as Software Engineer in India
2) 2.5 years as Business Intelligence Professional in Dallas, USA including 1 yr as Intern.

Industry Experience:
1) Retail
2) American Healthcare

So until May 2017, I have almost 5 years of work experience in IT mostly as Software Engineer and Scrum Master.

My experience is mostly technical with not much leadership/business responsibilities. This will be one of the concerns for me while applying to various schools.
Also, I don't have much extracurriculars to show on my Resume apart from some involvement in sports clubs and certifications.
Therefore, I am not sure how I can improve on that in my profile.

I have planned to apply in IIMs in India which provides 1 yr MBA coursework, ISB, INSEAD Singapore and NUS Singapore.

Demographic Status: Indian (NRI)

I will appreciate if someone reviews my profile and provide suggestions.

Thanks in advance,
Sid

Hi,
I am aiming to opt for ISB, HKUST,CUHK, NUS, NTU MBA 2018-2019 (12 months)
After several attempts at GMAT, with my heart bleeding as hell I could secure only 620 (Q - 49, V - 25, IR -6), which I know is way below avg of the mentioned colleges.

If you can please review and let me know if I stand a chance at all for the schools as mentioned above or should I give up all hopes (I do not wish to give GMAT further as my levels have saturated after many attempts)
Following is my profile -
Total Work Exp - 8yrs
Growth in profile -
1. Launched the 3G network for a leading telco in India in 2008
2. Launched a Malaysian retail brand in India in 2014 with 2 outlets in the South to start off with
3. Currently, handling the business growth for a product in education industry (for one of the leading firms) at a pan India level with 41 locations and having almost 80% travel in a month
4. Launched an e-commerce company attracting a seed funding 2 yrs back and aiming to expand to South East Asia - have got several vendors on board with blog space contributors from U.K, U.S, Australia Lebanon and many other parts of the globe
5. Got published in 1 book which is still selling in Amazon, Flipkart and few retail stores in India, U.S. and India., the 2nd book will be published in Aug(most likely) - it still under final review status with Rupa Publishers (have an author contract letter with another publisher if Rupa doesn't click)
6. Got published in several newspapers - TOI, Malayala Manorama, Hindu, Dinakaran, Dainik Bhaskar etc. for public speeches
7. Got felicitated by the Chief Justice, Madras High Court during the launch of a major CSR program in Tamil Nadu – Education empowerment for rural youth (Initiated the program to be launched, negotiated and closed the sanctioned fund from one of Maharatna PSUs of India)

Extra Curriculars - Participation in Athletics & Football (District Level), Playing Guitar, Mouth Organ & Flute
Ardent Traveler - Almost all corners of India, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Austria, Hungary, Czech, Slovakia, (Indonesia/Iceland - in plans)

Academic History:
Class X - 93%
Class XII - 90%
B.Tech (NIT Durgapur) - 3.4/4 (GPA): Board member of certain clubs
PGDM (IMT) - 3.9/4 : President of certain clubs

Hello everyone,
Please help me evaluate my profile for ISB 2018-19 R1 applications.

Name: Gaurav Pai
Demographic: 25 years old, male, Indian (NRI)

Academic background:
10th standard Maharashtra board SSC: 87%
12th standard Maharashtra board HSC: 91%
Bachelor of Engineering Electrical – Sardar Patel College of Engineering i.e. University of Mumbai: 71%
Master of Science Electrical & Computer Engineering – Georgia Tech: GPA 3.8/4
GMAT: 710 (Q50 V35 IR8)

Professional background:
Industry: Electrical Power and Utilities
Work Experience: 2 years 2 months (as of April 2017)
Transmission Engineer, Entergy Services, Inc. Feb 2015 - Present
Entergy Services, a utility giant in the southern part of USA, is a Fortune 250 company. It is a major utility in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
I have been working as a Transmission Engineer at Entergy since the past two years.

Extra-curricular:
National level chess player
Head of the college drama team at various Inter-collegiate drama competitions
Organized certain events at college cultural and tech fests

Social Service:
Volunteered at a medical camp, blood donation drive (in school)
Volunteered for a clean-up drive organized by Rotary Club (in Bachelors)
Volunteered for a drive to help fill taxes for homeless people and other low income group people in US (at work) and Entergy’s flood victim rehabilitation drives (at work)

Schools I am interested in:
1. ISB is my first choice
2. Looking to apply in PGP courses of IIMs with GMAT score as an NRI
3. NUS and NTU

Future goal: Technology consultant in India

Please help me evaluate my profile. I appreciate any comments or tips as to how I can improve my profile further. Thanking everyone in advance!

Best Regards,
Gaurav Pai

Hi Gaurav

- Overall, your profile does pack a punch. The NRI status helps, and so does the Georgia Tech MS. At 2.2 years (with a Master's), the quantum and quality of work experience is good as well.
- The key questions to answer for you will be why you are seeking an MBA away from the area in which you pursued a Master's in just about 2-3 years after you graduated. Another key question might be why you wish to return to India at this point. Also, technology consulting is a great area to target, but at this point, the Indian market for tech consulting is not very large. Further, your background and work seems more aligned to power engineering than technology/systems (which is what a technology consulting role might require). Not saying these things cannot be overcome, but just highlighting areas to focus more on.
- You should be a decent fit for ISB if you can prepare a good application. For the IIMs, do check out the criteria they use to classify applicants as NRIs and make sure you fit the bill there. The PGP is the right program to aim at there - you would not have enough experience to qualify for the executive MBA options.

Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more queries as needed.

Hi royalbtiger,

- Your overall profile and achievements are extraordinary, and your exposure across industries (telecom, education, e-commerce) make them all the more noteworthy. Extra-curriculars are excellent as well, with a published book and another being published soon, and with your noteworthy CSR achievements.
- Your academics are pretty strong as well. A first MBA-equivalent (PGDM) from IMT may raise questions around the need for a second MBA, given the fact that you are doing well in your career currently.
- A GMAT score of 620, though, certainly drags your profile down and puts you almost out of contention at some of the schools. If you can fix this part, by even raising your score by say another 30-40 points, the effort may well be worth it. We understand, though, that this is not an attractive/feasible option for you at the moment, as you seem to have already done your best at the GMAT over multiple attempts.
- From the schools you list, CUHK, and HKUST (outside chance) seem pretty much the only possibilities. At 620, ISB may not be inclined too much.
- Unless you can retake the GMAT, the school list will need to undergo a change. At 8 years of experience, you will be among the older set in any MBA program, and we do not recommend delaying too much. We recommend looking at some options in Canada/Australia/HKU (Hong Kong). Not going into too much further detail here as this is a thread meant to discuss ISB applications. You can contact us directly if need be.

Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more queries as needed.

Hi, request you to kindly review my profile:

I am targeting the Indian B-schools (IIM a/b/c, ISB)

Xth: 88%

XIIth: 60%

B.Tech (Non IT): 80 %



Total work experience: 7 years and 2 months

Company 1: Oracle: Consultant for a financial product

(Total 3 years and 10 months). Worked in international projects for 2 years.

Company 2: British Telecommunications: Consultant (Solution Designer/Architect) for a call routing platform. Some experience in big data.



Extra-curricular:



1. Selected for a national level work shop conducted at IIT Madras during second year of college

2. Toastmaster- CC and CL tracks completed

3. United nations volunteer: Teaching english/soft skills at a muslim orphanage

4. United nations volunteer: Technical author for an IT course at a not for profit educational portal



Awards:



1. Oracle: For outstanding contributions to the project as a fresher

2. British telecom: Improving efficiency of the call routing platform by over 20 percent

3. British Telecom: Solution design for a new product launch.



GMAT: 690



Kindly suggest if I need to re-take GMAT in order to bump up my score.

Hi Shirshendu

A score of 690 at your level of experience can help put you into contention. A higher score may help, though, so if you are in a position to retake, do go ahead, especially as you are from the tech pool.
- Beyond this, you mention 2 years in international projects. Do you mean working with a global team here or actual experience in terms of working abroad? If it is the latter, it can get you significant credit.
- Your experience in BT and with big data act as definite pluses. Leverage these well in your apps.
- In terms of ECA, the first point you mention there wont count for much but otherwise you should have enough on the ECA front
- At this point, focus on retaking the GMAT if possible and on taking up higher value activities at work.

Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more queries as needed.