geetsawhney93 wrote:
Hi guys,
I would like to get my profile evaluated. Just wanted to get an idea about what GMAT score should I aim for to get admission in IMD and whether there is any scope for a scholarship.
Profile
Indian Male (28) – Lawyer - Targeting to join 2023-24 batch
Education Background:
10th: 87%
12th: 91%
Undergrad: Five Years Law Degree - Bachelors of Legal Sciences LLB (BLS LLB) (57%/100%) from the University of Mumbai. However, one needs to take into account that the highest score is around 70% and most of the students fall in 60%-65%.
Though my college (Government Law College, Mumbai) is consistently ranked amongst the top ten law schools in India, it is known only for its name. It doesn't have good faculty and attendance is also not compulsory. However, it gives the flexibility to join a law firm from the second or third year onwards as an intern/paralegal. Therefore, I continued to work as a paralegal/professional support lawyer in India's top 3 law firms during my college and specialized in the field of Competition Law (when I was not even taught this subject in the college).
Please Note: Students with 62% marks or between 60-65% from the University of Mumbai also get admitted to Harvard Law School (along with many other top US and European law schools) every year from my college.
During my college days, I was involved in a number of extra-curricular activities such as being a member of different societies/clubs, participating and winning moot courts/model united nations and writing and publishing research articles, and winning essay competitions.
Job profile:
Around 4 Years - working as a Competition Lawyer with 2 of India's leading law firms.
During this time, I was involved in India-specific filing of global M&A transactions such as Monsanto/Bayer, TPG/Intel, JSW/Apollo/Monnet, and other high-value deals such as Vodafone/Idea. I was also part of matters involving then ongoing cartel investigations esp. auto-parts cartel leniency cases as well as paper cartel investigation and abuse of dominance matters including cases involving Google, Uber etc. I have also represented many private equity players such as Temasek, CDPQ, Brookfield, Baring, Chryscapital, Carlyle, KKR, Warburg Pincus.
I have worked with small teams since only 3 to 4 people are required on a transaction/case, however, I have handled multiple matters at a time and ended up working with different people/teams simultaneously. Further, during a 2-year period I was the sole person handling this area of law, doing all the work from the scratch, getting involved in business development activities to pitch new clients, and single point of contact for the entire organization to reach out for any assistance related to my work.
I have continued to publish (extensively researched) articles and online blogs on my area of specialization during this period.
Other Information:
In mid-2020, I suffered from serious health issues and I had to give up my career for some time to avail proper treatment and get better. This took me around a year to recover (mid-2020 to mid-2021). During this time, I continued my research work related to my field of specialization and I also did part-time modeling. Subsequently, I decided to change my field of profession but wasn't sure what should I opt for. This was long overdue as I realized that while I am passionate about my work, it doesn’t seem very significant/challenging and can’t become the purpose of my life. This can’t be something I would like to do for the rest of my life.
During the last 6-7 months, I have been assisting my dad who has his own CA practice on tax litigation and related matters. I also went through professional counseling trying to figure out what I would like to pursue and I also did my own research (including going through job profiles on LinkedIn and what are the essential educational qualifications). Based on this, I have decided to pursue MBA and I am planning to apply to IMD, LBS at least for now. I am thinking but not sure whether to apply to INSEAD or not. I am not planning for US business schools since they are too expensive and have a 2-year program.
Please let me know your thoughts on my chances of getting admitted to some top business schools including IMD.
Thanks in advance.
I read your profile as -
"Over-represented demo, Lawyer, average university, below-average grade, 4+ WE in local companies"
"Why MBA" and "Why XYZ school" is the most important factor of an application. All those things you mentioned are secondary. MIT Sloan, Darden, Ross, Tepper, etc do not need a GMAT if you can convince them with your essay.
Almost all MBA programs are unique, but IMD is totally different. The class size is approx 90. The main focus of IMD Adcom is the uniqueness of each participant and diversity. Here is a simple checklist -
1. Country - The chances of getting admitted are more if you come from an under-represented country, such as Malawi, Mongolia, Samoa. If you come from an over-represented country such as India, China, the US, the chances of getting admitted will be less.
2. Educational & Professional Background - Engineers, CA, Lawyers, Consultants have tough competition. Astronauts can get it easily.
3. Language - If you speak the language of the country where the school is located, the chances are better. Please note that IMD prefers multilingual applicants. If you speak French (or German), your profile is good.
4. Entrepreneurship - If you started your own business, it is well regarded.
5. International Work Exposure - If you work in different cultures, you are ready to handle diversity.
6. Social Impact - If you did something significant for the world, you may get any of the top MBA without GMAT or other requirements.
7. Academics - If you are from tier-1 colleges (In India - IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, NLSUI, DU etc), you are considered a good student. Moreover, CGPA below 3 would hamper the chance of getting an interview call.
8. Test Score - IMD does not care much about GMAT. The minimum is 630 and the median is 680.
9. Work Experience - The average work experience is 7 years, while Indians at IMD have greater WE than average. If you are an employee of a Fortune 100 company you may get some advantages.
10. Reference - If alumni refer you to IMD, it will be beneficial. A few schools take alumni referral very seriously - IMD is one of these.
11. Personal Background - Many schools, esp schools from the US, give benefits to first-graduation graduates. I am not sure how much IMD values it.
12. Extra-curriculars - If you did something significant apart from your education and profession. It does not impact much, but still, it can help you stand out from all applicants. However, activities such as playing sports at school or participating in toastmaster will not help at all.
Measuring your profile with the above parameters, you can predict your chance at IMD.
You might a chance at INSEAD and LBS if you get 740+. For IESE and HEC, you can target 720+. That too, when you take help from a good consultant. You need to bring other aspects of yourself - not only as a Lawyer. The Adcom wants to know who you really are.
If your academics and profession are removed from your profile, what else is remaining. At this moment, I can suggest you have a premium profile evaluation from a Top Consultant. It might cost you around 12-20k INR, but it is quite useful.