Booth Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hi, thanks for the reply. Yes I am planning to retake GMAT shortly. Hoping for the best. Assuming hypothetically I manage to get a 760, is there anything else I should work on concurrently?

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Hi nityamb,

Although Nikhil calculated your chances for Booth through a bot, I personally feel you have a shot at the program. You have good stats and you are doing a course in Data Science from Harvard which can add some value to your academic potential.

Your work-experience is putting out an impression of an achiever. If you can also give it a shape of a mature, collaborative leader, your resume and essays can really shine. Also, I do not think you do not have great extracurriculars. You have some great achievements and highlighting the right passions and making a well-weaved story can help you stand out. But I want to understand your post-MBA goals better because that will help me know the relevance of your work-ex and MBA at this point.

For Booth, here are some pointers that you can analyze for yourself and determine your fit to the program:

1. Academics: A great mix of academics, intellect and communication for which you need a great GMAT/GRE score, academic, professional certificates, merit-based scholarships, an interest in current affairs, willingness to engage in debates or have a curious mind.

2. Collaborative Leadership: Booth puts great stress on contribution to a strong community through a history of robust social services, personal time to an organisation, LORs, essay questions, touch with high school and undergrad.

3. Career: You need to have a successful career and by successful Booth implies a professional experience exhibiting a sense of personal direction, time management skills and professional recognition through LORs, essays, interviews, professional certificates etc.

If you'd like, we are happy to hop on a call with you to discuss your story at length and address your concerns better. Feel free to book a free session with us as per your convenience.

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma, Linkedin
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond
Testimonials
Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com
What s app: +65-97158525

Hi! I intend to apply for Booth Scholars Program (Deferred MBA) and it would be great to know what my chances are so here's my profile:

Background and nationality: Indian Male Engineer (Age 21)

Undergrad Information:
Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College
My CGPA: 8.1/10 ; Topper's CGPA: 9.4/10
Scored a 99.08 percentile in CAT (common admission test for MBA colleges in India)

GMAT: Not taken yet (740+ expected)

Work experience and leadership:
1. 5 month internship with Amazon as Operations Manager
(Responsible for automating operations, 3 direct reports to upper management and improved compliance of 2 business metrics, managed shift operations)

2. 2 month summer internship as business analyst at a startup
(Applied business analytics to practice data sets, no impact as such)

3. Held leadership position at Design Club, Marketing Club and volunteered for social service during undergrad
4. Did certifications in business strategy, corporate strategy and corporate finance from Coursera (online platform)

Post MBA goals:
Move into consulting and then onto product development

Would love to hear any other options to consider or any other way I could improve my profile for future applications

Thank you!

Hi,

I'm looking to understand where my application lacks depth.
GMAT: 710 (Q50-V34) (I'll be giving it again, aiming for 750)
BACKGROUND: 25 years, Female

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:
CGPA: 7.81 (BITS Pilani: Top Tier engineering university in India) Major: Electrical with Minor: Finance
XII - 93.8%
X - 10 CGPA

WORK EXPERIENCE: 2 YEARS
UBS: Business Analyst
Have been working as a lead BA on multiple projects, started an educational series for the India UBS office a year ago, Learning Ambassador for my department.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Volunteered for 2 yrs during college under a non-profit organization aimed at improving the education of nearby village children.
Volunteered under UBS community initiatives.

POST MBA GOALS: Investment Banking

I would be highly grateful if you could help me out here.

Hi Tish2695, happy to provide some thoughts on your profile.

Regarding the GMAT, if you're able to achieve the additional 40 points you're targeting (from 710 to 750) - that would get you from below to above the median (which is currently 730). A strong GMAT is always a positive and I encourage you to remain focused on that.

The average age of Booth students is 28, with 5 years of work experience. With 2 years of experience so far, you'll have 3-3.5 years at time of matriculation assuming you're applying for 2022 enrollment. From a profile perspective, you should plan on how to overcome that difference. One thing you can do is explain your career goals in more depth, and so long as your career and experience to date have enough depth and make logical sense you'll stand a better chance. Explaining why an MBA is important at this point in your career will give you a more compelling narrative.

It's great to see you've maintained extracurriculars during and after college. Many applicants will have extracurriculars during college ranging from 10 hours to 25+ hours per week. I'm not sure how in-depth you've been involved, but as you put your application together it's worthwhile explaining if and how your extracurriculars fit into your overall story (and goals) as well.

Hi all,

Plan to apply for MBA next year for Fall 2023 intake. Appreciate if someone can help me evaluate my profile, the possibility of target school, and any general advice on what I can do to improve my profile in the next 1.5 years, thanks!

General background:
Chinese Male with an HK passport

Education background
School: top 3 University at HK with a bachelor degree in finance
GPA: 3.7 / 4.3, first-class honors
GMAT: not taken yet, target 730+ and ideally 750+

Work experience:
3 years front office capital markets role (think DCM/ECM) at a Bulge Bracket IB when applying next year. 4 years at the matriculation

EC:
Led a student society at college and have some good achievements (championships in some local competitions)

Target school:
Strong consulting school: mainly M7+Tuck, top 3 in my mind are Booth, Kellogg, and Tuck

Post MBA goal:
Short-term: Top management consulting (M/B/B) in China
Long-term: Investment / corporate in China (yeah Chinese PEs really like ex-MBBs. This is different from the US)

Strength and weakness of my profile based on my own understanding:
Strength: solid academic and working experience. Clear career goal
Weakness:
1. Lack of community service experience. Long hours at work (80 hours/week) + COVID make it extremely difficult to do this when I start onboard...
2. Difficult to differentiate me from other candidates in the finance pool
3. Lack of leadership experience at work. Though our bank emphasize team work, juniors' works at the capital markets team are usually process-driven... quite difficult to think of an example that a consultant junior can put on their resume like how their works improve client's sales by X%. I have a lot to say about my leadership at student society at college though.

Nice. I am from HK too. My thought is that many people who ask this question "fit for xxx program" is not exactly helping people to answer their questions. Most of the time, they state their background information such as, age, nationality, gender, gpa, gmat, job title and job experience. However, you have go beyond the generic information and describe your strengths and weaknesses to help people to give you comments, which is great.

My advice is that at this stage, don't worry about if you are fit for certain programs. Rather, you can ask people what is the school's culture, strengths or what are the types of students they are looking for. Instead of finding a school that fit you, why don't you try to adjust yourself to make your profile fit that school's culture? Unless you have multiple offers from elite program, then "fit" is a big deal. Otherwise at this early stage, I would say explore the school by reaching out to adcom members, current students, attend their seminars and visit their school website.

I can tell you that just by visiting different schools' web site, you will be able to compare and contrast different schools' focus. For example, some schools provide student with extensive global opportunities, some focus on leadership development etc.

After doing the research, you will be able to tell which school fits you (help you to pursue your career) or if you fit that school.

One last note: You will never know what GMAT is until you have tried it. Good luck.

Hi mates,

If I have the following criteria,

- GPA 3.2

- Grad from HKUST (Big 3 in HK)

- 2.1 Honor UG Grade

- Got a scholarship during UG career

- Working in PwC till SA

- Working in 3 Listed company (2 AM level + 1 FP&A role)

- Now working in the largest real estate developer in HK as an Assistant Manager

- Lead a team of 6

- -Annual salary (~USD 65K)

Given such a profile, how much should I score in GMAT to get in Chicago Booth? Or would it be virtually impossible to get in?

For further details, please leave me your contact and I will send you my resume.

Much appreciated for your help!

And thanks a lot guys!

Hi ZhBest21,

Thanks for adding some details here. See my responses in red - happy to have a more detailed discussion with you.

Hi ZhBest21,

Thanks for sharing! Given your low GPA, you will want to maximize your GMAT score. Booth can be a tough program to get into. If you are serious about gaining admission, you will want to target the mid-700s range.

Personal MBA Coach can help you get there via our customized tutoring services with tutors who have scored in the 99th percentile on the GMAT / GRE and are graduates of MIT, Harvard, and UPenn.

Happy to take a look at your resume and discuss your candidacy in more detail. While you have some good leadership/work experience, I would like to learn more about your post-MBA goals and target school list. Please feel free to reach out to scott@personalmbacoach.com.

Best,
Personal MBA Coach

Hi ZhBest21,

Thank you for sharing your profile. Talking about your undergrad GPA it’s decent. The average GMAT for Booth stands at 730, hence I suggest you target a GMAT score between 700-750 to be on the safer ground. On the work front, you have diverse work experience this will help you to add diversity to your work profile. Highlight your responsibilities as Assistant Manager in the organization you are working and your contribution for its growth and development. Speak about some great stories of a responsible leader.

Your ECs are missing. Talk about any hobby you pursue or what you love to do in your spare time, as this will showcase your diverse personality. B-schools are really interested in knowing the candidate beyond their work. Booth highly emphasizes academics, leadership and a successful career by successful implies a professional experience exhibiting a sense of personal direction and management skills.

If you’re looking for European b-schools such as INSEAD feel free to look into this session. It's on 20th March and it's a personalised session, to help you assess your chances.

I would like to know about some major aspects of your work experience to find out some amazing points that will help you to stand out from the pool of applicants and guide you accordingly. If you’d like, we are happy to hop on a call with you sometime this week to discuss your profile in length and further chances to Booth. Feel free to book a free session with us as per your convenience.

What it takes you to get into INSEAD

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond
Testimonials
Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com
What s app: +65-97158525

[Profile Review - deferred admission ] 21M, Co-founder, 3.55 GPA, International applicant - Applying to Booth,

I appreciate any feedback or suggestions from this great community! I'll be applying for the differed admission next semester as I graduate (early in Feb 2022).

BACKGROUND:

Work experience: 4 months as a product design intern at a leading cloud startup in Malaysia (redesigned their whole system and proposed and built 2 new functionalities), 6 months remote software engineer. 3 months as a part-time UX designer.

Entrepreneurship experience: Co-founder of a Libyan startup for building and launching digital products in the Libyan market, our goal is to launch 5+ apps in the Libyan empty digital market that can bridge the gap between Libya and the digital life (Launched products so far, E-learning app, e-commerce app, one unsuccessful app), +600,000 users (from 7 countries), operating remotely in 3 countries, bootstrapped in the first two years, and we got 200,000$ in funding this year, total revenue in this year as a 3 y/o -> 500k $ (which is super high in my local currency).

Extracurriculars: Founder (Leader) & a Committee Member of the university tech club, Consultant, and UX designer at Local google developers club. Campus students Ambassador for 5 months. research assistant at H.O.M.E lab for AI studies.

In-campus related activities: Participated in Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship Bootcamp (BMoE) and pitched a business idea to 8 different investors, awarded 5th place out of 50 teams. Also, with a team of 4, I built an internal application for my university students to use. Additionally, I won 3rd place in the UX design competition by the school of engineering at my university.

Undergrad School: Duel Degree from (Sunway university [Malaysia] & Lancaster University [UK], Software Engineering major. (3 Years, 3 semesters/year, Once I graduate I'll receive a degree from each uni I've mentioned.). -> Current GPA (3.55) , aiming for (3.7).

Related coursework -> Introduction to entrepreneurship, Startup Foundry & Code camp

Other Education: Certificate in Entrepernship from oxford university (Undergraduate credit course), Starting CORe from HBX next Sept, took multiple credit courses from oxford ->(Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Applied data science)

Professional Certifications: Project management -> PMP, PMI-ACP, PSM2, PSPO2, IIBA ECBA, ITIL, and six sigma.

Technical certification -> 2x Microsoft cloud certs, Certified Software Development Associate (CSDA) from IEEE.

Online courses -> Software Product Management Specialization from the University of Alberta, MBAMATH, Business foundation specialization from University from Wharton, Entrepreneurship specialization from Wharton too.

Current active member at -> PMI, IIBA, IEEE, and IEEE Computer Society.

Sex/Nationality: M, Libyan (White African). -> underrepresented -> I've been living in Malaysia for 7 years. (7 years of international experience , lived in 4 different countries)

GMAT -> 720 (should I retake it ?)

POST-MBA GOALS :

short-term:
By the time I enroll in the program, I'll have been completed 3 years of entrepreneurship experience. I want to learn the foundation of the business to scale up my business in a +5 million$ market.

Long-term:
Developing a more diverse network and relationships. My network is extremely tech-centric (devs and PMs for the most part) and even if I'm not interested in making a jump to IB/PE or back to the normal employee life, you never know where life will lead you.



QUESTIONS:

What other things I could do as a full-time student, founder, and part-time PM that might strengthen my weak application?

What are my chances? am I going too big?

anythings to make my application stronger?

Profile Evaluation for Booth MBA 2022 Intake-
Nationality: Indian Male
Age: 22( While Applying)
GMAT: 760(Q50, V44, IR 7, AWA 6)
Duolingo: 145
Undergrad: 9.7 CGPA in Bachelor of Commerce - Major: Finance and Economics.
University: Lovely Professional University, Punjab (100% Scholarship).
12th Grade: 92% CBSE
Work Experience: 2.5 yrs as Finance Associate in Largest Infrastructure Company of India- Promoted Twice in the period currently leading a team and managing finance of Two National Projects in India under the direct control of PM Office.
3 MOnths as a Process analyst intern in Telecom Company.
EC's - Led 60+ students team and hosted many events in Undergrad, District level Hockey Player won prizes in Undergrad, Been a part of Charitable organization for the past 5 years.
Certifications: CFA Level 1, CPMP, 6 Sigma and Online MOOCs over Analytics and Data Science.
My concern is the reputation of my undergrad university.
Post-MBA goals - Product Management in FMCG Sector.
Hope for the Comments.
Also, Please let me know if pursuing MBA in India (ISB) or in Abroad is correct for my profile.

Indian, Engineer, Male, Age: 26

Undergrad: 8.26/10 from an old IIT
GMAT: 760 (Q51,V41)
Cleared all 3 levels of CFA
Workex: 4+ years currently, 3.5 years in an asian IB and currently working in the front office of an Indian brokerage firm for the past 4 months
Have an award and promotion at the IB with involvement in CSR and a host of other activities which can be backed by the recommender
Both recommendations will be from the IB

Outside work I've volunteered for teaching for quite some time, have a personal finance blog active since past 3 years with decent following and have been mentoring juniors and interns both from and outside my firm. Was the dramatics club president back in undergrad.

Post MBA goals are asset mgmt/fintech/buy-side trading

One major problem in my application is that I've resigned from my current position and will be unemployed for 1-2 months (leaving the present firm in August) as I've to tend to some personal issues. Might or might not have another job in hand by the time I submit my application. Will be working on a side project during this gap.

I did use the WAMC tool which gave me terrible chances in all the top schools and with the mentioned complication in my application I feel my chances are bleak.

Hello - thank you for this. Below is my high level profile, and I'd love any feedback you have to offer on my chances at acceptance and how to strengthen my story for Booth.

Background and nationality: 29 year old black and middle eastern woman born and raised in NYC and surrounding area

Undergrad Information: went to a state school in the northeast US (top 100 university). 3.44 GPA (but upward trajectory from start to finish). Majored in finance, double minored in economics and international business. Received honors bachelor of science after attending the university honors program. Received the highest merit scholarship offered at the university for 4 years. Graduated a month into the age of 21

Extracurriculars in college: received honors award for completing coursework and maintaining required GPA for first 2 years of program; member of 2 honors societies; dean's list several semesters; study abroad in Europe; member, choreographer and dancer for 3 years and executive board member (treasurer) for 2 years of largest student run dance company

GMAT: 720 (48Q/41V/6IR)

Work experience and leadership: 7 years of experience since undergrad in Manhattan. First, pondering law school, worked as a legal assistant for 1.5 years at an AmLaw 50 law firm (50 largest firms by revenue) supporting partners in the leveraged finance and corporate & securities practice groups. Here, I also organized the first ever day of community service as co-chair of the committee for the 300+ employees in the NY office to volunteer with the Special Olympics. Then, after deciding against law school and wanting to focus on business, spent 3.5 years at one of the most prestigious and oldest law firms in the US in business development as first a coordinator and then an analyst (promoted after 2 years) for the corporate department. Corporate practice areas included securities, m&a, leveraged finance/banking, etc. Helped source potential deals and clients, prepared pitch books and research ahead of client meetings, and maintained department stats for reporting to management. While never in a formal management role, I went from the most junior person on my 5-person team to the most senior, where I trained new coordinators and managed projects for our partners. My most recent transition was to my current company, a specialized finance company focused on investing in the legal industry (NYSE and LSE public). I joined as the first associate on a team of just a few people and helped develop the operational structure of our databases while also working with the newly hired managing director of the group in building out the team of client-facing sales people (15+ people now) and plan for approaching different markets with our product. After being promoted to manager after 3 years, I manage process improvement projects aimed at bettering how we use our databases as proactive tools for my team but also work with the C-Suite pretty heavily on data analytics on our deals, department, clients and broader business and consult on implementing future strategies accordingly. I regularly put together strategy decks for management and the board and contribute to our public annual reporting. I've managed 4 interns throughout my time at my company as well as manage our relationship with our outsourced research consultants (team of ~4) who complete projects for us.

Community and others: since college, I've volunteered for nonprofits such as Special Olympics and organizations against children's abuse, fundraised for several years for cancer research, and joined an associate board of a nonprofit supporting foster care youth in nyc (3 years on board until 2019, now more support role in fundraising and volunteering when I can). Since I've danced and performed since I was 2 years old, I continue to take classes in NYC as well as stay active via fitness classes and boxing. I love to travel (when we are not in a pandemic) and have been to almost 20 countries. I'm also a member of my company's newly formed diversity committee, working to improve our internal and external support of diverse communities.

Post MBA goals: short-term, I want to join a consulting firm (MBB and next-tier) to build upon my experience over the last couple of years in supporting company strategic initiatives and growth and get the opportunity to learn about and help many new companies. Long-term, after at least a few years in consulting and broadening my expertise, I'd like to transition to industry (potentially to a client, F500 range) and use the quantitative and management skills I have gained in my MBA to support a single company's growth trajectory, eventually as Chief Strategy Officer. I'm not set on an industry yet (I may have an easier transition to financial/professional services since that is where my background in but I'd be open to exploring this during my MBA and internship).

Any thoughts or feedback you have on my profile would be great!

Hi yasminescott,

Thank you for sharing such a detailed profile. Your profile is amazing. Let’s go step by step in evaluating your profile.

Booth majorly evaluates the candidates on these three values:
1. Academics
2. Collaborative Leadership
3. Career

Academics: Your academics are great, and a GMAT score of 720 is quite less than the average required for Booth, but I believe the other elements of your profile very well compensate for it. Your profile is a strong one. I see every aspect in your profile that Booth uses to assess a candidate's potential.

Work experience: I genuinely believe that your exceptional work experience is the main highlight of your Resume. Your work experience should have provided you with a multitude of outstanding leadership experiences that you may discuss. You will need to demonstrate your career progression and how you continue to move up the ladder. You must discuss how your various roles have helped you build leadership skills and handle situations when things have gone wrong. You have super good work experience, and from the details you have shared, each part shows how adaptive you are and demonstrates high intellect.

ECs: Amazing! They are noteworthy, especially your efforts in helping different organizations. Stories related to dancing and traveling will add color to your profile. Speaking about all these things will help adcoms to know you beyond your work and how you can contribute to the community in different ways.

Your post-MBA goals are sorted, There are very few people who really have clear goals behind pursuing an MBA, and you seem one among them. Make sure you specify how b-school will help fill gaps in your profile and lead you to your life goals.

Overall you have a good profile and have shot at top b-schools. What’s going to matter most in your profile is your 'Branding for MBA'—branding is how you present your profile to business schools. It is critical in making a convincing case to adcoms. It is the pre-work that we do with all our applicants.

If you’d like, we are happy to hop on a call with you sometime this week to discuss your profile in length and guide you more on your profile. Feel free to book a free session with us as per your convenience.

How to enhance your application and maximize your chances for fall intake

Cheers!
Shantanu Sharma
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond
Testimonials
Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com
What s app: +65-97158525

Hello yasminescott,

Thanks for sharing your profile in such detail. You have some great experience via both your work and extracurriculars. You will certainly want to highlight your management experience. Chicago booth is a very analytical school, so it will be key that you showcase your analytical abilities as well.

Looking at your post-MBA goals, most business schools want you to be decisive and have clear plans laid out before arriving on campus. While no one will hold you to what you write in your applications, this means being decisive about your long-term goals as well (in your case, choosing a long-term industry that you want to work in).

Goal development is a crucial part of the application process and part of our comprehensive services. Feel free to send a note to scott@personalmbacoach.com to discuss your application strategy.

Personal MBA Coach also helps with school selection, essay writing, interview prep, and much more. We work with a lot of folks in finance and would be happy to provide guidance here.

Regards,
Personal MBA Coach