Welcome to Ask mbaMission

I see most schools want two referees who know you in a professional capacity.

What would be a better choice?

A) Colleague whom you have worked extensively and a current supervisor?

B) Colleague whom you have worked extensively and a former supervisor?

Hi there,
Yes that's correct that they prefer professional references. I would go with Option A. Schools also typically have a preference to see one of the two be your current supervisor, and if you don't have one from your current supervisor, you'd need to explain why.
Hope this helps!
Kate


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Hi, would like an evaluation of profile strength, and prospective schools I should target among the top B schools.

GMAT : 710, 46Q 40V
Age: 25 yrs
UG: BE Mechanical 3.59/4 cgpa, Final year project with country's space agency related to rocket design, Conference paper on the design
Work Experience: 2 years, majorly in oil and gas sector, Currently Team Lead Mechanical, with additional roles as HoD Procurement and Warehousing leading around 10 people. Experience involves commissioning of a plant and a takeover of another plant as a key member of Projects team of around 30 people.
Nationality: Pakistani
short term goals: Switching to management consulting
Voluntary work: teaching underprivileged children at a school for free seeing that the root cause of many problems in m country is illeiteracy and a lack of exposure

Thanks a lot in advance

With regards to Option A - Is it ok if I have two references from the same organisation?

Yes, that's completely fine. I've seen many applicants with two references from the same org, especially if you've been there awhile. You should, however, guide those two recommenders to try to highlight slightly different strengths/accomplishments, just so the two letters are not too repetitive.

Kate


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Hello.

I would like a quick profile glance and help me determine my position. My profile roughly looks like-

BBA (Marketing) - 8.0 CGPA
12th (PCM) - 78%
Work Ex- Back End Office Associate since this month
IELTS- 9
GMAT- 753 (AWA is perfect 6)
Certifications- Digital Marketing , Front End Web Development (ongoing), French A2 levels, Fluent in German


I'm aiming realistically for MiM courses right now (preferably Europe)
for next year intakes.But would appreciate sone guidelines about enhancing my profile for MBA (if I plan on for 2020 intake).

Thank You

Posted from my mobile device

Hello. I want to know if the MiM programmes are apt for me or not. I've Bachelor's of 3 years in Marketing and a score of 7.79 CGPA. I had planned for MBA from India, but CAT didn't go well, therefore my last few months don't involve any office experience. I currently too don't work and have been employed with blogging, NIIT courses in finance (hence my inclination towards that) and content writing internships. I wish to apply this year itself by Aug. So, am I the right candidate or a REAL office experience is required? I really need some help!

Posted from my mobile device

Hi,

Received interview invitation from Booth! Need help with the following pre-interview essays. Only one essay from each group is to be answered and the word limit is 250.

Group A
What is the biggest difference you can make?
What motivates you?
What is something you’d like to start doing and something to stop doing?

Group B
What are you most excited to share when you meet someone new?
What is the boldest thing you have ever done?
What would your childhood self tell the present you?

Thanks in advance.

I have a question regarding career goals stated to schools. If you are an applicant with lower GMAT and you claim you want to get into consulting (with a solid work experience background which aligns with consulting), will schools ding you simply because they are not sure if you can get into certain consulting firms? Or do they not make those type of judgement? Assume consulting is a logical step but simply asking if schools might not want to take you because they arent sure of your viability to get into consulting based on exams

Hi kshimangani. Just noticed this post so it may be later than what you need. I think it's a little hard to say from the below what your chances are without knowing what your plan is, what your work experience was (industry, company, where?), etc. And what program did you have in mind?

For MBA programs in 2020 intake (that means applying this coming year), top programs, at least in the US, will be looking for more work experience than what you're describing below. I'm assuming you're a graduate this year and that's why you're looking at MIM programs, but I'm not sure if that's the case. Successful applicants to the top programs generally have 4-5 years minimum of work experience at matriculation. If you're talking about programs somewhere else, however, that may be different (and depends on tier).

If you still need help and want to go into more details about your situation, one of us would be happy to help!

EDITED TO ADD: Hang on, now I see another post from you with a little bit of conflicting data and some more color
- Here, it looks like you DON'T have work experience - that's definitely a dealbreaker for MBA programs. For the MIM programs, I'm not a big expert on all the different programs -we mostly focus on the MBA (though we do help folks who have decided on MIM programs with applications sometimes) - but from what I understand, this varies - some require proper work experience - maybe a 3 month internship or something - and some don't. Depends! Look up the programs you're considering and see what they advise.

Wishing you the best of luck!
Julie-Anne

Julie-Anne Heafey
Senior Consultant
mbaMission


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Hi aaa2007,

Congrats on your interview invitation!

Just seeing this now, and the deadline's coming up, but I recommend that you use these essays to try to show another side of yourself and give them information they don't already have. Otherwise, it seems like a missed opportunity to help them get to know you better (which is I think what these questions are designed to do). You can either go with the questions that most speak to you and answer sincerely (the natural approach) - or if you have some particularly unique things about yourself that you want to communicate, you can reverse engineer them into the questions. I think either way could work. I would suggest too that if your other essays were very work related, you might show more of your personal side and motivations here.

Best of luck!

Julie-Anne

Julie-Anne Heafey
Senior Consultant
mbaMission


_________________

Hi woody93!

Well, it's a little hard to say without more detail, but in general, sure, the schools will look with whether they believe your career goals are generally feasible or not. Your info below is a little vague though, so it's hard to tell. I mean - what KIND of consulting, what kind of work experience, what consulting firm (and what office), what school are you talking about and how low is this GMAT?

But really, you may be overthinking this - the schools will look at your application holistically and probably not deciding to admit you or not only based on that but on a host of factors. I think the bigger GMAT related question here is - if you're worried about it, how close is your GMAT to this school's average?

I'm happy to talk it over with you (or you can reach out to one of the other great consultants on our team) if you want to call for a free consultation at https://www.mbamission.com/consult/

Best of luck!

Julie-Anne

Julie-Anne Heafey
Senior Consultant
mbaMission


_________________

Hi, would like an evaluation of profile strength, and prospective schools I should target among the top B schools.

GMAT: Yet to take, but targetting 750
Age: 27 yrs
UG: Bachelors in commerce - very low gpa (probably converts to 2.0 to 2.5). I was working full time (40hrs a week) as an Audit assistant during my undergrad degree. I believe I can offset this with high GMAT score and also with quant heavy work experience. I am also willing to do a course through coursera or mbamath to prove my quantitative skills

Other professional qualification - Chartered Accountant (equivalent to CPA US) and CFA exams cleared (charter is pending)

Work Experience:
2 years at an Audit firm in chennai as an audit assistant.

1yr as an equity research analyst for a small company (50 employees) in Hyd, covering multiple sectors. Streamlined weekly newsletter with stock suggestions that is sent to all our clients. Initiated mutual fund advisory to our existing clients.

1yr as an equity research analyst at CRISIL Pune (S&P global company) supporting a global research client covering Asia Pacific Telecom. Assisted in the launch of coverage of a new company. Obtained an award within 3 months for integrating seamlessly with the client.

Nationality: Indian

short term goals: Stick to equity research but become an Analyst at a company such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, etc
Long term goal: to become a fund manager

Voluntary work: nothing substantial

I am looking to apply in 2019-20 admission cycle (hopefully in the first deadline) to Stern, Cornell, Columbia. Please let me know what are my chances and which other schools I should target based on my profile and goals. Thanks a lot in advance

Hi MBAMission,

I was admitted to a top 20 full-time US MBA program and I am hoping to do consulting for Big 4 or perhaps small niche consulting firms (Huron, LEK, ZS etx..)My question is my GRE score is decent but not stellar. I got a 158 Q 157 V. My question is, now that I am admitted to a top program, is it worth retaking the exam? What are the GRE scores that Big 4 consulting firms want? I have really good pre-mba experience a great leadership program at a top 5 Pharma company if that matters.

Hi woody93,

I've not heard of many clients retaking once they've gotten in. I think that would be a great question to ask the Career Services team at the school you'll be attending, or 2nd year students who have already gone through the consulting recruiting process. My sense is that your test scores are just one factor, and probably less important at niche firms.

Good luck!
Kate


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Hi mbaMission,

I would greatly appreciate if one of you could take a look at my profile. Thanks in advance.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi contagiousme,

Schools will evaluate your profile holistically, taking into account many factors. It's a little hard to evaluate all that here at this moment, especially since you don't have a GMAT yet, but do consider adding some schools in the lower half of the top 30 (perhaps Kelley, Foster, Olin) that have good finance programs to your list because of the low GPA factor. It's unusual to see a lot of success at the top programs with GPAs under a 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale). You're right in that a high GMAT, your CFA and accounting charter will help mitigate it, but I'm not sure to what extent. I do think adding courses that provide an alternative transcript generally can be helpful. I would recommend something that gives you an actual grade instead of an ungraded online course. Also, make sure to explain the outside factors that contributed to your low grades in the optional essay.

Beyond that, keep working hard at your current job, and look for opportunities to add impact and increase your role. Promotions would help, but if that's not possible, at least increasing your responsibilities and having very supportive and enthusiastic recommenders would increase your chances. I'd add some volunteer work too - not only is it often a rewarding experience that helps you grow, it's often something that can give you opportunities for leadership, impact, and new skills that you might not be exposed to at your current job.

Good luck!!

Julie-Anne Heafey
Senior Consultant
mbaMission
_________________

Hi,

Im indian male(37 yr old) and Mechanical Engineer by profession . I have experience of around 15 yrs in Automotive industry and currently in middle management position. I have been part of big automotive projects with global MNCs. I m looking for suitable MBA program preferably full time ( India or outside). I’m looking for general management or operations. I have CGPA of 3.5/4 in my academics.
What GMAT score i should aim for and which are the schools i should look.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi MBA Admission,
Please, help me to find out what I can do in my situation.
I've got low GPA (2.3) and score 650 - GMAT. Besides, I have 3 years of experience in Real Estate in Russia.
Please, tell me where I could study Finance if it is possible with my scores. Thank you in advance.