INSEAD Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hi monabag,

thank you for sharing your profile.

In order to properly assess it, we will need some more details on your career progression (i.e. how has your career evolved over time). As you may know, being 33 at the time of applying will put you on the older side of the applicant pool, and outside INSEAD's current age range (26-32). Therefore, in your application, you will need to show that you have progressed and accomplished more than the average applicant.

Also, is the 700 on your GMAT Club profile your official score? As you know, GMAT is a really important element as an Indian applicant, and 700, though a really good score, is still slightly below INSEAD's average. This, as an Indian applicant, will put you in disadvantage.

Lastly, how long have you been traveling yearly to Amsterdam and HK? During your entire professional career (i.e. +10 years)? Have you also traveled internationally for leisure?

Thank you very much.

Warm regards
Alex
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Hi Alex,

Thanks a lot for your response. My career path has been good. I started as an assistant merchandiser and now I head a function. I have had a team reporting to me for 5-6 years now. One of my main motivations to do an MBA is that I have reached a position in my career where it is really difficult to rise further without a good degree. And instead of doing an executive course where my attention would be divided, I want to take an year's break and learn well.

I know my gmat score is just on the fence but I am not intending to retake, because honestly I don't think I have the time to prep again.

International travel - have been traveling to HK and Amsterdam for 5-6 years and I do travel internationally for leisure quite a bit. Currently also I am on a holiday in UK and since France isn't very far, I have booked a campus visit at INSEAD on 23rd September. I am not sure if it will help my chances but I just wanted to see and get a vibe of the place.

Regards,'Mona

Mona,

What kind of position are you aiming for? CMO for a large clothing or fashion company? Or?

Since INSEAD looks at individual scores more than the total GMAT, your verbal is fine and your quant is just a tad below average. Given your international exposure, I'm not sure I'd be super-concerned about that for INSEAD. Your background is distinctive so yes Indians are over-represented, but I'm not so concerned about the GMAT. As an older applicant, just be sure you make clear why you want your MBA now and why INSEAD is the right place for you to get. Also take note of the social good element in INSEAD'S branding in the last year. For more on this, please see this interview with Virginie Fougea, INSEAD's admissions director.

You may also want to consider the Sloan Fellows Programs at LBS and MIT Sloan or the Stanford MSx program. These are full-time programs aimed at people with 10+ years of experience. In other words, they are geared for people like you. They are also a little less demanding in terms of average GMAT scores. They are basically for people in middle management aiming for senior management.

Best,
Linda
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Hello Everyone!

Kindly find below the details.


Background and nationality :

28 male from India.


Undergrad Information :

Top Indian university, Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) Mathematics
GPA: 3.4 in the final year - top 3 in the entire batch.


GMAT : haven't given yet, still preparing.


Undergrad Internship :

The Rio+21 IYWC India.
Program is spearheaded by IARC' Centre for Science and Culture; the education and outreach division of Indian Astrobiology Research Centre (IARC), Mumbai. It is listed with IYWC (International Year of Water Co operation).The objective of the program is to promote Water Cooperation and Sustainable Development through certification programs and workshops for the public, school & college students.

Role – Team Lead (Full Time)
International year of water Co-operation (IYWC), Initiative of IARC’ (Indian Astrobiology Research Centre for Science and Culture), to promote Water Co-operation and Sustainable Development

• Led a team of 20 student associates , oversee financial transactions, analysis and reporting of funds collected to UNDDD; Managed funds INR 300,000 to be disbursed.
• Managed end to end financial transaction workflow for soliciting funds from student registrations.
• Analysed and planned the disbursement of funds taking costs of the program into account; managed distribution costs, SG&A.
• Conducted interviews and recruited 20 associates for the team from various educational institutes in Delhi NCR.
• Conducted training sessions at various forums and educational institutes, evangelising the benefits of the program.
• Marketed the program using various marketing channels such as Social Media Ads, Search Engine Marketing.
• Interfaced with the IARC for disbursement of funds to be used for various initiatives.


Work Experience :

PricewaterhouseCoopers India Pvt. Ltd(PwC) for 12 months.

Role – Analyst (Full Time)
• Prepare clients’ CENVAT Credit Registers, Service Tax Returns, Refund Claims.
• Handle RM Compliance, making Engagement letters and AFS(Authorisation of services form) for clients such as Bose corporation ,
Star Sports/ESPN and Hero Moto-Corp.
• Manage submissions and filling of the above forms/documents with the Govt. departments.
• Research and Case-studies.


MSLGROUP India for 6 months

Role – Account Executive(Intern)
• Worked on various clients such as Network18(CNN IBN Indian of the Year), Raymond, HCL, USHA International, Times Of India.
• Helped the agency in organising various various social activities.


American Express India Pvt. Ltd, Jan 2016 - present

Role – Master Analyst(Fraud Management)
• Conduct follow-up research on fraudulent transactions and on fraudulent claims currently for the UK Market, having already worked for different markets of various countries such as Netherlands, Italy, France, The United States Of America and Canada, and communicate effectively with the team.
• Conduct extensive research to validate purchases and independently determine if the reviewed transactions are fraudulent or legitimate and process the credit/debit adjustments accordingly.
• Independently resolve problems that require in depth investigation and research.
• Generate and distribute management reports such as the Merchant credit report, Additional Credit Report etc in accurate and timely manner.

Key Achievements :
• Identifying critical loopholes that have been responsible for weekly, if not daily, unnecessary loss for AMEX. Currently working with the stakeholders, the technology team and the Operational Risk Management Team to fix these loopholes.

• Identifying the critical parameters on the basis of which the annual performance rating of the employees shall be calculated. This has helped the business in strengthening one of its main operations

• Was awarded a “Certificate of Quality work”

• Was awarded a “Certificate of EmployeeExcellence” for creating the Compelling Evidence Tracker, with the help of which I helped Amex in saving about £500,000 as fraud loss till date. This tracker is now considered one of the main job functions of our team. Created and organised the “Compelling Evidence Tracker”, which is an excel file that has loss saved by American Express(UK Market) in standard calendar quarters. I partnered with both EMEA Fraud-chargeback team and the Account Security group(UK Market) regarding the same, in order to communicate fraud trends and share best practices, ideas and information with my team. Generate a list of cards(both consumer and corporate) that have over credits ie. one from Amex and the other one from the merchant on them. Process the required Debit adjustments including exchange rate discrepancies to balance Amex books. Post the processing of debit adjustments, I also make sure that the customers(both consumer and corporate) know about such adjustments and that Amex’s relationship is in intact & maintained.

• Train freshers and ensure that their performance in terms of work is up to the mark.


Additional Accomplishments :

• Helped a now reputed hospital in designing a marketing plan that eventually ended up doing a lot of good to both the hospital(revenue generation) and the general public( Improved health).

• Helped my college get special recognition from UN Decade for Deserts and fight against Desertification (UNDDD) & IYWC, for its involvement in spreading awareness about water conservation.

• Organised and participated in Mathematics dept. Festival “GANNITAM” .


Extracurriculars and Hobbies :

• Passionate about music, play various musical instruments including Guitar, Tabla.

• Played football at college level.

• Active animal lover, actively involved in organising events regarding animal welfare.



Post MBA goal : Strategy Consulting ; Aim is to get into the "prestigious MBB bracket", but open to other options as well.

Target schools : INSEAD, LBS, IESE, HEC Paris, Cambridge, Oxford, ISB.

Best Regards

Hello Everyone!

Kindly find below the details.


Background and nationality :

25, Male, Canadian


Undergrad and other Education :

Bachelors of Finance from Top Canadian university.
GPA 3.67/4.00

Certificate of advanced Chinese language studies 1 year from top Chinese University in Shanghai

GMAT : 680. (grade received yesterday)


Work experience
Internship in Institutional Sales and Trading FX (Big 5 Canadian Bank) 4 months (Canada)
Internship Accenture 4 months (Canada)
Analyst in Chinese-Canadian PE firm 8 months (China)
Capital Markets Commercial Sales and Trading FX (Boutique) 6 months Full-Time (Canada)
Commercial Banking – Financial Structuring and Loan Underwriting 1 year FT (Canada)

Languages:
English, French, Spanish, Chinese (all fluent)

Extracurriculars and Hobbies :

• Used to do competitive latin dacing and teach
• Comedy improv (played in a troupe)
• Traveling

Hi TheMBmonster,

Thank you for your post and for sharing your profile. I love that you are fluent in four (4) languages. Without a goal, however, it's difficult to gauge your competitiveness for INSEAD. Can you share a bit on your short- and long-term goals?

Generally speaking, there are three (3) components of your profile that may prove challenging: (i) you are on the lower end of the spectrum as it relates to INSEAD average class age (28-30 average), (ii) your GMAT is also on the lower end (INSEAD average 700), and (iii) low years of work experience post-undergrad.

What other universities are you targetting?

If you would like to continue this conversation offline, please reach out.

Good luck!

Susan



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hi SiaAdmissions,

With all due respect, any specific reason that i still haven't got a response regarding my profile eval request? I do understand the fact that gmat probably is one of the major pieces of the entire puzzle, but it would be really helpful if i could get a rough analysis of my profile. Gmat is something that i am trying to get off the table. All i need to know is whether my profile in general is competitive/not so competitive/ shouldn't even think of the b schools that i have mentioned etc etc. I am trying to understand where i stand.

Hi INSEADIESE,

thank you for sharing your profile.

Overall, you have the potential to be accepted at all your target schools. You have experience working for global companies, and you seem to be very accomplished. Your extra-curriculars also look quite interesting.

However, as you mentioned, GMAT does play an important role when assessing an applicant's profile. What score are you targeting? When are you taking the official test? What are you scoring in mocks? As you know, as an Indian applicant, it would be recommended to score at least 20-30 points above the schools' average.

There are other aspects though that would need clarification about your profile. May I ask you just a couple of questions?

a. I understand you have experience working with global teams for overseas markets, but did this involve any international travel as well? Overall, what can you tell us about your international experiences? As you may know, this is very important for INSEAD (and other European schools such as LBS and HEC Paris).

b. How have you progressed since you joined American Express in Jan 2016? Have you been awarded any promotions?

Thank you very much.

Warm regards
Alex
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I would greatly appreciate your feedback on my profile for INSEAD

Background:

30 yo, female
Dual citizenship (FI, RU)
Languages: Finnish, Swedish, English, Russian, German

Education:

MA in political science, GPA 3.5
BA in languages, GPA 3.5

Multiple awards and scholarships, actively participated in scientific conferences

GMAT: 690 Q44 V40 IR6

Work Experience:

overall 8 years

6 years - consulting for development banks (World Bank, IFC, etc.), policy advisory and some modelling, 5 promotions in 6 years - energy sector
1.5 years - working in international business and marketing - Chamber of Commerce, international forums - energy sector
International Experience:

lived abroad since 19 yo, work experience only in international business, projects mainly in developing countries

Extracurricular:
intellectual volunteering on social impact platform, developing strategies for NGOs

References:

very good and personal, both from top executives and my direct supervisors

Post MBA: Management Consulting


Thank you!

Everything but that quant score is competitive for INSEAD and strong. Any chance you can retake and raise the quant?

Linda
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Thank you so much for the prompt reply. I will try to do so by retaking the GMAT. Unfortunately, it would mean postponing application to the Round 2 but I guess, it is worth it.

Thanks in advance for doing this

Here's my brief profile

1. GMAT : 720
2. CG - 7.3 (automobile engg) (reputed UNI)
3. Entrepreneur - Co-founded 2 companies, working with the 2nd one currently.
1st was an EV startup, 2nd a social enterprise. Combined exp 4.5 years
4. Featured(along with my team) in the Entrepreneur India Mag.
The startup has been featured in countless publications.
5. Started India Largest student Go-karting championship.
I also mentor and do consultancy for a few startups along with a couple of things here and there...

My motivation to do an MBA comes from my desire to learn the best business practices, network, get exposure to impactful businesses and solve actual problems on a bigger scale.

I'd like to get into consulting post-MBA. As of now, i think INSEAD is a good fit BUT I've been working on and with startups to date, this means i don't really have any corporate experience. Looking at various class profiles i see most people are from corporate backgrounds. Would this be in any way be a negative?
Also, I'm not sure of the depth the course provides. I'm skeptical that a 10-month course might be too short to gain sufficient knowledge, given the absence of prior corporate exp. (PS- I'm an engineer)
Why a Consultant?
To put it briefly I LIKE to find problems and LOVE to find solutions to them. I also get super bored if I work on something for too long. Consulting is one profession, according to me, which allows me to cycle between various industries and problems.


Please feel free to add any comments and suggestions.

That is solid GMAT score, and, if it ends up being on the higher end of your expected range, could be higher than INSEADs average, which is usually in the low 700s. Your work experience of 2 years, while potentially very impressive if you present it the right way, is on the shorter end of INSEAD's average. If you are set on INSEAD in particular, you may want to wait a few years before applying, making sure to gain advancement along the way as evidence of profitability and leadership potential, which INSEAD really cares about since its students are older and therefore have a longer track-record to demonstrate promotability. The G7 in the US may be a better fit for you if you are on the younger side as most of their enrolled students have 3-5 years of work experience at these schools.

Given your non-traditional background, your essays about what you are seeking to do post-MBA will be really important. Are you a "career-switcher" seeking to re-direct into traditional MBA recruiting like finance or consulting or general management? If so, you'll need water-tight essays on how your academic and professional experience thus far, combined with the top MBA for which you are applying, will help you get there.

From your reference to "Commonwealth games" it appears that you *may* be applying from and Indian or Singaporean background. Depending on which international jurisdiction you represent, competition may get pretty fierce. Your non-traditional professional background may be a differentiator that you can use to your advantage. You should know that there are A LOT of extremely qualified Indian MBA hopefuls applying from IT and/or IIT backgrounds and you will need a memorable and unique story combined with evidence of imminent employability in your chosen field to stand out among them.

Regrading your customized admissions strategy and international student positioning, it would probably be helpful to speak to one of our consultants on a free consultation basis. They can help you more with admissions strategy and elaborate on some of the points above and they are familiar with the tough odds of the international student admissions game. If you'd like to have a free consultation with a top-tier MBA alum on our team to talk about what kind of admissions strategy may work for you, feel free to reach out: https://admissionado.com/free-consultat ... sultation/ and we’ll get into it. Oh and take your time and really sink into that form, the more stuff you say, the meatier the chat.

Hi Gmatcake,

thank you for your post.

You have a good profile, but I have a couple of concerns. It would be great if you could clarify the following.

1. Career progression. How has your position evolved over these five years? Have you ever been promoted?

2. International Exposure. As you may know, this is really important for INSEAD. What can you tell us about your international experiences?

Also, some more detail about your startup experience after college would be great.

Thank you very much.

Warm regards
Alex
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Hi Gmatcake,
I think you have a shot at this INSEAD program but it will be a bit of a stretch. You are coming from an extremely tough demographic as an Indian male as I'm sure you know, and although it helps that your work experience is not technical or engineering focused it also sounds like you are in a role where (just by nature of the job) it's difficult to show results. Your GMAT is solid but not a differentiator among this demographic, you are on the older end & your GPA is on the low end so those factors will all be challenges. If you can in fact show quantifiable results at work that will help for sure. If you'd like some more specific direction definitely reach out to us. If you email Claudia at claudia@admissionado.com she can set you up with a free consultation with one of our MBA consultants who can take a look at your resume & give you some more detailed thoughts on your chances.

Hi,

I had applied for R1 of Sept 2020 intake. Had hoped that I would be atleast selected for interviews but I wasn't. Would like your views/inputs to improve my profile

Background:
Indian Male, 26 Years
GMAT 730

Education:
Bachelor in Technology in Mechanical Engineering with Minor in Management from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay [India's top ranked engineering college] CGPA: 8.97/10
10th: 93.8%, 12th: 95%

Jobs:
Site Engineering Manager in one of the top FMCG company of India/world after completing 18 month management training program
Leading a team of 5 executives, 400 industrial workers to manage an annual engineering budget of € 1.5M+
End-to-end management of 3200+ assets worth € 40M+: procurement, installation, maintenance and write-off
Managing 100+ projects, € 1.2M+ capital expenditure annually on sustainability initiatives, innovations, capacity increment, infrastructure improvement, safety & quality initiatives

Extra Curricular
Led a 77-member team to build an electric racing car and participate at Formula Student 2015 - Europe’s most established educational motorsport competition
Trained in Indian classical tabla (Senior Diploma), Visharad (equivalent to Bachelor of Music) in Fine Arts
Winner at various state and city level quiz competitions

Apart from this, several national and regional awards for extra curricular activities during school, college and professional career

Hi amitsarkar8493, It's tough to say for certain without seeing your essays, resume & LOR but here are some topline thoughts. First, you're coming from the very toughest demographic when it comes to b-school apps, as I'm sure you know, so it's critical to do everything you can to differentiate yourself. Like I said, it's hard to know how effectively you did that without seeing your actual app, but based on what you shared here I'd say your GMAT is solid but not a differentiator. Most applicants from your demographic tend to perform very well on the GMAT & often have scores that are 20-30 points above a school's average. In addition, it looks like you have a responsibility but based on what you shared here it's hard to pinpoint your accomplishments. The adcom wants applicants who have driven tangible results & impact (e.g. increasing revenue, decreasing cost, launching profitable new products or initiatives, etc). Those may have come through more in your essays like I said, but just based on what you shared here it's unclear what your unique impact has been. Showing your ability to drive business results not only demonstrates that you're up for the rigors of b-school but also lets them know what unique contribution you'll be able to make in class discussion. Finally, post-MBA goals are a critical part of your candidacy. They're not only a way to differentiate yourself but also the basis for your why MBA/why our school argument.

If you'd like some more detailed thoughts about what might have gone wrong so you can make adjustments for next time definitely reach out to us. We offer a ding analysis service & can dig into the specifics of your app via that. Just email Claudia at claudia@admissionado.com and she can share the details & answer any questions you might have.

Hi guys

I am an Indian male,25 planning to apply for Jan 2021 batch at INSEAD. I would be taking the GMAT sometime next month. My latest mock score was 710 (Q-50 V-37, IR-8). Please find below my profile

Education
BTech in Chemical Engineering 8.37/10 (Top 25 in a batch of 100) IIT Madras (Amongst the top engineering institute in the country)
Cleared CFA Level 2

Work Experience 4 Years on R2 Deadline May 2020
Have only worked at one job. Currently working for a long only equity investment firm where I have been promoted to a role which is offered to graduates from IIM's. I have been the only one amongst associate pool hired here to be promoted. My key roles involve

Associate 3 Years
Covered Healthcare, Insurance and Telecommunication Sector
Building detailed financial models, tracking quarterly earnings of portfolio positions and writing investment memos for companies we own (Around 20 companies owned in portfolio
Present detailed company projects to portfolio construction team
Built a quantitative framework to incorporate ESG into the investment process
Adhoc work including preparing biweekly portfolio trackers and benchmarking

Senior Associate- 4 months
Similar as above only that I was given independent coverage of companies in the small cap strategy as opposed to before when I was working with an analyst

No international experience as such but work with a multi cultured team (Multiple nationalities- Japan, China, Korea , US)

Extra curriculars
Limited here
Organized college level informal events at cultural fest
Volunteered for NGO's during my college years- Teaching English to underpriveleged govt kids- cant quantify any achievement here (eg improvement etc)
Follow F1 deeply and race karts in events (again no awards/achievement :/)

Goal post MBA
To break into PE either via the consulting/IB route or directly post MBA. Insead ticked the box of 1 year MBA,location of Singapore, good amt of consulting and few direct PE hire

Let me know for the holes/gaps in my profile which I can improve over the next 6 months. Appreciate your help

Hi MissionMBA2000,
You've got some strong aspects to your candidacy for sure - your undergrad is great & sounds like you've got some strong work experience as well. One challenge will be that just given the nature of your job it can be tough to show quantifiable accomplishments. I'm not 100% sure from what you shared here if you are able to point to many of those or not. If not, it's not the end of the world - the adcom knows some jobs just don't lend themselves to that. But you will want to be sure to have strong recommenders lined up who can speak to the specific ways in which you stand out vs. peers.

I'd also recommend working to improve your GMAT. You are below the INSEAD average and given the fact that you are an Indian male, you're going to actually need to aim for a score that's ideally 20-30 points above the average. Indian males are the most over-represented demographic when it comes to b-school applicants & it's also a group that tends to have very high GMAT scores. So I'd invest some additional time there so you can ideally bring your score up to one that's more competitive & more in line with the rest of your material, which is generally strong.

Finally, you'll want to think through the specifics of your post-MBA goals. You will need to narrow in on a single path & you'll want to be ready to articulate what you plan to accomplish in your ST & LT roles as well as WHY this is your passion. Your post-MBA goals are critical since they are not only a way to differentiate yourself but are also the foundation for your why MBA/why our school goals. Consulting is a very common goal among Indian males, so that would be one reason to consider the PE route instead. There is no right or wrong goal though -- it's all in how you talk about it & it is possible to make a compelling argument for consulting as well. It's just all in how you tell your story!

If you need any help thinking through your strategy & your story definitely reach out to us. If you email Claudia at claudia@admissionado.com she can set you up with a free consultation with one of our MBA consultants who can take a look at your resume & give you some more detailed thoughts!