Wharton Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hello guys!

It'll be great to pick your thoughts. I am sure of applying to Kellogg, Tuck and Booth, Wharton is a stressful decision - the effort and $265 might be a waste in the end but I want to not have the regret of not applying to top-3. I will also be applying to a few non M-7 schools schools including Cornell, Darden, Ross etc. of which I will drop 1 school if I go ahead with Wharton.

Background and nationality: Indian
Undergrad Information: BBA, Top Private University in India (Think Symbiosis / NMIMS / Christ) GPA ~3.4 on 4
GMAT: 760 - 50/41/8
Work experience and leadership: 6 years in Risk Consulting (2 with big 4). Lead a team of 4.
Community and others: Somewhere between average and solid in High School and UG. Community service continues until date and is very different from most of my fellow Indians.
Post MBA goals: Ops consulting - McK Ops / ATK etc.
Anything else?

If not Wharton - can I possible replace Ross/Darden with a better ranked school which will be kind to my non-IIT low GPA UG and traditional background? Yale / MIT?

Best,
gmat7m

Hi all,

I would appreciate any feedback you could provide on my profile.

- 26-year-old American white female
- 720 GMAT (46Q/44V)
- 3.71 GPA from small liberal arts college in mid-atlantic region (Tier 1 but not a top 50 school); double major in Econ and English
- Work experience at time of application includes 4 years at three different firms: 1 year at a consulting firm, 2 years at a strategic research group of a PR firm, where I worked primarily on branding engagements and I was promoted after one year, ahead of schedule, 1 year at current firm, a boutique strategy consulting firm (work is very market research-heavy). Each job has equipped me with increasing responsibilities (not to mention more money)
- Goal: Work at a top brand consultancy or specialize in branding/marketing consulting at a broader consulting firm; I am especially interested in strengthening my quant skills to ensure brand strategy is truly data-driven
- Extracurriculars: Not going to lie, this feels like a weak spot to me as I have moved around quite a bit geographically but: Pro-bono consulting from Jan 2017 to present, freelance market research gigs, recruitment for current company as well as informal mentoring of potential candidates outside of work, organizer of book/movie club from March 2017 to present; I also lead onboarding at my firm and have re-vamped the program (I have some other random ECs from before I moved to my current city but not very significant)


Thank you in advance!

Hey,

So
GMAT : Yet to Appear
GPA : 3.0 (Graduate in Commerce)
I am a Chartered Accountant & a CFA Charterholder

Experience
3 Years Internship in BDO International (Audit)
3 Years Experience in Morgan Stanley (Product Controller for Structured Products)
Currently employed with JP Morgan (Treasury Risk - Structural Interest Rate Risk Management)

I am planning to apply for 2021 (sorry I see this is a 2020 thread), by the time will have 2 years experience in JPM

Extra Curricular :
NGO Activities
1 Year in a Rotaract Club
Currently part of an NGO that engages in Education for the underprivileged kids (working as a teacher & Center head)

Can someone give me an evaluation and whether I should do something more to better my profile.

Thanks

Hey LF7988
Thanks for posting and GREAT GPA. Always like to see 3.7+. That will help you in this process. GMAT is good but maybe quant could be higher. Work experience is great but make sure the increasing responsibilities are clear! I think you should target Wharton -- they've got some great marketing offerings -- but I'd recommend padding that out with Booth, Stern, and UCLA just to risk mitigate. Wharton tends to love great stats and they've actually told some of my clients that they look for a min 47Q score. You might enjoy a free consult so set one up when you have a moment: https://www.mbamission.com/consult/ (You do not have to schedule it with me and in fact, at this time of year, I'd recommend just taking the first available slot.)
Hope that helps!
Krista

Hi gmat7m
I think you are doing the right thing by putting together a portfolio of schools. Your GMAT is great which will work to your advantage, but I do worry about the GPA and university at this level -- your competition is tough. I actually recommend leaving Ross, Darden and Cornell all on your list. I know it's more work and it's more expensive, but this is a super competitive process especially with your background. I agree you don't want to have regrets in life so definitely target your top schools but just know that it's going to be a tough race. You need to execute a high quality application with great recs that speak to you as a leader with great interpersonal skills...more than just a quant guy. (There are plenty of those.) Also, make sure you highlight any international experience. It will help you stand out!
Hope that helps!
Krista

This looks very promising but you will still need a high GMAT score in order to have a fighting chance as Wharton is so incredibly competitive as I am sure you already know. Do you have any idea where you might land GMAT score-wise?

Assuming that you score above 700 at least, preferably higher (a must for an Indian applicant, I am afraid) and that your essays are as impressive as your working experience and extra curriculars up until now I would rate your chances as pretty good though.

Nationality- Indian
Gender- Male
Xth- 67.7%
XIIth - 65%
Undergrad- B.E. in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering with 54.4%
TOEFL- Yet to take
GMAT- 750 ( Q-50, V-41, AWA-4.5, IR-5)

Work Exp :
1. Have worked for 9 years in Telecom Industry and am currently VAS Manager for Airtel India Operations. Have previously worked with Nokia, Mahindra Comviva. Also have worked in UK for 6 months.
- Have received awards for my work at Airtel and previous organisations
- I have done in corses for Leadership,Security as well as technology


Volunteer Experience :
1. Involved in education of economically deprived kids, conducting fundraisers with an NGO "SOCH"
2. During flood disaster in MP in 2016 I was part of the team that setup communications to emergency and disaster helplines for people affected by the natural calamity
3. Sarva Seva Sankalp Samiti – NGO from Burhanpur for Deaddiction centers, Vaccination Drives, Reforestation, Awareness
programs for Crimes against women.Participated in workshops near Indore and Burhanpur for Vaccination drives, Awareness Camps and planting of saplings for green drive.
4.Mentored students at GS Institute of Management for development of soft skills


Extra Curricular:
1. Head of student placement committee and President of club "Peregrination" in College
2. Designed college website for "Peregrination"
3.Paper Presentation on Neural Networks and Fuzzy Logic at national level at Concours 2006 at KIT, Andhra Pradesh
4.Presented Paper on Mobile and Wireless Communication in Techvinox 2005.
5.Paper Presentation on MRI Scan Application of Fuzzy Logic in PIONEER 2K5 at College of Engineering ,Kolhapur
6.Second prize in "Wrocketry" organized at KIT Andhra Pradesh
7.Won HTML web page competition in School level competition

Please evaluate.

Nationality: Indian
Gender: Female
GMAT: Not taken yet
GPA: 3.5
Major: Technology System Management
I am still in my undergraduate. I want to apply to see if I can get in straight out of college.

Work Experience:
GP Petroleum| CO-MANAGER 3 years
• GP Petroleum is a family owned full-service station with sales exceeding 150,000 gallons per month compared to competitors’ average of 100,000 gallons per month
o Increased sales by initiation and execution of adding another gas pump to increase volume of business and meet customer needs
o Maintained operations, inventory, customer service, quality and financial records, inclusive of cash handling management and credit sales
o Hired, on boarded, trained, motivated and handled performance management of employees

Other Accomplishments:
• Co-Founder of the South Asian Student Association Club.
o First club uniting Indian and Pakistani decent students to create a cultural club illuminating South Asian culture and open to any student of any background to join.

• Fluent in Punjabi and Hindi
• Volunteer at Stony Brook Hospital


What can I add to my application that will make me stand out? Thank You!

Hi,
is it your part-time job? How could you achieve good academic and professional progress at the same time? Though it'd be better to have at least 2 years of full-time professional development, your mature balancing between studies and work could be your unique feature and the strongest focus in your application.

Hi, I am a Pakistani female, age 25

GMAT: 760 Q 48, V 47 AWA 5.5
GPA:3.8 Economics & Mathematics – appearing for CFA Level 1
Exp: 3 years working for one of the largest conglomerates in the country in Strategy & Business growth, have worked on merger deals, greenfield investment analysis, capital budgeting, turnaround projects.

Internship at leading global FMCG.

ECA:
Started a not-for-profit tech startup benefiting 5000 people to date with a team of 60 people - currently Vice President of the startup. 5+ years of public speaking in national circuit.

Hi all, was hoping to get some feedback on my profile. Any input is appreciated!

GMAT: 750 (Q49, V42, 8 IR, 6 AWA)
GPA: 3.5/4 in Materials Science & Engineering at a Southern Ivy (Rice/Vanderbilt/Duke), awarded MSCI department's award for leadership as a senior.
Passed levels CFA levels 1 and 2

Extracurriculars during undergrad:
- Organizer of largest on-campus event, responsible for coordinating a week's worth of activities for a group of 300+ students. Worked with local businesses to sponsor the event, had 5-figure budget to work with, led team of 5 organizers
- Founder and president of club sports team
- Orientation advisor junior and senior years (highly competitive, ~10% of applicants are chosen to advise)
- Worked ~20 hours per week in nanotech research lab for 2.5 years on campus

Extracurriculars after graduation:
- Mentor for an inner-city youth baseball program
- Alumni admissions interviewer for alma mater
- Organizer of alumni affairs for the largest on-campus event mentioned above
- Play in amateur baseball league
- Occasionally foster for animal shelter (work hours permitting)

Work experience at time of application: (most recent first):

-1.5 years at boutique RIA in Texas ($6B AUM). Not much history of sending people to B-school, though almost all of senior mangement/C-Suite has MBA from top-10 schools. Started as an analyst on fixed income desk, after 9 months was promoted to associate and given PM-like responsibility for management of a $300M strategy (though no official PM or junior PM title). Expect to have responsibility for another strategy by the time I apply, bringing total AUM I am responsible for to ~$400M. Still have large analytical role with other fixed income strategies, use engineering background for coding & data analysis.

- 6 months as financial advisor with F100 insurance firm. Started here because I wanted to transition into investment management, left because role was more focused on sales than making investment decisions. Concerned this is a very weak part of my application.

- 1.5 years as management consultant in energy department for bronze-tier consulting firm with tech focus (think Quorum, Infosys, etc). Had projects on O&G supermajor & international government client, led offshore teams of 5-10 people on each project.

- Internship with NASA in R&D group as an undergrad. Worked with materials engineers to develop a prototype which was approved for further testing by management.

MBA goal: want to get MBA from top finance program to gain a formal finance education. Currently have very strong analytical skills stemming from engineering background but lack understanding of what makes a successful business tick, which I believe is of utmost importance for investment management. CFA curriculum has filled some of this gap, but is mainly focused on valuation. Also believe I need to improve soft skills to one day lead a team of analysts.

Post MBA goal: Junior PM or similar type role at major asset management firm, preferably one with fixed income focus (PIMCO/DoubleLine/TCW). Long-term goal is to become Chief Investment Officer of an AM firm.

Wharton is my top choice so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi all, I'm an Indian male (I know, I know) and I'm planning to apply in Round 2.

Age: just turned 25
GMAT: 750 (Q49/V42)
GPA: 3.5 equivalent from Tier 1 engg. college.
Work ex: 1 year of experience working in operations a large consumer goods company, followed by 2.5 years in product/marketing as the youngest founding member of a startup (now funded by tier 1 american VCs).
Goals: I am looking to transition into a PM/strategy role at a large consumer internet company, followed by entrepreneurship in India.

Extracurriculars: Co-founded 2 clubs in college and did lots of volunteer work. No volunteer work after graduation though.

Can you please share some feedback on my profile, my admission chances and what my approach should be to tackle the essay? Much thanks.

You really can set yourself apart in the application process just by knowing the school well- I review lots of applications for my clients and I can tell easily which ones are trying to "phone it in" so to speak.... and which ones really did the work to know the school and WHY it works for them and their future goals. So I encourage you to do a great job on this step! It is important and is also a place where counselors can really help to challenge you to do your best work. We'd be glad to discuss your profile in more depth- reach out to us for a free consult at this link:https://stratusadmissionscounseling.com/admissions/business-school-admissions-consulting-gmat-club-visitor/

Hispanic Male applying R2 this cycle
GPA: 3.3 in Anthropology from Top 10 US university (non-HYP)
GMAT: 710 (47Q/40V/8IR/6AWA) Only took GMAT once. During practice, scored 720-740 consistently, but always <47Q, so I am hesitant to take again.
W/E: 7 years at matriculation with all of my experience in sales & trading. Currently work in portfolio finance at an elite hedge fund with top name recognition. I have managed people every year after my first year post-graduation.
Activities outside of work:

1. For the four years post-graduation, I competed in a sport where I was ranked top 100 in the world (Olympic sport with little to no $$ it you aren't top 5-10).
2. My spouse and I are very active in an urban mentoring program and ended up fostering a child for two years that was part of that program.
3. In addition to mentoring, I coached a youth club for the same sport as above. Extremely successful.

Post-MBA: Investment banking

Any critiques are welcome!

This looks like a solid profile. As I'm sure you're aware, Wharton in particular tends to prefer higher GMATs, but I wouldn't advise retaking at this point if you're applying R2. Your W/E is good (hedge fund w/ name recognition is nice); S&T might not be preferred W/E across top schools, but for Wharton it works. Undergrad at Top 10 is great, I wouldn't worry about the 3.3, it's not really a pro or con. Other parts of your profile are unique too: athletic achievement in obscure sport (skeleton!?), coaching that sport, fostering kid.

If you were looking to apply R1 next year I would say take the GMAT again and shoot for 740, but for R2 this year I would say focus on your career goals pitch (why IB and why an MBA at Wharton will help).

Good luck!

Background and nationality: Indian, male
Undergrad Information: 3 year Business Administration (Private Uni - think Christ / Symbiosis / NMIMS), GPA: 3.37/4
GMAT: 760 (50/41/5/8)
Work experience and leadership: 6.5 years of Risk Consulting (Advisory) experience, with the last 2.5 in a big 4 (think EY/KPMG). 3 promotions overall, great quality of work-ex and leadership experiences. Currently in a team management role.
Community and others: Substantial, but it's on the go and domestic. As in, it has been very personal and not with an organization (genuine though!)
Post MBA goals: Top-tier consulting or bust.
Anything else?: I am just concerned whether this is application might end up being a futile effort because (i) Indian applicant pool (ii) Not so competitive UG brand / degree (iii) No McKinsey etc on the CV and (iv) No brand-name community/co-curricular work in addition to being Round 2. However, at this point I have done significant research on my goals and the school so the content in the essays is going to be on point.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Please find below my profile for evaluation. Highly appreciate for this great help.
Nationality: Indian; Male 27 yrs

Undergrad: Btech Civil, from 5th ranking National institute of Technology, with CGPA 9.15/10

Work experience: Employed in India's premium Oil &Gas Consultancy (a Public sector undertaking) since 2012 (work exp of 5 yrs)

The entire work exp can be broken down into 2 parts :
1. Construction site experience
a. Posted for 1 year at the esteemed site for Strategic storage of Crude oil (at Mangalore India) wherein facilities were being constructed to store crude in underground caverns. Job responsibilities included contract handling, site inspection (including inspection in underground rock caverns) , quality control, implementation of safety at site.
b. Posted for 1.5 years at a refinery expansion project ( Kochi, India) wherein entrusted with the civil structural works for the important Crude distillation unit of refinery. Job responsibilities included preparation of a green field site, handling of a contract amounting to 35 million USD which involved leading a team of 15 persons, site inspection, progress monitoring & expediting, material inspection within & outside site, billing ( completed billing of the value of 14 million USD) quality control.
2.Design office experience ( work exp 2.5 yrs , continued till date)
a. Leading a team of 6 persons ( for the civil portion) to provide EPCM services for the upcoming Refinery & Petrochemical project in Nigeria ( largest project in entire Africa) Job responsibilities include designing of underground facilities & utilities, preparation of drawings , imparting training to the Nigerian counterparts , progress monitoring, providing assistance to site construction engineers, constant interaction with client.
I don't have any on site International job experience.

GMAT: yet to be taken but targeting a score of 740 to 750

Extracurricular: Not much to show. Have received professional training in Harmonium ( completed 4 professional exams), actively performed in various cultural activities during schooling, during college my team was one among the top 3 teams of west India in the INSDAG competition( an all India competition for steel design)

Post MBA goal : I want to shift from Oil & gas industry ( as all countries are moving from oil towards more environmental friendly options) and enter into strategy consulting and have an inclination to enter into M&A roles ( would explain more efficiently while writing my essays)

Whether I would be fit for Wharton,Columbia or Kellogg?

Once again thank you for your help.