Welcome to Ask mbaMission

Hi srishti201996
Thanks for getting in touch! To be fair, we focus more on MBA applicants than Masters of Management applicants but it still sounds like you have some good things going for you. I do worry that your GMAT is on the lower side for your demographic. If you've only taken the exam once, for the best shot at this process, I recommend taking the exam again and trying to get yourself up over 700. Look at the average GMAT scores for the MiM programs you are interested in, and then add at least 30 points to get to the score you want to target.
Also, for your goals, definitely flesh them out a bit. Start your own business doing what? Make sure that's clear to the AdComs. You should also look at their employment reports and understand what typical career paths look like. If entrepreneurship isn't a big feature of the program, you may want to make that more a long-term goal and go with something the school is well-positioned to help you with in the short-term.
I hope that helps!
Krista

Hi Apawar91
Thanks for getting in touch. This can be a tough process and your demographic is very competitive in two ways: Indian engineer by degree and then banker by profession. To be successful and stand out, I'd really want to see 750+. (Get a private tutor to just work on what YOU need. Also, while the AWA isn't likely the reason you were dinged, the 4 is a bit of a red-flag to me and makes me wonder what your essays looked like so please try to get that score up too.) It can also be challenging to crack some schools without IIT on your CV, but obviously there's not much you can change there. I do think you'd be a more interesting applicant if you were London-based. Not many people get selected for an international transfer, so if GS is offering that to you, it says a lot about you. (Although I am a little worried about 3 banks in 3 years.) Non-profit is hard to comment on without knowing more, and at this stage, you'd only have about 6 months there before applying to b-school and you've already switched employers three times...so staying put is my gut reaction, but opting for the international transfer if you can swing it.

For your reapplications, I highly recommend getting everything in in R1. Also, look around at GS and any recent former colleagues who have gotten into top b-schools. Where have they gone? What did their profiles look like? What were their stats? Who wrote their recs? Gathering this information will give you more insight into what might be possible.

I also recommend a much broader swath of schools and I would encourage you to think beyond the M7, especially if you can't break 730 on the GMAT. I know that may not be what you want to do, but this is a highly competitive process and there are no shortage of male investment bankers applying, particularly ones educated in India.

Krista

Hi!! Can you please evaluate my profile?

Indian Male
Class 10 : 95.6%
Class 12 : 95.2%
UnderGrad(2015) : 8.25/10
GMAT : 660(Q-43;V-38)
Planning to apply for 2019 intake.

Work Experience:
1. 24 months - a leading IT service provider; currently part of a 3 member team.
2. A couple of months in a state owned enterprise.

Have organized a number of events in college; involved in the complete build-up of events right from brainstorming names for the event to distribution of awards. Also have designed posters, banners and certificates as part of the events.
Community service : Few and far between; but planning on improving on this in the days to come.

I am planning on making a switch to a marketing career, specifically in the consumer goods sector and I feel that an MBA would help my cause. I plan on taking up the GMAT one more time. What are my chances of being admitted into some of the top(top 20 -30) programs.
Also would it be beneficial if I get some part time(say internship) experience in the marketing domain before I start my MBA? Or would an internship after a few years of full-time work be considered a negative?

Hi Pr93sath!

Yes, I agree that an MBA would help you make a switch to marketing. We have seen some applicants do "pre-MBA internships" so if this is something you can arrange and you can explain it as an intentional move to gain transferable skills, I think it is an option worth considering. Alternatively, if there's any way to gain exposure to marketing activities or the marketing function at your current company, that could work too (cross-functional projects? inter-department committees? job shadowing?).

Otherwise, I agree that GMAT and boosting your extracurriculars, in particular your leadership, are the right focus areas. I think you really need a score above 700 to be targeting schools in the 20-30 range. Your quant score in particular needs improving.

Best of luck!
Kate

Hi
I already have an MBA from a reputed B school in India, does that mean that Ivy League universities and schools like INSEAD will not prefer me as a candidate?

Hi
I already have an MBA from a reputed B school in India, does that mean that Ivy League universities and schools like INSEAD will not prefer me as a candidate?

Hi, Surajkumar0969589!
You sound like you have some really interesting experience! You demonstrate resilience (failed startup and second, more successful attempt) and have posted strong performance and growth of your venture. International work experience is definitely helpful too. I'm a little unclear on what you mean by 3 years of full time work experience when it sounds like you started your newer company at age 20 while at school. Do you mean you started it in college and then continued it for an additional 3 years after graduating, or that you started it at 20 while in school and now have been doing it for 3 years, thus you are 23? Depending on your answer there, schools may want you to wait a bit longer - 23 is young for the programs you've named.

I also think your goals are a bit vague. Top schools will be looking for real clarity from you and a specific path, both short term and long term, after graduation. You've already started your own startup (twice!), how exactly will an MBA at these schools help you with your plans? Leadership exposure and learning about MNCs are fine ideas, but try to be more specific about which leaders, which MNCs, why and how these lessons will help you in your next venture. Also, what will happen to your business while at school? Is it still operating? The schools will need to understand more about what your plans are and where you're going.

As for your extracurriculars, you are smart to be thinking about that aspect of your application. The top programs definitely look at your profile holistically and seek candidates who are active in their communities in some way as a proxy for what they might contribute on campus and beyond. Some of the activities you listed sound like they are from your university experience or maybe even earlier, are others more recent? If you don't have anything recent, try to get involved in something substantial soon. Participation is good; leadership is better. Perhaps you can connect it to one of your earlier endeavors to create a longer story of involvement?

Those are the major questions I have about your candidacy. The programs you're targeting are highly selective and attract a large number of intelligent, high GMAT Indian applicants, so you'll have to go beyond your (solid) grades and (very good!) GMAT score to demonstrate some of the other things they are seeking like maturity, direction, community involvement and strong fit with their specific programs. I hope this helps! Thanks very much for posting.

_________________
Julie-Anne Heafey
Senior Consultant
mbaMission

Hi, raghavraisingla! INSEAD and many top US MBA programs will consider your application (with some exceptions- Dartmouth/Tuck, for example, will not consider applicants who already have an MBA) but they will all have questions about why you need their MBA on top of what you already have. Also, as always, it will depend on what else you submit in your application - your academic performance, your GMAT score, your work experience and leadership, your extracurricular activities, the strength of your essays and fit with their programs.

If you would like to go over your profile in detail, please set up a free consultation with one of us through the mbaMission web site, and we'll be happy to give more targeted advice. Thanks for posting!

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Julie-Anne Heafey
Senior Consultant
mbaMission

Hi,
I'm in quite the dilemma and wondering if you guys can help me make a decision I won't regret. I am a black (African) female looking at M7 schools. I have a 3.4 GPA from a liberal arts college (top 20). I majored in Economics and minored in Mathematics. I recently took the GMAT and scored 730. My work experience has been in wealth management in top wealth management firm and now working with my family business back home in an African Country. I recently applied to HBX Core to strengthen my profile. Now 'm rethinking my decision to partake in the program. I would rather use the funds to take a trip to each of the schools I want to apply to to help me make a more informed decision as to where to finally go to. With this background I have given you, do you think I should forgo the HBX core program or do you think I will benefit a great deal from taking it?

m

Hi Guys,

Would appreciate if an expert can evaluate my profile:

-Indian with 3 years of Work Ex after 3 years of undergraduate BBA from Tier 2 University with 2.9 GPA (screwed up my first year, but had 3.4 and 3 in the subsequent years).
-Have worked with two startups with one of them being the biggest in the food delivery sector and was in their first batch of employees straight out of college, thus worked in various divisions and set up the hygiene that followed. Managed teams and was responsible for service delivery.
-Currently working with a retail management consulting company in managing their client accounts and developing business.
-Still need to take my GMAT, good extra curricular activities in college. Raised money for NGOs and worked with a local NGO to support, grow and preserve our city's green cover (all in college)
-Already applied for PR for Canada, hence want to settle there for sure.
-Looking to apply for Rotman, Schulich, Ivey, Queens and Degroote (co-op)

Any help regarding what more can I do to enhance my profile for these colleges, what should be my target score would be much appreciated.

Hi Sk06011994! That is a tough call. First, I think your profile and work experience is very unique, and brings a huge amount of diversity to any M7 class (not just because of the experience in Africa, but also because of your family business experience). Your academic stats (GPA/GMAT) are really strong too. Plus you majored in quant-demanding fields and worked in wealth management, so I don't think your academic abilities will be questioned. The HBX program is highly regarded and helps to show you are serious about prepping for business school, so doing it can't hurt. But to answer your question, had you come to me requesting a profile review earlier, I don't think I would have suggested HBX for you, as I just don't see a huge need to boost your academic profile.

Only potential downside of not doing HBX, if you are planning to apply to Harvard, is could it look like you lack follow-through or commitment if you withdraw now? I'm not sure, but might have a slight worry about that, only for Harvard of course.

I very much support visiting schools, ideally before you apply, but then again it's a much bigger investment for you coming from Africa, so I don't think schools will really expect you to visit, if that makes sense. I would first investigate how much of this research/networking you can do from afar, like are any of your target schools doing international info sessions? Or are there alums of your target schools in your country that you could meet with? Can you set up phone conversations with current students? You could still get a feel that way, and then plan to visit after acceptances to make your final decision.

Hope this helps!
Kate

Hi stideshighdives - Interesting scores!

What I would do is submit your 710 as your official score. It is the highest overall so that should be your "primary" score. But then I would not cancel your 660, so that the higher Quant still shows on your score report. And I would also write an Optional Essay just to show self awareness that you know your submitted Quant score is not high, but that you did achieve a 48 on a prior test. You could also point out any Quant courses you've taken, or Quant responsibilities you have on the job, in that essay too. I think that will help mitigate most of their concern.

I think the final option worth considering is giving the test one more shot! I know you're probably burnt out, but perhaps with minimal studying you could combine that 48Q and 42V. Depends a bit on which schools you're targeting, and other aspects of your profile, but you clearly are capable of a higher overall score!

Best of luck,
Kate

Hi there leonidas56!

Thanks for reaching out to us. The main challenge I see is your GPA, though the upward trend is very helpful. You will likely want to write an optional essay explaining what happened, and more importantly what you learned. GMAT is very important for you. With that list of schools, I would normally target in the mid to high 600s (Rotman's average is 665 as a point of reference), but in your case, I think you need to exceed the average GMAT, so I would aim for the 690-700 range. That will help mitigate the GPA concern.

Otherwise I think your work with two startups, and in a growing sector, will be valued and seen very positively by the schools. It sounds like you should have lots of strong work accomplishments including managing small teams.

Only other possible enhancement is that if all of your extra curriculars were in college, that area could be seen as weak currently. Could you restart your involvement with the local NGO or start volunteering for a similar organization?

Best of luck!
Kate

Hi All,

It would be great if someone could evaluate my profile.

I am a 26 year old Indian female with computer science engineering background with exposure in various sectors (education,public health and technology)

I am looking for admissions in ISB, IMD, IE, Asian MBA Colleges and also integrated MPA-MBA programs.

GMAT

Quantitative - 49 -75 percentile
Verbal-35- 76 percentile
AWA-5/6
IR-2/8

Overall Gmat score-690

Work experience

[*]Engineering graduate from Cochin University( CUSAT) specialized in Computer Science.
[*]Total of 5 years of work experience of technology in Banking and Finance domain from Tata Consulting Services(TCS), technology consulting in Public Health in an international health policy consulting company and Fellowship in Teach for India
[*]Presently working as a Fellow with Teach for India in an underprivileged low in come school as a service to society and understanding grass root level problems of society

Work experience in TCS
[*]Client Servicing
[*]Service Delivery
[*]Stake Holder Management
[*]Vendor Management
[*]Quality Analysis
[*]Business Analysis

Work experience in public health
[*]Worked closely with a national government body of India for an initial assessment study of an online integrated data centric system. Undertook quantitative and qualitative assessments for the same.

[*]Currently working as a Teach for India fellow in an underprivileged low income school. Took initiative of many technology driven projects to assess impact of education in technology.

Request to kindly evaluate my profile
mbaMission

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Hi there!

I think your background is really strong, especially with the exposure across sectors, experience at a well known consultancy, and the fellowship too. Depending on how strong your GPA is, I do worry a bit about your GMAT, and would really love to see you at or above that 700 mark. Your section scores are good, except for IR, so if possible I think it would be worth retaking to see if you can score higher. Otherwise I think those schools seem reasonable and you have a lot to offer!

Best of luck
Kate

Hi,
Can some one suggest me, if I take my gmat exam at dec end of 2018, will I be able to attend for round2 in January 2019?

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