Ross Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Yes, that is a very valid point! Thanks for the insights!! Appreciate it!!

Anybody who's thinking about coming to the US from India should read this tweets by Vivek Wadhwa - https://twitter.com/wadhwa/status/1253510829258838016

"Used to be foreign students came to US to learn and gain work experience...and ended up staying. But the doors are closed now. This was a big win for U.S. and gave it a global competitive advantage...the closest thing to a free lunch. Some went back and enriched their countries. Sadly U.S. xenophobia will only increase with worsening economy whether Trump or Biden. People always blame foreigners for loss of jobs and it takes time for them to realize the value immigrants bring. America has already forfeited its huge competitive advantage.If foreign students can get into a top school such as Harvard stanford or @CarnegieMellon, cost might be worthwhile. Vast majority of second and third tier U.S. colleges are no better than top Indian colleges. I am not sure if I would spend the money, especially now".

I'll just add - Indians are looking at 100 yrs (YES 100 YEARS) to get green card, there's a backlog of 400k people. That means - you wont be able to start business in the US, you won't be able to even work in some industries (defense companies/Fed/even some tech that work with DoD). Changing jobs is getting more and more difficult to visa issues, and it's not going to improve given this is an election year (well every year is an election year in the US).

Hello,

Request you to kindly evaluate my Profile below.
Nationality: Indian, male.
Age: 29 ( Will be 30 this September )

GMAT Score: 720 ( Planning to give GMAT again and hopefully get a higher score )

Educational Qualification:
Graduation: Completed B-Tech ( IT ) from UPTU with 65 %

Work Experience:
Total Work Experience: 7.5 Years.
Working as a Senior SAP ABAP Consultant in Fidelis Group.
Previous Companies: TCS and NTT Data.

Extra Curricular:

Hold NCC A Certificate.
Handling Social Media Handle of my Community Non-Profit Organisation.
Volunteering for Teach India Foundation.
Volunteering for Green India Foundation.
Volunteered for Sri Sai Old Age Homes.
Captain of the Corporate Cricket Team.
Played Cricket till University level.
Played Football in CBSE Tournament.
Captained College Football Team.

Lead a Team for Customer Centric Business Transformation, responsible for added customer application enhancement in TCS.
Lead a Team of over 150 employees to raise awareness and importance of Security Protocols in the Project.

Post MBA Goals:
I have an experience of over 7 Years and am aware of the Technical working of my Domain.
But, would like to understand and gain Functional Knowledge of the business, hone my hard skills along with the leadership skills, and work in a Tech Consulting firm, where i could contribute with my learning.

Hi - would really appreciate an analysis of my profile as well. Below is my profile - I am keen to look at marketing and/or strategy studies oriented MBA programmes. Need help with shortlisting colleges - would like to gauge if my profile looks like something Ross School of Business would be interested in?

I am 26 years old female candidate from India and I come from a communication and marketing background with work ex of 4 years. Graduated from University of Delhi with BA Hons in Journalism, where I studied several subjects like political science, economics, international relations, print, radio and TV journalism, and marketing and advertising, besides others.

From there on, got interested in marketing and studied at the Indian Institute of Mass Comm for a PG Diploma in Advertising and PR.

I have 4+ years of work experience, including a currently ongoing 2+ year stint at a leading international airline where I am responsible for consumer marketing portfolio.

Here are my scores:
10th Std - 85.4%
12th Std (Science) - 77%
Graduation - 75.25%
PG Diploma - 72.05%
GMAT (expected, yet to take the exam) - 690-710

I was awarded the Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) Award in 2016; and was nominated by my firm for a 30 Under 30 Industry Award. I have worked with a Delhi based NGO working in the space of emotional education of children for about 1-1.5 years. I also have a lot of internships at college level with organizations like Indian Express and BBDO (ad agency). During my graduation and the PG Diploma, I have worked on several live projects like documentary film-making, authoring original dissertations and seminar papers, radio programmes, ad film-making, and an award-winning capstone project for a leading Indian Home Care brand.

Hi! I would really appreciate a profile evaluation. Thanks!

Background:
- Mexican
- Male
- 29 years old

· Education:
- Universidad Anahuac Norte (Top 5)
- 79/100
- Bachelor in Business Administration

· Other coursework or post-undergraduate education:
- MBAMath

· GMAT:
- No oficial score yet. Realistic score 680-700

· Work experience (finance):
- 1.5 years in a boutique bank as Credit Director with a team of 2 people (participated with the company to create the credit area from scratch)
- 1 year as Credit Analyst and on the 2nd year got promoted to Credit Coordinator
- 8 months as IB Analyst
- 1.5 years as an intern in HSBC Mexico

· Extracurricular activities:
- Running (Chicago 2018 Marathon, Mexico 5-pax SalaValle 120km)
- Road biking
- Former board member of a nonprofit organization for 1.5 years
- Volunteering in the sep-19 earthquake in Mexico City

· Post-MBA goals:
- Transition into private equity.

· Other information relevant to your profile:
- Casual chess player
- Strong recommendations and essays

Hi, and thanks for writing! It sounds like you have a well-rounded profile, with progressive and impactful work experience and good community involvement. Admission for Indian applicants is very high, so I strongly recommend aiming for a 730+ on the GMAT - this is the score that in my experience has been necessary for Ross and other top programs. Hope that helps a bit!

Hi

Would really appreciate an analysis of my profile as well. Below is my profile

I am keen to look at technology oriented MBA programmes.

I am 24 year old female candidate from India and I come from an IT background with work experience of 3 years.

Graduated from JNTU university with distinction in Engineering ( holding a place in the top 10 percentile of the class). With keen interest in technology learnt a lot of technological advancements. From there on developed interest towards product management and started digging in that area of expertise.

I have around 3 years of IT experience from IBM as an application developer.

Here are my scores:
10th Std – 92%
12th Std (Science) – 92%
Graduation – 80%
GMAT (expected, yet to take the exam) – 710 -730

I was awarded the Young engineer Award during my graduation and was awarded Best graduate hire Award from IBM .

Have a brief ( failed) entrepreneurship journey . I brought together a team to build a product, however, our perfect beginning got to a dead end in a couple of weeks from the start . Learnt a lot from the experience.

Also led our team for the completion of various academic projects in graduation.

Extracurricular activities: I am a former member of a local NGO for 1 year. I have a keen interest in origami and in making various hand made personalised gifts. Also participated in various badminton matches during my schooling and graduation. Every active in organising various programmes during my education.

*deleted*

Indian Female, 25

Hi, I am a Digital Media Planner working in the Media and Advertising industry for almost 3 years now. I have worked for clients like Google, Honor, GSK, Master Card, etc.

I have a B.Tech Degree in Computer Sciences with 71%, 12th with 70 %, and 10th with 9 CGPA. I have worked in media agencies like GroupM & Publicis. I am yet to take my GMAT.
For the Extracurricular, I have Nationals in athletics back in school and have also won inter-college basketball and badminton tournaments. For community services, I have led CSR activities in both my organizations, where one was tackling climate change by a plantation drive and the other was a day full of fun and sports for underprivileged kids. In addition to this, I have committed some part of my salary to a girl who is a rape survivor and has a baby now.

How strong do you think my profile is for a future in Brand Management/Marketing or Digital Strategy Consulting? Also, what can I do to make my profile stronger and which schools I can preferably target? I have just applied to RSM as of now. Will be great to hear all your suggestions

Hi Glowgetter,

Are you aiming to apply to b-schools this year? If so GMAT would be your immediate challenge. A b-school such as Ross will require a 730+ GMAT, and given that your undergrad GPA is average, a higher GMAT score gains all the more significance. Your work sounds interesting - having started my career in the advertising industry, I am always attracted to a media planner's role. In your case, you will need to show impact of your work- what revenues did you bring for your companies, and how did you improve your clients' marketing returns? Do emphasize upon your analytical skills as you begin to put your application together.

Your ECAs at college are outdated, but what you have done since college would still be relevant. At the CSRs, your volunteering experience seems limited to organizing two events only, whereas the b-schools would want to see a continued effort. SO this is one component of your profile you can definitely work upon. IN these times of work from home, a CSR activity may not be on the cards unless you can organize one, which would be great. Otherwise, you can associate yourself with an organization or a group (helping in COVID related activities maybe).

Among the b-schools, I would add Kelley, McCombs, USC Marshall as programs you should explore. Your choice of b-schools will ultimately depend on your GMAT score as a key evaluation criterion.

HI Ayush,

Nice profile, with relevant work experience at BCG. A strong resume which shows the $$ impact you have made working with clients will be super critical for you as you will still be competing with a lot of MBB folks who apply to the top MBAs every year. The onsite work experience and mention of the multi-cultural exposure at work would be particularly helpful while building the applications. I like your experience with the family impact fund. I hope you have some noteworthy projects that turned out to be successes. With your profile being strong on the work front, I am concerned about the GMAT. Last year we had an applicant get waitlisted at Ross with a 710 GMAT, but I would still recommend a higher GMAt score for you. Even a 10 point jump will help you. I believe test centers are soon opening up so you still have the option of taking the test in person.

Coming to your goals, I dont think it a great idea to be narrowly focused on goals. Digital + supply chain sounds just too specific. Talking about operations and supply chains or about digital sounds like a wider area, but I'd know better after hearing what you have already done for the past 4 years at BCG. Would be happy to discuss.

Hi ayush_95,

You have got a great profile there. Ross is a great school when it comes to Tech( 21%) and Consulting(32%) as a post-MBA goal.

Ross looks for the following qualities:
1. Self Awareness: How your life experiences helped shape your character now.
2. Impact: Your achievements in the work and the leadership role you have played.
3. Teamwork: A Ross student should be capable of thriving as a team, giving weightage to the group and letting others contribute too.
4. Academics: Ross believes that you should put your best foot forward and thus wants you to retake GMAT/GRE in case it is lower or not satisfactory.

I see a great mix of all the 4 values in your profile. And GMAT score of 720 is pretty good with your profile. Having won 2 awards each in individual and team capacity exemplifies the impact you have created in your work and that you can thrive and contribute as a team too, on which Ross puts a lot of emphasis. Also, your global experience can add a great value to your candidacy.
I would suggest you to be very humble and down to earth while exemplifying the self awareness quality and bring experiences that have had a great impact on your life, a part most important for a Ross candidate.

Considering your score and profile, I believe you have a fair chance to make it to Ross. What’s going to matter most in your application is how you connect the experiential dots and build a great story to stand out from other applicants in the pool. Make sure you also make list of gaps in your profile that an MBA from Ross would help you fill.

If you'd like, I am happy to hop on a call sometime this week to discuss your chances for all your target schools. Feel free to book my calendar as per your convenience.

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

Thanks for the opportunity to evaluate your profile! The thing that sticks out the most here is that you are 30 but almost all the ECs listed are from college. That’s going to be a big red flag to the adcom. Before you apply, you need to get some good community-oriented IMPACTFUL leadership experience outside of work on your resume. I read in a subsequent post that you are also a weight-lifting aficionado. This is great but you need to find a way to turn this into an impactful activity that benefits others -- like it would be great if you could share this passion with others as a pro bono fitness coach or women’s self-defense coach, etc. I wouldn’t mention your extracurricular accolades from undergrad in your Ross application -- it’s going to make you look like a “faded glory.” It’s one thing when a Yale Silver Scholar or a HBS 2+2 or a Booth Scholars application has a bunch of college stuff because these kids are applying to b-school when they are still college students, but a 30 year old applicant already faces headwinds of being “too tenured” and potentially seeming “passed up,” so they don’t want to compound that potential problem with far backward-looking ECs. That would be seen as a major problem. One thing we’ve found is that oftentimes people have better ECs than they think they do. For instance, some people don’t realize that their musical or dance hobby can be great material for an EC essay. Ross has a great dance culture and dance team and frequently uses dances as fundraisers. Bollywood style dances are especially popular. Lots of YouTube videos out there of impressively choreographed Ross dances. Similarly, a potential musical hobby can be used for “follies”-type performances on campus that many schools have. You just need to use what you have. How do you like to spend time outside of work now?

Your GMAT is solid for Ross but a bit low for you demo so it will probably neither hurt you or help you. For higher ranked schools that are still in the Ross peer group, it may be seen as a bit low. Did you try the GRE? Since most top b-schools accept both and are agnostic between them, it might make sense to take a GRE practice test to see if you favor that exam.

The IT-emphasis in your background isn’t disqualifying, but it is representative of an very crowded demo. Being a male Indian electrical engineer working in IT is a very, very common profile. Many people with this background are successful in the b-school journey, but success requires really good strategic positioning in order to make our profile stand out from the horde. You’ve worked for some large, multinational corporations (Deloitte, IBM). In these roles, did you work with international teams? Either on the client side or at your company? Did you travel for work or talk to people in other countries often? If so, this is definitely something you’ll want to emphasize. Any top U.S. b-school will expect some international experience, and that’s one area where you can potentially stand out from your peers.

Without knowing more about your “failed” entrepreneurial venture, it’s unclear whether you should be using that as part of your strategic positioning. With the right spin, this could actually also help you, even if the company failed. The reason is bc other members of your demo are often extremely risk-adverse in their professional journey, so it could help you stand out to showcase your risk tolerance. Also, to the extent that you write about management consulting as a goal, having the perspective of a business owner/founder is helpful and worth expanding on if you can tell the story persuasively.

You might benefit from hashing out your strategy with an admissions consultant during a free consultation. If that sounds like it might be helpful, free free to sign up for a free consultation here: https://admissionado.com/free-consultat ... sultation/

Congratulations on your success and ranking at PwC in India. It will be a positive look to have a marquee name on your resume like PwC.

The biggest red flags I see in your profile are the dearth of post-undergrad ECs and unclear and unfocused post-MBA plans. investment banking and management consulting are two very different post-MBA goals. You need to decide which one you want to go after. If you want to do management consulting and focus on FIG (financial institutions group) so that you transition into a top managerial strategy position at a bank later on (the chief strategist roles at bulge-bracket banks often come from FIG-focused groups at Bain, McKinsey, BCG), that could be a winning path for you since it’s validated by your prior work experience and success. Keep in mind, though, that MBB won’t let you industry-specialize right away (though management consulting firms like Deloitte might). Do you intend to go back to PwC after b-school? If so, they may sponsor your MBA and have historically done that in large numbers for top MBA programs in the U.S. If you want to go back into consulting anyway, this may be a good way of getting your tuition paid for and ensuring your employment post-MBA. Though nobody has a crystal ball, many are forecasting a major contraction in service industries like management consulting over the next 12 months. Being sponsored might be a lower-risk proposition than taking a job that you might get laid off from and then potentially struggle paying back ~150-200K worth of student loans debt and AdComs love sponsored students because they are good for employment numbers (and therefore ranking).

At 24 you are indeed young. That doesn’t mean that you are too young to apply or that you should necessarily wait until next year, but it probably wouldn’t hurt you to wait if you can use the time to get involved in some impactful ECs so you don’t have to use a bunch of undergrad stuff. I think that’s more important than getting promoted in the next year. There will be many consultants applying to Ross and all of them face the same challenges regarding having a life outside of work (all AdComs understand that the hourly demands of your PwC job are grueling). The applicants who gain acceptance are the ones who are able to define some self-definition outside of work, however challenging. AdComs give particular preference to those extracurricular passions that have a positive impact beyond personal development (e.g., leading a mentoring organization for under resourced youth vs. running a marathon).

Another note -- your GPA should include a rubric to explain that a mid-70s GPA is actually generally associated with grade “O” at Delhi University and in fact excellent. Otherwise this might be readily apparent to the AdCom and may trade at a discount relative to other schools (especially the IITs, which are overrepresented in any top b-school applicant pool). For reference, in the U.S. (where 65% of Ross students attend undergrad), a mid-70s GPA is pretty low and unimpressive. If you graduated “with distinction” it would also be helpful to include this in lieu of class ranking and percentile metrics that aren’t obtainable.

If talking to an admissions consultant further about your profile and your post-MBA plans might be helpful, feel free to sign up for a free consultation here: https://admissionado.com/free-consultat ... sultation/

Hi malladividya,

You have got a great profile. Ross is a great choice for aspirants seeking a career in tech.

It values the candidates on the basis of :

1. Self Awareness
2. Impact
3. Teamwork
4. Academics

Your profile looks like a good mix of all these values. And might I mention, a 'failed' entrepreneurial journey is way better that 'no' entrepreneurial journey.
Entrepreneurship attempt (whether failed or successful) always makes your application stand out of the pool. I had a similar situation when I was doing my B-school applications. Based on my own experience and having helped a couple of other 'failed' entrepreneurs make it to their dream b-schools, I can say that it will be comparatively easier for you to show the gaps in your profile that the b-school will help you fill. This aspect, in one's profile is a crucial part towards making a great story.

Though your extracurriculars seem a little outdated, you can leverage the fact that you are a member of a local NGO for the last 1 year. I would like to know more about your post MBA goals since Ross looks for a clear vision and you must be able to connect the experiential dots and build a great story to stand out from other applicants in the pool. Make sure you also make a list of gaps in your profile that an MBA from Ross would help you fill.

If you'd like, I am happy to hop on a call sometime this week to discuss your chances for all your target schools. Feel free to book my calendar as per your convenience.

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma,
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 everyone, I'm looking to apply to the R1 2021 intake. Would love to get community's thoughts on my profile and my chances. Thanks in advance!

Background: 25-yo Indian male.

Undergrad: 5.85/10.00 undergrad GPA, majored in computer science from a state university.

GMAT: Haven't taken yet but tracking 730 on practice tests without complete review yet. [What score can I get away with?]

Work experience: Total 4 years of work experience as of Aug 20.

1 year at an early venture capital firm.

2 years of leadership development program at a high growth robotics startup. Here I ​led multiple strategic initiatives​, ​launched and scaled new cross-functional programs​, and ​developed leadership communications​ & company narratives.

1 year of SW Product Management at the same startup.

I'll be starting as a Venture Capital Analyst from 1st Aug with the Investments arm of a global conglomerate out of India.

2 promotions so far, and multiple recognitions by the company CEO.

Extra-curriculars: Volunteered with a national not-for-profit for 3 years, helping and enabling local entreprenuers.


Post MBA goals
Short term: Join a VC / PE firm and gain more experience and credibility for my medium/long-term goal (below)
Medium/Long term: Launch my own VC fund to support enable local entrepreneurs and help build the Indian growth story.

Why Ross - in line with above, i'm looking for a school with a strong finance and entrepreneurship program

Hello indianaspirant826,
Am I reading 5.85 in undergrad GPA right? If yes, then your undergrad GPA is something for you to worry about. You haven’t mentioned any reasons in here for your low GPA, but you will have to do some explaining in your answer to the school. Have you thought of taking/or taken any outside courses to compensate for your low GPA?
I am curious how you made it in VC with such low GPA. This could be a very interesting story to tell, as also it stands a testimony to your intellectual capabilities, a point which will also not get unnoticed by the AdCom.
Your practice GMAT score is little over average GMAT score for Ross, but with a low GPA you may want to bump it up further by few more points.
One possible question is why leave a VC role for an MBA to get into a VC role again. Also, between your two VC roles, you are involved in some other roles in a startup. So you will have to straighten your story there.
For realistic chances to get into a good sized VC, H/S/W are the best; however, they are extremely competitive.
For good finance programs, there could be a few other schools that you could look at, including NYUS, UCLA and Fuqua, which are comparable to Ross.
Hope this helps a little. For a more detailed analysis, you can write to me at https://ruchipandeconsulting.com/contact-us/.