Hi
VarunGampa,
You have got one great profile there! Along with strong stats (that you already have), Booth requires the leaders who can serve the community and who possess a strong, successful career. I see you have a GMAT score of 740 which not only compensates for slightly lower undergrads in your profile but also makes you a great fit for Booth.
Now, about your work ex, I can clearly see elements of strong leadership and bold initiatives but do include evidence of career progressions in your applications. You possess great global exposure and have had an impact on your work (by improving client exp). Also, you make a great fit for Booth because you provide the characteristics of a collaborative leader who has served the community in many areas. And your extracurriculars can speak for your strong personality and you definitely can bring stories of passion and resilience. But beware of writing only about your career experiences, you should have a good blend of professional and personal experiences in your application. Write about your hobbies, your motives in life, and bring a live vibrant personality in your essays. What’s going to matter the most in your application is how you connect the experiential dots and build a great story to stand out in the application pool.
Also, your post-MBA goals seem perfectly aligned with your prior experiences but you need to identify gaps in your profile which Booth can help you fill and I must advise you to apply for other top-notch business schools, say, the trio of HSW, Insead, Ross.
Now, about scholarships, Booth offers a plethora of them, most of which are based on your application, stats and interviews. One that I would like to mention is ‘Marvin Zonis International Scholarship’ which is especially for international students from an emerging economy (as in your case India) and who demonstrates strong leadership, academics, and extracurriculars, which I think you provide the potential for. Also, there are merit-based, industry-specific, and various others for which you seem like a potential candidate but one thing that I want to add here is a 750+ gmat score since there will be many others with a similar profile like yours.
If you’d like, I am happy to hop on a call sometime this week to discuss your chances in further detail. Feel free to
book his calendar as per your convenience.
Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma,
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and BeyondSchedule a free sessionEmail:
shantanu@mbaandbeyond.comWhat s app: +65-97158525
Call: +49-15212121641
LinkedinVarunGampa wrote:
Hi,
I'm planning to apply to Booth in R1. Please find my profile below.
Background and nationality: Male 24, Indian
Undergrad Information:
-Graduated in Bachelors of Technology majoring in Electronics and Communications with a 7.91 CGPA(79.1 %), from GITAM University (Not a top tier university in India).
-Published a paper at IJARCEE in 2017
-ExCom member of the cultural committee 2015 & 2016
GMAT: 740 (Please let me know if I should retake and improve my score)
Work experience and leadership:
-Will be completing 4 years by June'21 at ADP (a US-based fortune 500 and blue-chip company) as a software engineer.
-Worked in the Product Implementation domain, with strong interaction with clients(Fortune 100 and 500 companies) and my on-shore partners from US and Philippines, giving me good amount of international exposure( specifically how people from different parts of the world perceive a client's request and negotiating with them to develop a common ground for us and deliver it to the client).
-Was able to suggest/change/improve many longstanding procedures and practices in my India team, to decrease our delivery timelines to clients and drastically improve their experience.
-Led a team of 4 fresh graduates with their onboarding, training, work assignments and mentoring.
-Led a team of 16 members to conduct personality and career development programs as part of associate engagement at ADP
Community and others:
-Member of EWB(Engineers Without Borders) student chapter, responsible for providing decent sanitary conditions in a rural village by setting up quick-build toilets in the entire village. Digitising a rural school with electronic infrastructure, and training the faculty and students. (2014-16)
- Organised and volunteered Food, groceries & essentials drive from April’20 – June’20 in my community serving to ~500 migrant workers.
- As a member of ISKCON, hyd - a world-renowned spiritual organisation - helped in food drives, book distribution and charity.
Post-MBA goals:
-With my experience in product implementation, I would like to transition into Product management in tech. (Short term)
-Would like to try and test out entrepreneurial ventures in the field of Blockchain(Currently pursuing Blockchain Revolution Specialisation by INSEAD for this) (Entrepreneurship - Long term)
- Frankly, I'm inclined towards consulting also (in short term) and would like to explore this in my 2 years during MBA
Extracurriculars:
- Helped my family business, in construction and real-estate, by brokering with potential customers. - 2019
- Worked as a Freelance Consultant with Defmax, a cybersecurity startup, to close a deal worth 400000 INR with Rothys, a US-based shoe company – 2018
- Secured Second place at Intra-University Debate Tournament - 2015
- Participated in State level Swimming and Skating tournaments - 2010, 2008 respectively
- Member of National Cadet Corps (NCC), Airforce Battalion – 2009-2010
- Member of Toastmasters, ADP - 2017-Present
I know this is very lengthy, but I would like to get a comprehensive evaluation of my entire profile and suggestions to improve my chances at Booth and to secure a scholarship. Please evaluate.
Thank You!