Wharton Profile Evaluation Thread - Post All Requests Here

Hi Maeksense,

Thank you for your post and for sharing your profile. Congrats on a great GMAT!

I really like that you have international experience, which you will want to emphasize in your applications. You will also want to emphasize the type of work you do/have done in relation to your future career plans. As to your objective, I encourage you spend a bit of time fleshing out your need for an MBA and specifically your need for a Wharton MBA.

A challenge you will face is your "low GPA." You might want to consider coursework you can enroll in between now and application season to help boost your academics (think HBS's CORe and not so much Coursera/Edx). Also, be sure to address your GPA in an addendum come application season - not as a way to present yourself as a victim, but only present the facts.

As to your community work, you might want to spend some time there - not sure what "punctual volunteering work" means, nor do I know if this is something you are currently involved in, but see if you can increase the scope of your responsibilities, especially as they relate to your passions.

I am happy to continue the conversation over a profile evaluation call, so I can get a better idea of your experiences and guide your pre-MBA prep work. If interested, please reach out.

Good luck!


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Hello!
Long long shot here but I feel like the Wharton Lauder program is the only program that fits both my passion and goals.

I graduated from a state school in California with a BS in Animal Science and a BA in History. My cumulative GPA came out to 3.13 but my History GPA is around a 3.7. I also have a minor in Asian Studies and am proficient in Japanese.
After graduating, I’ve been working as a research associate at a reputable hospital for two years. I’m on my way to publishing 3-4 papers this year.
I haven’t taken the GMAT but practice tests have me at 720-740.

Do I still have a shot at this program with a low GPA and no business experience? Thank you in advance!

Posted from my mobile device

Hi Megasnowglobe,

Thank you for your question. Can you share more details about your role as a research associate, and what your goals are? If you prefer a private discussion, please feel free to reach out (info@siaadmissions.com).
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Hi everyone,

Looking forward to reading your thoughts!

Applying to:
• Harvard | Stanford GSB | Wharton

Profile:
• 24 year old Indian male.
• Top Engineering college (and consistently top 10 globally in overall rankings) in the UK (integrated masters: Bachelors + Masters in 4 years. This is common in the UK). Masters in Economics & Finance at Oxford/Cambridge.
• Top 20% of my class at Engineering school (First Class Honours - equivalent to 3.8+ GPA)
• GMAT 750 (Q50V41)
• Summer internships: 1 in the technology division of an American bank; 1 on the the trading floor of a bulge bracket investment bank. Both in London.
• Will be joining Bain London office as a pre-MBA hire. (SO WILL APPLY TO HSW IN 2-3 YEARS)

Extracurriculars:
• Took a year off before starting work at Bain London to go climb some of the highest mountains across the Himalayas and Andes (not trekking - actual climbing from bottom to the top). Here, I climbed with and met strangers from all over the world (America, Canada, Nepal, UK, Argentina, Brazil). I was trained by the Indian Army Mountaineering team for a month long course at Asia's #1 mountaineering institute where I received an 'A' grade (top of my class). Also, one of the youngest Indian's to climb the highest mountain outside Asia and was selected as the youngest member of a joint Indian-Canadian expedition to Mt. Everest until I got injured during training prior to the climb and had to pull out.

• Recently co-founded a social venture which provides a platform to pair students looking for help with jobs/college admissions with mentors in universities/jobs they want in exchange for donations to charity. Have raised $20,000 for mental health & education charities.

• Additionally, I mentored 15+ URM college applicants from Europe, India, & the US for undergraduate college admissions & internships in finance/consulting. Over 90% of them received offers to top 5 UK universities, & their top-choice internships.

• Board member (youngest) of a non-profit that offers free STEM education to 100,000+ young people that were denied access to education due to war, poverty, disability or gender.

Awards & Honours:
• Won 3-4 "Young leader" type awards. One of them was for being in the top 100 future leaders from British universities (100 out of 1000+ nominations UK wide); Another was Top 100 future UK leaders out of 7000+ nominations from over 150 UK colleges.

Post-MBA goal: Return to Bain for 2 years then move into VC analysing investments in the EdTech space in India.

Other factors: I've applied twice for the 2+2/Stanford Deferred programs unsuccessfully (no interviews). Once in my final year of undergrad, once right after that during my 1-year masters. Will this go against me in 2-3 years when I apply as a regular applicant?

Thank you for your time.

26, male, Indian Sikh.
Business economics graduate from Delhi University (first division). I've derived that my GPA is 3.7 (kindly correct if wrong)
GMAT: 740 (Q51, V39, IR8, AWA6)
Work experience:
Full time 2.5 years, freelance 1.5 years.

I freelanced with a production studio as a cinematographer and a video editor for 6 months. They hired me full-time and promoted me to the post of senior producer because I was good at dealing with clients. This lasted for 6 months too.
Then I left for Mumbai to assist in ads and films to learn more. I was freelancing as well. I was the assistant cinematographer in Kapil Sharma's "Firangi". Was part of many short films as well.

Then I joined my family business of medicine exports. It involved handling purchase and negotiating rates and payment terms. Soon I started travelling to Imphal to manage a pharmacy as it's conflict struck area and hiring someone local was tough.
Additionally, I became a mutual fund distributor in Jan last year. I have a sizeable AUM under me. I am also a stock trader. I still freelance as a cinematographer.

In college I used to make short films on social causes. I'd write, shoot, direct and edit myself. The topics ranged from communal differences, eve teasing to organ donation. I screened the organ donation movie in my college and about 50 viewers pledged their organs after the screening.
I also won numerous awards in -
Street theatre
Best photographer
Best cinematography
Best short film (director)

I wish to get into financial consulting post MBA.

What is the deal breaker here? I've been told that my work ex won't count since I've mostly worked for myself or my family (albeit full time).

Posted from my mobile device

Hi there!

You definitely have the kind of profile that regularly gets accepted into H/S/W. A great GMAT score, top-notch company brand and diverse extra-curriculars.

What will be important when you eventually apply, is what you do in the next 3-4 years. Make sure that you add value to your profile during your stint at Bain - take up diverse projects, try to lead teams, take advantage of their international opportunities. All of these will add up when you are facing against the wide variety of amazing profiles that apply to the best schools.

Most of your extracurriculars seem to be in the past. When you apply, you would ideally want extracurriculars that are current. So make sure that there is continuity there and you keep pursuing them even with a busy work schedule. After all, business school is tough and busy but schools want you to be able to manage different work loads and networking opportunities without burning out.

Good luck! Feel free to get in touch to discuss further.
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Background and nationality - Indian Age -25
Undergrad Information - Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences, Dubai - UAE B.E Mechanical Engineering GPA - 8.10/10
Grad Information - Rutgers University-New Brunswick M.S Industrial and Systems Engineering GPA - 3.146/4
GRE: 325 V-158 Q-167 AWA- 4.0
Work experience and leadership- Went for masters immediately after my undergrad. Finished masters in Oct 2017. Came back and joined my family business. Been working for the past 2 years. We are into real estate. Looking to pursue an MBA with real estate specialization. I also manage a couple of private equity investments I made in the past two years in the fields of F&B and Agritech. I also started a firm to do small scale projects and manage the investments on my own.
Community and others - As a family, we do a lot of community service and specifically work with an orphan and below poverty school by helping the kids with their education. We set up a library under the name of my grandparents recently. We spend time at the school organizing special lunches and sports for the kids on the birth and death anniversaries of my family members.
Sports - I represented my high school and undergrad school teams in Cricket and Volleyball. I was the captain of my U-13, U-15 and U-17 cricket team in middle school and high school.
Post-MBA goals - Join my family business and make a smooth transition of the business from my father to me. He is going to be 60 in a couple of years and wants to retire or at least just advice me on the business instead of running it.
Anything else?
I love cooking. I worked for free as an assistant to the head chef at a farm cooking school in new jersey so that I get to learn how to cook. I use to help him in the cooking classes, monthly dinners and weekend open market at the farm. They only use the ingredients produced by the farm in all their events. I learned to cook French, Italian, Mexican cuisines and basics techniques.
Travel - wildlife, nature and adventure enthusiast. Lived in 2 countries other than India for a period of more than 2 years. Traveled to around 12 countries including Galapagos Islands. I also traveled around 14 states in the USA including Alaska. I love hiking and trekking. I visited around 5 national parks in the USA.

Hi,

You seem to have done a number of things in life, although its your work experience that has maximum importance in the MBA applications. What has your work experience been like? What impact have you made on the family business or your other ventures? How have you improved/grown them or taken them to new heights? These are very valid questions, specially as you are talking about a family enterprise. You'd need to convince the adcom that you have actually made a big difference to the business. Its easier to do this in a corporate where you have timely promotions that show career progress, and performance benchmarks against other employees (which the recommenders always have to address in the recommendations). In a family enterprise, adcoms have your word to believe. So the growth figures should do the talking, this means you should quantify your achievements and also mention the quantum increase in different parameters, since you joined the business.

The above-mentioned points are also important to justify why you need an MBA. If you are able to prove that you have done phenomenally well in the past, the adcoms will have more reason to believe that you will continue doing so in the future. That would help you justify your career goals, and the need for an MBA.

The Wharton program has a lot of academic resources on family business and succession planning- you should research these well enough and also include them in your essays.

Given that you are a younger applicant, it would help to apply with a better GMAT/GRE score. Your current GRE score is below their class average, and that calls for a retake.
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Hi Namita,

Thanks for the pointers on my work experience. I will definitely work on that. Can you elaborate on what do you mean by quantify? I worked towards a couple of important things in my business, but to quantify them will be too early I would say.

I choose Wharton because there are very few MBA programs with a career-focused path in Real estate and also as you said with resources on the family businesses and a very good core curriculum with a flexible choice which would help me in establishing my base since I am from a non-traditional background. I am only looking for schools with an MBA program which has considerable resources in Real estate and an urban campus. Only a few schools fit this description.

I know Wharton is a big stretch for me, but when I browsed through their website, the average GRE for the class of 2020 was 325 (V-163 Q-162 AWA-4.6). I thought my GRE was just there and I could maybe give it a short.

Hi Experts,

I'd request you to give feedback on my profile.

Male, 26, Indian

Education
GMAT 750 (Q50 V41 IR7 AWA5)
Undergrad: Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (N.S.I.T.) in Manufacturing Process and Automation Engineering (7.6 GPA)
12th: 79%
10th: 91%

Work Exp : 3 years currently
Started my career in 2016 with strongly growing US based Analytics and Consulting firm, worked as an Associate for 2.5 years in a variety of different projects in Analytics and Consulting. Awarded twice for best performance in a quarter and a best team award for best team in a year. Learned skills of data analytics and machine learning. Handled client calls regularly by myself. Instrumental in winning bids worth $2M for the firm. Got promoted once in first year. I was also the youngest trainer in the company for teaching new joiners (received best trainer rating, got recognition at company level)
Wanted a job where i could leverage the analytics skills with execution skills acquired in college (by working in Uber and Red Bull) and my keen interest in technology. Hence moved to Product Manager profile in one of the largest OTA (Online Travel Aggregator) in India. Have been working there for last 7 months.

Extra Curricular
Worked for Red Bull in my college days for 2.5 years as a Student Brand Manager (SBM). I learned consumer behavior, ground level sales and operations. Awarded best SBM for 3 consecutive quarters
Helped setup a similar Student Brand Manager program for UBER India. Helped set up a team of 50 Students in different college across Delhi
Head of Event Management in largest annual technical fest of my college
Did a startup for 6 months in college, couldn't take off though
Played badminton since school, played state level.
Played badminton in college and won multiple tournaments in college and one in Axtria

Social Work:
Part of core organizing CSR team for 2.5 years and organised events for underprivileged kids every weekend. Helped educating them.

Post MBA Goals
Post MBA I want to work as a Product Manager in a global tech giant like Amazon, Tesla, Google. That's the reason for pursuing MBA as well, to get a global platform and be where all the action is going on. In long term i want to open a tech firm of my own.

Also I feel i have a drawback in terms of international exposure. But i have traveled over 20 state in India and 6 countries abroad.

Other school I plan to apply in: Kellogg, Sloan, Booth, Berkeley, Columbia

I would really appreciate if you can give me any feedback.

Thanks in advance for the profile review! I'm targeting to apply this fall.

Background and nationality:
US Citizen, 29, M, SE Asian

Undergrad Information:
Top 10 Public School
Bachelors in Business

GMAT:
700 (Working towards 720)

Work experience and leadership:
- 4 years in a leadership program (finance/strategy/sales/operations) at top tech company (FANG); 3 promotions
- 1 year in corporate strategy at another top tech company (FANG) before switching divisions
- 1.5 year in business operations/analytics at a startup division within FANG; 1 promotion + managing direct reports

Community and others:
- Served on nonprofit board during first 4 years of my career
- Led company employee resource groups
- Startup ideas with buddies
- Captain of video game team for internal tournaments

Post MBA goals:
Entrepreneurship in SE Asia - MBA is to build out my network, leadership skill, and knowledge of other functions. Hoping to meet other like-minded individuals and seed funding!

Anything else?
First generation American hoping to use talents in tech to accelerate the growth in SE Asia with leadership skills gained from Wharton!

Hello,

Age:
22 (Plan to apply in 3-4 years)

Ethnicity:
Korean-American

Academics:
Top 10 U.S. University (not known for engineering)
Majored in Mechanical Engineering and Minored in Finance

GMAT:
740 (2nd attempt; thinking about retaking the GMAT again to achieve a score of 750+ due to my demographic)

Experience:
100% in the aerospace industry (internships)

Current Job:
Engineer at Fortune 100 Aerospace Engineering Firm

Intended Post-MBA Career:
Management consulting (MBB), using my experiences in the engineering industry (both small and large firms) to help clients with problems unique to the intersection of business and engineering.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Experts!

I'd like to kindly request you for your feedback on my candidacy for Wharton MBA. Here goes.

Background:
Indian Male
Age 27
GMAT 720
Industry: Consulting (Front end consulting role in one of the largest HR Consulting organizations in the world, typically held by Tier-1 MBA professionals)

Education:
Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from IIT Delhi (CGPA – 7.0)

Work Experience: Total 4+ years (in india)
Worked for over 2 years in a social sector consulting startup and 1 year in an election campaign strategy firm (a SuperPAC). Working in the strategic HR consulting for last 1 year.

Extra curriculars – Won international competitions and worked on two international projects in Europe. Worked as Coordinator in various campus festivals and a student association club.

Post MBA Goal – Work in MBB strategy consulting firms

Posted from my mobile device

Profile:
Nationality and Gender– Indian Male
Age: 30 yrs
Profession: Indian Military officer (Squadron Leader in Indian Air Force)

Education: Bsc Physics. [GPA 3.3], Madras Christian College. Top 10 Arts & Science college of India. Represented my college as an exchange student (selected amongst 700 students) and studied a semester (6 months) at Flinders University Adelaide.

Work Ex: 10 years
Territory Sales Manager – Maruti Suzuki (Andhra Pradesh State) – 20 months- with expertise in Dealership handling and Business development. During the tenure, I acquired thorough knowledge pertaining to Channel Sales Management, Dealer Development and the business functions that are associated with Automobile Dealerships.

Regional Manager sales (Andhra Pradesh State) – 10 months - for Educational Initiatives (Edtech sector) helped me gain an understanding of direct sales and relationship management and being a bridge between company and the consumer.

Administrative/ Air Traffic Control officer of Indian Air Force – 7 and half years. It has helped me acquire an understanding of diverse fields. I have been able to serve as a commander and an officer in strategically critical bases and led teams to achieve various military objectives encompassing a vast spectrum of operations such as warfare, human assistance and disaster relief missions, air maintenance operations. I have also played various leadership roles in different portfolios executing missions, plans and large scale activities. Handled budgetary allocations and departments with expensive assets upto the tune of $5 million. Commanded multiple units of upto 70 men and officers at the most hostile and highest military bases on earth always maintaining the highest operational readiness and carrying out challenging security and air maintenance operations.

Extra curricular
a. Avid sports buff. Have led teams in sports such as cricket and soccer at multiple levels in school and college. Ultimate Frisbee fan and player.
b. Have participated in various activities ranging from quizzes to public speaking and event management and won multiple awards as a student and later on as a cadet.
c. National Cadet Corps volunteer – As Cadet Sergeant led a college contingent of 40 cadets. Represented my state directorate at National level camp as a pilot (chosen amongst 3500 cadets).
Awads and Honors :
a. Military services medals for working in counter insurgency, high altitude and counter terror operations.
b. Academy cadet captain of 480 officer cadets at Indian Air Force Academy – something akin to student body chairman at a B school.
c. Best in flying in my state (400 cadets) during NCC as a cadet.
I am seeking a profile evaluation for the 2 year full time MBA program. My post MBA career goal is to work in operations management, general management or Product manager roles which will help me in leveraging the skills that I gained in the military. My choice of sectors would be Aerospace, Aviation, Transportation, BigTech or Retail and Hospitality. It would be great help if I can be offered some advice on likely chances & areas of improvement.

Hello All,

This is my first post and I would like to be evaluated and receive feedback on how can I improve my application form. I intend on applying on R2 2019 for 2020 intake class. I'll put as much information as I can. If anyone could advise on which points to focus on my application, I would very much appreciate.

Nationality: Brazilian - My Italian passport is underway (maybe by the application time I'll have the double nationality)
Age: 27 years (28 on intended intake);
Languages: Portuguese (native), English (fluent), Spanish (fluent), Romanian (Advanced).
Undergrad GPA: International Relations - 2.8 / Top 20 Brazilian School - graduated in 12/2014;
Graduate GPA: Business Management & Finance - 3.2 / Top Brazilian Business School - graduated in 04/2017
GMAT: I'm scheduled to take the GMAT in September, but I'm aiming between 730 - 750 (I'm putting a lot of effort and time and therefore I'm confident on the score given the official mocks I've taken).
International Experience: 1y as a Rotary exchange student in Romania plus another 8 months traveling through Eastern Europe, middle east and Northeast Africa. I also have considerable amount of international experience in my working experiences. although I've never been an expatriated, I've traveled consistently and also worked in decentralized business units with worldwide interaction.
Community work: I've been part of a teenagers organization doing community work since I was 13y old. So for the past 14 years I've been working to help the less fortunate. Since the beginning of the year, I've been a mentor to youngsters (15y to 20y) in risk zones and poverty through Joule project. I'm also going to be a interviewer for the acceptance committee at my business school.
Goals post MBA: Work in finance (probably M&A) for the short-mid term and, in the long run, start my own business related to financial services (likely to target credit for small/mid sizes companies).

Additional information: I understand my undergrad and Graduate GPA are low and I intend on use the optional essay to highlight that I've been a Full Time employee throughout my entire course. Any advises on how to approach this would be really great.

Work experience and accomplishments below (8 years of relevant working experience by the intake date):

Suzano Pulp & Paper (05/2018 – Currently) - biggest pulp producer in the world
Revenue Management & Pricing Associate
Acting as revenue management and pricing policies business partner for all international paper sales: direct allocation
management of U$350M on sales; sales planning and revenue forecast; Profitability Analysis; C-level presentation
and deviation analysis; feasibility studies for new business; development of business opportunities and business cases
across three international offices; ad hoc analysis

Thomson Reuters (04/2017 – 05/2018)
FP&A Specialist
Acting as Business Partner to the Technology and Operations division, managing directly U$50M and 400 headcounts:
PnL construction and analysis; Budget planning/forecast – Opex and Capex; C-level monthly presentations with
deviation analysis; feasibility studies for new investments (business cases and product development); profitability
analysis per product; backlog analysis; Ad Hoc analysis.
Development of financial databases and reports for revenue, profitability and backlog analysis – leveraging the
company capacity of decision making with accurate and timely information; conducted over 10 new product studies
for the investment committee; conducted a RACI project for the financial department, decreasing in over than 15%
the time required for the monthly deliverables.

Grupo Pão de Açúcar (05/2016 – 04/2017) – Biggest wholesale in Brazil, part of Groupe Casino FR.
Senior FP&A Analyst
PnL construction and analysis; conduct and support the budgeting process with the business units; C-level
presentations (financial committee); monthly management report with deviation analysis for the company controller
(Casino Group – FR); consolidation and validation of financial reports (BRGAAP & IFRS) - Working Capital, Cash Flow
and CAPEX; corporate governance development; special projects; Ad Hoc analysis.
Strongly improved the budgeting process with the business units, decreasing the time required to finish the process
and delivering it on a timely manner; Implemented a cost sharing method for the business units to share the expenses
of the Holding services, such as treasury, audit, HR, and 12 others.

General Motors (03/2015 – 05/2016)
FP&A Analyst
PnL construction and analysis; budget planning/forecast; financial modeling and investment feasibility (IRR, cash flow,
payback, etc.); conduct and lead business cases with other departments; continuous improvement (Kaizen & Six
Sigma).
Cost avoidance of U$11M through the development of an inventory model that increased the accuracy of our forecast

DHL/Exel Supply Chain (01/2012 – 03/2015)
Supply Chain Analyst
Development of the S&OP for all Ford North America suppliers in the LATAM region; implementation of ISO 9001
standard in 2014, awarded with a recognition award for the results obtained; over 300 new operations through
internal sales.

Hi slukin91,

Thank you for your post and for sharing your profile. Overall, you have interesting experiences that present a strong case for why you require a Wharton degree (if told skillfully and diligently). Some areas may pose red-flags, so I gave recommendations (below) on how to address them.

Academic: As you pointed out, your GPA is on the lower end of the top-tier MBA class profiles. Therefore, you should address this in the optional component of the application. How you treat the topic depends on your story (a strategic approach), but be mindful of taking ownership of your mistakes and addressing how that experience has helped you grow. Also, because of the lower than average GPA, you want to maximize your GMAT score (to help counter) - 730 to 750 range is excellent. Additionally, you might want to look into enrolling in respected programs that help showcase to the admissions team that you will succeed. A program that comes to mind is HBS's CORe - a well-respected program specifically designed to prepare applicants for business school.

Professional: You have interesting work experiences that may add strength to your presentation of your professional goals. That said, you have been changing jobs quite frequently, and recommend you write a brief statement about it in the optional essay as well.

Community Engagement/ECs: these seems pretty strong. I want to learn more about your contributions to each.


I would love to learn your story in detail and see how we can help you address weaker areas in your profile to maximize the outcome of your application season. When ready, please reach out.

Good luck!



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Hi.I am planning to apply to various B-schools in the next admission cycle(Class of 2022).I am posting my profile to understand my strengths and weaknesses so that I can work on potential gaps in my profile.

Background and nationality 23,M,Indian
Undergrad Information : B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur.GPA of 3.32/4
GMAT: 730(Q 51,V36) ( I have taken the GMAT in Dec 2016)
Work experience and leadership :
Completed 2 years of work experience at a major tobacco based FMCG. Will have 4 years of work experience by the time of joining.Work domain includes-Project management, Capital investment planning and execution,Operational excellence.
My current role involves me spearheading over 20 projects across the division.I was also the project engineer for execution of a brownfield factory in my first role.

Community and others:
Plethora of extracurricular activities at Undergrad level-
-Elected student representative during my final year of undergrad
-Represented the college in Inter-IIT Tech meet and also lead the hall of residence in inter-hall events.
-Team leader at AIESEC
-Part of the student entrepreneurship cell

Didn’t really participate in any community service activities since I have started working(possible weak-link in my profile)

Post MBA goals
Would like to get into management consulting and strategy and eventually settle down in one company,which I would like to lead.I also have ambitious plans of coming back to India and doing something meaningful in the agricultural sector through technology.

Anything else?
I would also like to get scholarship(full or part waiver of tuition) in whichever B-School I might get admitted to.

Hi Sarvaanjan,

Is your undergrad n a 4 point scale or a 10 point scale? I've seen on another thread that you scored 8.31 on 10. B-schools don't expect you to convert to 4 point scales, so don't do that. You would be uploading your original transcripts when you apply, so the adcoms will know what your scores are. stick to that. Now, with an 8.31 GPA,it would be more relevant to know how you stood in class/your stream. Being among the top 5-10% is a good sign for sure. I would also encourage you to retake GMAT before you apply next year - 730 is the average GMAT score at your target programs, and having a score above the average definitely helps.

Regarding your professional experiences, I like this detail - "My current role involves me spearheading over 20 projects across the division" - this gives you ample opportunities to make impact and show quantitative achievements. Continuing on this growth trajectory would be beneficial both for your career and for your applications.

While your past extracurriculars are noteworthy, not having any recent ones by the time you apply next year, will open up a gaping hole in your candidature. You should join a volunteering activity (and take up a hobby) and put some serious efforts into them.

Lastly, its too early to discuss career goals, but I hope you'll come back and interact with us next year.
_________________

Background and nationality: 27F Asian Indian from USA

Undergrad Information:
Public university, Chemical Engineering
GPA: 2.97 -- Ouch, I know. No real excuse, was super involved on campus (I wanted to do everything, especially my passion for outreach/education but I was still learning how to time manage. Maturity and experience has made me better about that now) and I really, REALLY struggled with organic chemistry (we had to take all the pre-med classes in our curriculum, it sucked)

GMAT: 750 (50Q, 41V)

Work experience:
- (Current) 2 yrs (will be almost 3 years by matriculation) Product Manager at a mid-size (~1000 employees) software company with a promotion after 1 year, leading a team of ~10 engineers (no direct reports). Presented at company conference to launch new features.
- Before that, my first job out of undergrad, ~3.5 yrs in tech consulting at a wall street bank (pick one JPM/GS/MS) with 1 promotion (rigid promotion cycle based on # of years)

Extracurriculars:
In college
- Worked all 4 years in the Engineering school's office of student outreach to help increase under-represented minorities in STEM careers (planning visits to inner-city HS, helped launch a summer program for SAT/college prep, helped students find and apply to scholarships)
- VP and Charity lead for a religious club that I was part of all 4 years (planned an annual charity dinner, local volunteering events at place of worship)
After college
- Participating in diversity networks at first company (wall street bank), helping with Girls Who Code events, campus recruiting, and helping to plan a consulting skills training week at HQ
- Founder and president of the diversity network at my current company. Launched the network within 3 months of joining, after meeting with HR and company founders for sponsorship. Since then, we have held several networking events, from social (happy hour) to educational (book talk/speakers). Personally developed the first official employee in-person training on discussing diversity at work, reaching ~100 employees in the first year. Currently have a network of ~150 members and allies.

Post MBA goals
Transition from product management to strategy

Hi coffeecat,

Thank you for your post and for sharing your profile. Also, welcome to the GMAT Club!

Your experiences seem solid ( I like the leadership experience, being the face of launching a new feature at the company conference, and your multiple promotions). You also have an excellent GMAT and community engagement. The area that may hurt your application is your undergraduate performance. While you should definitely apply to Wharton, this may be a reach school (which is often the case). I recommend you expand your school scope to include a few target and safety schools.

Also, don't underestimate the power of a strong narrative. Now is the time to be introspective: demonstrate your growth, why you require an MBA, why Wharton, and why now.

I am happy to take this conversation offline. When ready, please reach out.

Good luck!

Susna




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