Columbia Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hi there, and thanks for writing! You've got some excellent academics and it looks like your career is off to a good start. To strengthen your profile between graduation and when you apply, get involved in a meaningful extracurricular or two (preferably in a leadership capacity if time allows), build strong relationships with your supervisors and other mentors (who may be your recommenders one day) and start researching the programs to see which ones are the strongest fit and what to communicate in the applications to show your fit. While at work, when opportunities arise, go beyond your job description to identify and address opportunities for process improvement, and after your first year step up to train incoming analysts/mentor new hires, as this will show leadership and initiative.

Hope this helps for now - feel free to sign up for a free consultation with mbaMission in a couple of years to talk about your profile in detail!

Hi there, and thanks for writing! You have an intriguing background, progressive work experience, and good outside involvement. I'm glad you're planning to take the GMAT again, as a 700+ for CBS and other top schools is important. To make sure you have a strong application, aside from the GMAT make sure that you fully communicate on your resume your professional/personal impact, be clear in your essays about what drives your career goals (in addition to what they are) and make a strong case for why CBS is a strong fit for you. If you do those things, while CBS is very competitive it won't be out of reach for you. Hope that helps! If you'd like to discuss further, I recommend setting up a free consultation with mbaMission - happy to chat!

Hi there, and thanks for writing! You have very strong academics (assuming GMAT goes as expected), work experience at a good firm, and a track record of solid extracurricular involvement, which makes you a good candidate for the top schools. Regarding strengthening your profile before you apply - if you're able to take on a leadership role in your current volunteer involvement, that would be ideal. Aside from that, start building relationships with potential recommenders now, and start thoroughly researching CBS and all other programs so that you can communicate your fit in your applications. Check out this article for more tips on how to get a good head start on the application process: https://poetsandquants.com/2017/05/30/fi ... an-do-now/

Hope that helps! If you'd like to discuss further, I recommend signing up for a free consultation here: https://www.mbamission.com/consult/?dis ... admissions

I am applying to columbia in the next few months (R2). please let me know what you guys think!

Background and nationality: Singaporean Male, age 29 (will be 30 when I join the MBA)
Undergrad Information: Singapore Management University (majored in Quantitative Finance, GPA 3.0, my class only had 30 people out of the 2k+ that were in my school, so the average GPA was between 2.9-3.1)

GMAT: 650

Work experience and leadership (total 4 years now, will be 5 by the time i join):
1) worked as an algo-trader at a tier 1 investment bank in singapore
2) currently working at a mexican startup (in mexico), where i'm head of all securitizations and strategic planning. have raised USD 90 mm so far for the company (making us the most well funded startup in mexico). led one of the first asset purchase programs in Latin American history between an international bank and a start up. work constantly with top tier VCs for funding + day to day operations. only finance person in the company that programs

Community and others:
- spent 2 years in the singapore army (was a 1st lieutenant in the army). ran local and overseas missions, had a platoon of 50 men under me.
- am a semi-professional standup comedian. have performed in 3 different countries (including laugh factory in LA). have opened for several top comedians in mexico. one of the few to do standup in both spanish and english


Post MBA goals
- want to shift to consulting/IBD. relates closely with my current job of solving problems/helping w funding. with the MBA, I'd want to scale these responsibilities.

Anything else?
I'm trilingual. English, Hindi and Spanish all at professional working capacity/native fluency

Hi there, and thanks for writing! You have some intriguing work experience and great extracurricular involvement. CBS is very competitive (especially the later you apply) so a 700+ GMAT will be essential, especially given your GPA (average GPA of admitted CBS students is about 3.5, though the rigor of the major and institution certainly are considered). In your application, you'll want to make it very clear what drives your post-MBA goals and how you'll take advantage of being in NYC to grow professionally and personally.

Hope that helps! If you'd like to discuss further, I recommend signing up for a free 30-min consultation with me here: https://www.mbamission.com/consult/?dis ... admissions

Hi, Can someone please analyse my profile for Columbia. Im not too familiar with US schools' requirements and would like to know if I stand a chance on applying.
Thanks in advance!

Background and nationality: Pakistani Female, 29, grew up in the UK and KSA
Undergrad Information: Medical Doctor, from leading national university.
GMAT: 680 (Q42, V40, IR 8)
Work experience and leadership:
2 years in clinical training (fellowship) Pakistan
1 year in clinical training Saudia Arabia
1 year as a hospital administrator/ general manager of 20 bedded semi-urban hospital
2 years at Swiss MNC (working here currently), launched the first nationwide tele-medicine network in
Pakistan.
Manage a team of 12 doctors. The network provides medical services to over a million patients,
Went to Indonesia and Cambodia to launch markets there.

Have done an executive education course (Healthcare and Innovation) at INSEAD
I'm an Acumen Regional Fellow for Pakistan. Acumen is a leading impact investment fund.
I was previously a World Bank Fellow (a program focused on developing women in business)


Community and others:
Im founding member of an NGO that provides vocational training to illiterate low income women so they can become micro-entrepreneurs. We have trained over 200 women in remote areas.


Post MBA goals: Consulting for some time. Then industry job that merges insurance and healthcare
Anything else?
Speak 3 languages. Been living in about 5 countries.
Published articles in leading national journals

Hi,

Can you please review my profile and suggest me some insights? Its urgent so a quick response is appreciated.

26 year Indian Male

Undergraduate

B.Tech. in Industrial Engineering. Non IIT/Non NIT.
First Class with Distinction. 79% - Academic Excellence Award. Top 3 in class of 75.
Student Clubs and Activities: Entrepreneurship Club, Alumni Co-ordinator, First Team Basketball Player for my university, Best Athlete in inter-university athletics meet.

Additional Certifications

CFA, USA - Cleared all three levels in first attempt with more than 90th percentile in level 3 exam
National Institute of Securities Market - Certified Research Analyst with specialization in Financial Markets

GMAT:

710 ( Q50, V35, IR8). This is second attempt. Earlier was 690. I scored 770 and 760 in Mocks leading upto the exam. Super disappointed with current score. Thoughts?

Work Experience:

Total 4 years.

June'18 - Current - Assistant Manager at Citi - Role is mixture of Business Finance and Data Analytics.
Fastest Promotion (even before the mandatory 18 month rule at Citi - Top rated Employee)
Forecasted financials of North America Credit Card Portfolio worth ~$2 Billion in Annual Revenue
Optimized investment decisions and Promotional offers to reduce promo balance by $1.5 Billion
Reengineered quarterly Marketing Budget Optimization to allocate ~$240MM budget effectively
Involved in multiple activities that can reflect leadership potential - Reverse Mentoring ( Mentoring SVPs and Directors), HR Analytics (Helping HR team better plan Learning and development strategy)

Jan'17 -May'18 - Senior Analyst at Citi in Data Science - Marketing Analytics
Redefined Direct Mail Targeting Strategy to increase acquisition by 30% and EBIT by $6 Million
Developed Business case for a new Credit Card product that is currently live in US Market
Implemented and leveraged insights from Actuals vs Forecast to improve Forecasting accuracy by 15%
Recognized as ‘Superstar’ in Q4’2017 for driving cross team collaboration
Awarded ‘Quarterly Excellence Award’ at all India level in Q3’17 for Innovation and Automation

Nov'16 - Dec'17 - Quant Analyst - Mu Sigma
(World’s largest provider of analytics and data science solutions) - Solving Problems for multiple Fortune 500 clients. Significant client exposure.
Realized incremental revenue of ~$200 M through improved cross-selling for a Fortune 100 Tech giant
Reduced fraud by 20% to improve CSAT from Neutral to Satisfied for Fotune 300 e-commerce giant
Reduced Inventory pileup by 8% for world’s 10th largest steel manufacturer by predictive modeling
Developed Data Science implementation roadmap for 3 Fortune 500 companies

Post MBA Goals:

Lead Data Analytics and Data Science Teams at Fortune 500 (Banking preferred). Explore possibilities of leveraging Data Science in PE/IB to value companies.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR

Sports: National Level Basketball Player, Best Athlete in inter-college Atheltics meet.
Interests: Organizing 15-30-45 day meditation retreats and sessions, Certified Yoga Instructor
Volunteer Experience: NIWCYD (Microfinance) - Developed bank linkages & Financial management guidelines for self-help groups. MAD (Make a Difference) - Training soft skills and English to underprivileged children of my city
Online Courses: Quant Modeling & Accounting (Wharton), Business Metrics for Data Driven Companies (Duke), Analytics Edge (MIT)

My target schools are Booth,Tuck, Stern, Insead, Anderson, Tepper, Haas, LBS, CBS, and Johnson. I understand some of these schools are over ambitious.

Questions:

1) Do I have realistic chance for any school? OR we can only talk after a GMAT of 740 for each of these schools?
2) Am I missing any school that would be a better fit given my profile?
3) Would Adcoms consider this a typical Indian Male Engineer profile or this profile stands out?
4) Should I apply with this profile?
5) I have Application fee waivers from Rice, UNC and USC Marshall. Should i apply there as a backup/practice or it will be just waste of time and energy?

Hey!

Background: Ecuadorian/ American (born and raised in Ecuador)
Undergrad: 3.69 GPA Indiana University Finance
Graduate: 3.5 WUSTL Ms Quant Finance
Work Experience: S&T Intern at Barclays, FI Research for a year at Morgan Stanley, two years PE in Ecuador.
GMAT: 640 ( I will improve it to around 700)
Community: Volunteer for NGO in Ecuador, founder of Earthqueke victim relief organization.
Awards: Ecua gov recognition, Morgan Stanley Richard B Fisher Scholar, Associate Scholar WUSTL
Post-MBA: World Bank/IMF -> political career in Ecuador

I am targeting H/S/W, Columbia, MIT, Yale.
Thanks for the feedback!!!

Posted from my mobile device

Can any Samaritarian evaluate my profile?

Background and nationality: Indian, Male, 27 years
Undergrad Information: Bachelor in Chemical Engineer from Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, Gujarat, India
GPA: 3.98
GMAT: 690 ( Q49, V35)
Achievements:
Awarded gold medal for achieving highest aggregate score throughout Engineering
Awarded gold medal for achieving highest score in Elective subjects ( Petroleum and Peteochemical subjects) throughout Engineering
Awarded gold medal for achieving highest aggregate score in 3rd and 4th year of Engineering
Awarded Silver medal at State level for achieving highest aggregate score in Chemical Engineering
Earned Recognition from Ramkrishna Mission Vivekananda Memorial for achieving all the above listed gold medal
Co-founder of NGO called Vadodara Toastmasters Club
Served as an Excom at Vadodara Toastmasters Club
Earned Recognition as a Competent Leader by Toastmasters International
Earned several awards as a Best Speaker and as a Participate for supporting the Toastmasters Event
Secured Most Innovative and 2nd Position in Chem car competition at Azeotropy'13 at IIT Bombay
Secured 3rd position at University level Chess Tournament
Served as an Excom at the University Department level activities
Actively participated in several Technical and non technical activities held at University level
Active member of Defunct local NGO of stray dogs.
Actively carrying out social services for the stray animals from home
Work Experience:
Acting as Senior Executive Engineer at Linde (5.5 years)
Worked in Munich, Germany for 3 months
Lead a project in South Africa for 2 months
Currently acting as a Lead for 10 billion Euro Ethylene Complex
Post MBA goals - short term (Member of Senior Management Team of a Chemical Firm); long term (become CEO / MD of Chemical firm+ start-up an NGO for bringing awareness for the Environmental problems faced by the world + open a plastic recycling plant)
Hobbies: Observing the social behaviour of Wildlife, reading Washington Post

Regards
Daivat Buch

Posted from my mobile device

Hi there - for CBS, I'd aim for 730+ GMAT because of its competitiveness (which increases later into the admissions season). It looks like you have some great community involvement and awards. While CBS is extremely competitive, your chances will be best if you've had good progression at work and can secure excellent recommenders, fully convey your professional and personal impact on your resume, and make a strong case for Why CBS in your application.

Hi there - it looks like you have a great GPA and collegiate/post-collegiate extracurricular involvement. You've also had good international work experience (which helps) though it's tough for me to gauge your impact and progression from the limited info you've provided. Given CBS' extreme competitiveness (especially for Indian applicants) a 730+ on the GMAT is necessary, and you'll also need to make a strong case for why CBS and what drives your post-MBA goals. Hope that helps a bit!

Hi NishaT,
I really appreciate your time and feedback.
I will follow your recommendations.
Regards
Daivat

Background and nationality 31/M/White (US - NY, NY)

Undergrad Information: US Top 30 US News & World Report - Econ/Drama (3.80 GPA - Phi Beta Kappa)

GMAT: 730

Work experience and leadership: Currently working in the finance department for America's oldest professional theatre company. We also own a plurality of the Broadway theaters. Specifically, I work in the division that handles group and business-to-business discount ticket sales.

My current title is junior accountant. Primary responsibilities include:
-Own the entire aging process for ~50 b2b AR clients, totaling ~$1.1 million in monthly sales
-Manage and resolve any discrepancies related to commission income (~$150K/week) for all Broadway/off-Broadway ticket sales
-Reconcile internal reports against 3rd party ticketing system and advise accounting department regarding coding for ~$650K in weekly sales
-Coordinated with the operations manager to redesign the entire reconciliation process, reducing the time taken to get reports to accounting by two full business days.

Additionally, my recommenders will be able to speak to the stability I brought to my current position, including establishing new reconciliation schedules and checks and balances procedures. The department was being restructured during my hiring, and I had 4 supervisors over the span of ~2 years.


Community and others:
Various service projects with NYC alumni group
Independently learning python for data science (put on hold due to GMAT retake)
Improv student
Beginner rock climber & active member of local recreational sports league
Won an acting award for my performance in a friend's submission to a playwriting festival
Academic interests in behavioral psychology/behavioral economics

Post MBA goals:
Insights, marketing, and strategy in the media/entertainment/tech. I want to blend my interests in behavior and decision sciences with my skills in storytelling to help guide businesses to better meet consumers needs.

Intake Year: 2019

Pre-MBA Career: Public Relations and Communications
Post-MBA Career: Consumer Goods (Marketing and Brand Management)
GMAT: 710
GPA: 3.3
Years of Work Experience: 2

Notes: My GMAT score breakdown is: (710- Q: 49 and V: 38).

A brief on my background: I have worked for two years in a top-notch international PR and Communications agency (post my under-grad) in Mumbai and served a plethora of MNCs and large scale conglomerates across corporate and consumer verticals in those two years. I was among the youngest people at the agency and was promoted within a year of working there. I have also actively helped in crisis and reputation management for one of the largest corporate crisis in India during my stint at the agency, and truly believe that my quality of work experience has been great over the past two years.

I specialised in PR during my undergrad and carried out five internships successfully during the same time. Three at non-profit organizations and two at industry-specific agencies. Through school, college and work, I have always taken up roles of responsibility and leadership, actively looked out for and asked for opportunities and always showcased the urge to learn.

Additionally, I have always actively participated in extra-curriculars at school and college and performed extremely well academically. I would like to do an MBA with a major in marketing, from a top B-school in the US specifically, so as to add to my experience of PR and communications and achieve concentric growth around my core competencies. Furthermore, coming from a advertising and PR background, I have a fair understanding of the changing communication landscape and would like to deep dive into understanding brand management, disruptive marketing and ways to break through the current clutter to create an impact or spearhead behavioural change.

That aside, in the long run I would like to join the C-suite of an MNC, lead from the forefront and create a lasting impact on the society using my position. However, to get there, I do believe that it is important for me to venture out into relatively new territories for me, i.e. finance, accounting, sustainability, micro-economics and macroeconomics among the others. Hence the MBA.

Furthermore, why the MBA now? Well, because I want to make the switch from the agency side to the corporate side now, and no better way to bridge the gap than do an MBA that would provide me with a holistic understanding of the other side, before I step into it.

Starting today, I have about 50 days till the round 2 deadline to get my essays in place. Does Kellogg seem like a good option and what are my chances basis my profile? It is my dream B-school after all!

Hi All

I would like some help with profile evaluation for Columbia.

Background - Indian Female 25
WE- 5 years
Undergraduation- BBA from India's premier school. 3.7 CGPA
Grew up and working in the middle east
GMAt - 720

Pre MBA Career - Technology Start-up
Journey-
Started career in sales in a relatively new food tech start up in Doha, received an expedited promotion to senior sales manager where I had the opportunity to mentor new grads. Evolved into a team lead for about a year.

My then manager branched out to open a company of his own for which I joined as head of city operations. Set up the team, helped build sales processes and operations -but due to lack of investor support it wound up operations in about 8 months.

I joined my previous employer as an executive assistant to the Regional Director which had me involved in all regional operations budgeting forecasting etc and as the eyes ears for the RD. Evolved into the Manager of Special Projects and Operations

Have worked on product launches, developmental projects, marketing initiatives, user growth and retention projects etc. Projects usually span across different functions ans geographies. Theyve also required me to run teams of various experience levels and sizes.


Extra curricular- Heavily involved in extra curricular activities in University. Post that have had sporadic stints of social engagementusually in teaching workers or special needs children

Post MBA - Consulting / Tech - Amazon or Google.

What is the forums opinion on the profile ? how should I be tackling the application? Is mid - December too late to submit the application.

Posted from my mobile device

Hello KK1029

Work experience shows potential- with international exposure and direct impact on business.
The GMAT though good may not be very competitive for the likes of Columbia (considering the Indian background).
Extracurricular activities too, seem to lack recency (keep in mind that school/university activities do no carry much weight unless you have achieved something spectacular)
Not sure how your career goals tie in with your past experience/skills and an MBA at Columbia. Your narrative will have to present the same.

Best
Varun Sharma
+919137133507
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
info@mbakarma.com

Hi all! Do I stand a chance at CBS?

Background and nationality: White female

Undergrad Information: Univ. of Notre Dame, BS in Mechanical Engineering (GPA 3.2)

GMAT: 720 (Q47, V41)

Work experience and leadership:
- Product Development Engineer at Fortune 10 consumer products (manufacturing/tech.) company - 3 years;
- Co-Leading (and worked with upper management to establish) professional development/social network program for young professionals within the company

Community and others:
- Volunteering with underprivileged kids in inner-city
- Church involvement
- Hobbies: Running, Downhill Snow Skiing

Post MBA goals:
- Rise to senior management in tech. industry; involvement with Business Strategy

Anything else?
- Essays should be very strong
- Letters of recommendation likely above-average strength