INSEAD Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hi MBAnBConsulting
Thank you for your response.

1) Does having a PGDM from India increase/decrease my chances at INSEAD
2) Isn't the GMAT bar higher for Indians? Would I need to bring it closer to 750? or would 730 be competitive?

Hi everyone!

I'm a female Myanmar national, 27 years old, with 3 1/2 years of experience working in the Digital Trust business unit at PwC Myanmar. I work with clients from various industries, providing them IT process and control reviews, project management, risk management and data assurance services. I started as an Associate in 2016 and was rewarded promotions each year and now I am the youngest Manager in my firm. Last year I took over an additional role of managing the CSR activities for the firm and my responsibilities include raising funds for a local orphanage and organizing training and mentoring programs for social enterprises. I also have over a year of experience working in Boston (1 year of internship while at University, and a few months of contract work after graduation). I grew up in Myanmar but attended an international school since I was young. Upon graduating I attended university in the US.

Undergraduate Degree: Bachelor in Business Administration from Northeastern University (Boston, USA) with a dual concentration in MIS and Management
GPA: 3.27

Goal post MBA is to join the health industries team at Bain, either in Switzerland or France, because of my interest in healthcare technology and moving into management consulting. Then after a few years of experience, moving back to Myanmar to start my own health-tech social enterprise.

I haven't been able to take my GMAT yet, and to be honest I'm leaning more towards GRE now that online GMAT doesn't allow the use of an actual notepad. Any thoughts on this?

Extracurriculars: Playing Volleyball and softball (I was captain in high school, and I continue to play in a team now and we compete in leagues) and learning French (now level A2.1). Love to travel - visited over 12 countries so far.

Wondering if I have a chance at getting into INSEAD and if I should go for the Jan 2021 intake.

Thank you

I like your profile sumo07. Specifically, you have noteworthy career progress ( frequent promotions); leadership skills demonstrated by taking the additional charge of CSR and then running the show to achieve some outcomes. The international experience is good. You haven't lived abroad so much as you have probably experienced an international setting and exposure -through both academics and work (internship, and PwC). Make it a point to demonstrate how these have set you on the path to an open and global outlook. On the goals front, your story sounds good. You will need to make the connections though- what is your current exposure to the health care industry? Why will your preferred post MBA work locations be of significance given your career plans?

I think you should apply to INSEAD, and getting together an application for the Jan 2021 intake will be a good place to begin

Hello doublewhammy

Answering your questions:

1. Your story needs to answer "Why" are you looking for second MBA and you will need a strong justification. One of my batch mates was an MBA of IIMC before joining INSEAD, so having PGDM is not a show stopper.
2. Though 730 would be competitive, 750 would definitely make your case stronger.

Shantanu Sharma, INSEAD MBA’17
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond
Schedule a free session
Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com
What s app: +65-97158525
Call: +49-15212121641
Linkedin

Hello all. I'd like to kindly request for a brief outlook on my candidacy for INSEAD. Intending to apply for the R3 Jan 2021 intake. Honest opinions would be much appreciated!

Background:
Singaporean Male
Age 30
GMAT 730 (Q49, V41, IR 6, AWA 5.5)

Education:
Bachelor of Science (2nd Upper Hons) in UK Top 10 University

Work Experience: Almost 7 years total

Military Officer, 2013-2018 (5 yrs)
- fastest operational advancement in my batch, led a small team of 6 with great results (recorded best audit score in 5 yrs)
- was a deputy in command before I left, handling a team of 20+ for all matters (operational, training, admin)

Management Associate in a Tech Startup, 2018-present (~1.5 yrs and counting)
- Within a year, influenced and led the launch of a new revenue arm in the company. This meant I had to evaluate and steer the team to the most effective strategies while overseeing various kinks and technical issues that had to be ironed out fast


Extra curriculars
- Football, adventure sports, and travelling are my passion. Travelled to over 20 countries in 5 continents in the past 10 yrs
- VP of the university Singapore society, helped clinch our first ever sponsorships for our annual summer sports event.
- Organized and led skiing camps for a group of 20+ university students to the french alps over 2 years
- Founded the launch of a not-for-profit weekend cafe in church in 2019

Why MBA
- lack direct experience in the tech industry and corporate sectors, and these companies generally do not look past my 1.5yr stint in the tech startup scene to my military background
- while i have learned a lot about business development and pivoting in a startup, and UI/UX for both consumer and provider ends, I still need to learn more about strategy execution and decision making in management

Post MBA Goal
- To be in a C-suite position, with a tech-centred business or strategy function, within a tech company or one engaged in the telemedicine or online education space.

So I just completed the video assessment and blah on it so curious what my chances are

Nationality: American
Ethnicity: Jew
Age: 32
Undergraduate Johns Hopkins University East Asian Studies 3.6/4
Graduate: London School of Economics International Relations Merit
GMAT: Haven't taken it yet do to Coronavirus (I currently live right outside of NYC so its a nightmare here) but on practice I range from 690-730
Foreign Languages: Mandarin Chinese (Fluent), Cantonese (Proficient), Japanese (Proficient), Thai (Beginners)
International Experience:
2 Years in China conducting research and language training
1.5 years consultant in Thailand with projects in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos
Nearly 2 years strategy consultant in Shanghai
Graduate Degree in the UK
Undergraduate Internship in Taiwan

Currently role in US corporate strategy (will be 3 years in January if I get into INSEAD) at a publicly traded technology company (father is CEO, had to return to America because mother was incredibly ill and needed help back home and was requested to bring consulting skills to help the transform the business (helped close 2 acquisitions, centralized back office operations saving millions tot he company, and led divestiture of inhouse software product line earning a 7 figure sale for the company and established company's fastest growing and most profitable division)

Post-MBA plans: Return to strategy consulting in a developing market (ideally Asia)

Long Term Career Goal - Director of inhouse think tank at a consulting firm like BCG Henderson Institute or McKinsey Global Institute

unique hook: Grew up in New jersey but in a Chinese immigrant neighborhood so was this little Jewish boy that spoke cantonese, went to Chinese school with neighborhood kids on the weekends, and did calligraphy contests, hybrid of western and eastern cultures.

Extracurriculars: Currenly do pro-bono consulting work for a stateless ethnic minority organization from the caucusus here in NJ to design a roadmap modeled after the success of Jewish cultural organizations in the 20th century and help develop new cultural programs and a day care curriculum to help the next generation maintain their cultural heritage and helping them digitize and centralize their traditional philosophy (ethnic group has never been good at writing things down and have a rich oral history)

Hey, I froze on one of the four questions of the video assessment, I did prepare a lot of possible questions and took the TOEFL two weeks ago, so I was used to recording 1' videos, just the content of one made it harder to develop, I wouldn't worry too much about it as really few people should actually nail it, many times would mean over preparation, natural is better. From what I understand the videos are to supplement the rest, and know you better, you seem to have a quite unique and interesting profile so it should not be a major problem.

Best of luck!

Regards,
Pablo

Hi blacktoe18
First of all, a very unique profile there! And uniqueness of a profile is one of the key factors that INSEAD looks for while assessing an application, in addition to ‘Ability to contribute, Leadership skills, International motivation, Academics.’

And congratulations for scoring 730 on the GMAT. With this score and the aforementioned points, you stand a fair chance to make it through in R3.
I like that you have very clearly mapped out the gaps in your profile to define why you should go for an MBA at this stage. However, what’s going to matter most is how you connect the experiential dots and tell a great story in your application.

INSEAD is a good choice for an MBA, if Tech is your post-MBA goal. 18% of the 2019 graduates went for the Tech sector. You can learn more about the Employment stats here:
https://intheknow.insead.edu/employment ... -time-jobs

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma, INSEAD MBA’17
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond
Schedule a free session
Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com
What s app: +65-97158525
Call: +49-15212121641
Linkedin

Hi, I would greatly appreciate a sanity check on my profile. Thanks in advance!

Profile
25 y/o Canadian-Chinese male (Canadian passport)
GMAT: 770 (Q49, V47,)
GPA: 3.5 / 4.0 (Dean's List for penultimate and final year)
Undergraduate: Top 3 Canadian business schools

Work experience:
3.5 years total
Half a year in global macro trading in Montreal as a junior trader
Half a year in PE working on investment opportunities across North America as an investment analyst
1 year at a regional investment bank in Toronto as investment banking analyst
2 years at a global European investment bank (i.e. Credit Suisse, UBS, Deutsche Bank) in Toronto, working as investment banking senior analyst
Achievements at work
Pitched a trading strategy that helped the firm generated additional revenue streams
Achieved top-rank in feedback reviews at boutique and global investment bank (MD commented that I was the best analyst he had - not sure how I could weave that into my apps...), led the recruiting cycle for 2019 for summer interns and first year analysts, closed multiple multibillion dollar transactions

International experience:
Went to international schools for middle and high school in Asia
Traveled across Asian cities for high school sports tournaments
Worked on cross-border transactions during my last two years at the global investment bank (traveled to New York and Hong Kong)
Volunteered in Tibet and India
Traveled across 13 countries in Europe
1 week hike in Peru

Extracurriculars
Current ECs:
Associate Member of CFA Society Toronto
Board of Directors of fraternity
Sports volunteer at Canada's largest mental health hospital
Passed all three levels of CFA program
Undergrad ECs:
Varsity rugby
Co-founded a non-profit organization that raised funds across North America for schools in Tibet, raised over US$5k
President and treasurer of fraternity
1st/2nd places in finance case competitions

Post-MBA Goals:
Working on cross-border transactions in Asia, either in PE or IB, and help bridge the (increasingly growing) gap between East and West (given my background growing up in Asia and working in North America)

I was also wondering how over/under represented Canadians are for INSEAD? Are we grouped in the general "North America" bucket?

Look forward to the feedback! Thanks again.

Hi ssrider

Firstly, you’ve got a great profile there.
Let me start off with answering your questions:
1. In terms of representation, on an average Candians occupy 5th or 6th position at INSEAD
2. INSEAD groups students by countries
I believe INSEAD as a school is accurately aligned with your post-MBA goal. 40% of grads go for PE in the financial sector. You can learn more about the employment statistics here: https://intheknow.insead.edu/employment ... sub-sector

During the course, you get an opportunity to immerse yourself in Impact Investment Deep Dive during the program , where the MBA students get to evaluate social businesses all around the globe, in partnership with PE firms and Cartier. It is a great platform for you to learn and network with PE firms working in the same direction. You can also take a look at the various programs/events happening at INSEAD: https://www.insead.edu/centres/global-p ... initiative

Your profile is a good mix of ‘Ability to contribute, Leadership skills, International motivation, and Academics’ (aspects that INSEAD looks for in an applicant). However, you would need to have clarity on what are the gaps in your profile that an MBA from INSEAD would fill and help you achieve your goal. I believe, with your profile and GMAT score, you stand a fair chance to make it to INSEAD if you connect the dots and tell a great story through your application.

May I ask, which intake and round are you eyeing?

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma, INSEAD MBA’17
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond
Schedule a free session
Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com
What s app: +65-97158525
Call: +49-15212121641
Linkedin

pabpinor thanks for that, one thing that still frustrates me is the stupid GMAT I was planning on taking it the day GMAC announced complete shutdown and right now in the USA internet is not the most reliable so can't take the online GMAT without risking getting screwed over so need to see what my AO thinks. I don't want to jinx anything but I'm hoping that even without the GMAT right now I can get an interview and perhaps a conditional offer until the centers reopen again.

I'd like to kindly request you a profile evaluation on my candidacy for INSEAD. Below are the details:

Nationality- Indian
Residence - United Kingdom
Gender- Male
Age - 29
Grad- 75% (Bachelors in Management Studies, Mumbai University)
GMAT- 730 (Q50, V39, IR 5) [This is the online GMAT score so no AWA but in my last 2 GMAT attempts I scored 8 on IR and 5.5 on AWA]

Post MBA Goals:
Short Term : MBB Consulting
Long Term: Leading strategy for a company at a global level

Work Exp : 9 years with the largest Market Research firm in the world (experience spread across India, Poland and United Kingdom)
- 3.5 years in India : I joined the firm straight out of college and worked with a CPG giant as my client (>$15 Billion in revenue). I took up the leadership for a category within 6 months in the role and got 2 promotions in a span of 3.5 years. Also, managed a team of 3 associates during the time and became the training lead for the department.
- 2 years in Poland : I had to pick between staying back in India and moving to a more people manager role or moving to Europe and managing international clients. I was more passionate about client consulting so chose global mobility option and helped my client double its innovation success rate.
- 3.5 years in Oxford/London, UK - This is my most recent role and I have led projects for 2 of the biggest CPG clients and helped them with revenue management for their portfolio. I helped a $150 Million brand achieve 15% revenue growth in the US and a $50 Million brand make a successful entry into the mass market by helping them optimize their pricing. I also lead a team of 4 associates with focus on helping the company achieve a digital transformation.

Awards and Recognition :
- Achieved global mobility early in the career (4 out of 150 associates received this opportunity and I was the youngest).
- Received 15 simply excellent awards and 2 Growth superstar awards for unlocking new revenue opportunities for the company.
- Received the highest performance rating in 6 out of 8 appraisals.

Extra-Curricular Activities:
- Contributed to marketing efforts of an Oxford based charity helping people with learning disabilities find employment.
- Captained my college's Table Tennis team in University matches. Currently, I represent my local club in lawn tennis tournaments.
- Enthusiastic about travelling and photography. Used to be the photography lead for company's CSR activities.

HI,
I can't pin point any weaknesses in your profile. YOu haven't mentioned your undergrad GPA, but the GMAt score is strong.
Now its a matter of presenting a strong application. Reach out if you need help.

Thanks for the reply!

My university did not have GPA system so I shared the percentage. I used an online website to convert percentage into GPA and it shows 4.0 but I would expect it to be around 3.5 realistically.

Posted from my mobile device

thaks

hello! I would request to evaluate my profile:
Nationality /: Indian
Board topper class10
Board topper class 12
Gold Medallist in Mechanical Engg from National Institute of techchnology, silchar



Work experience:

1. Officer in Indian Oil Corporation . Was in a management capacity involving project management. 2 years

2. Assistant Commissioner , Indian Revenue Service 1 year,3months

Currently involved in community volunteering works and writing.

GMAT: not taken yet

Any chances of scholarship?

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