Ask Sia Admissions

Hi, can you please review my profile?

*Background*

Overview:
I’m looking to bring a strong sense of purpose in my career by transitioning fully to social impact. I’ve always wanted to go into social impact full-time, but I needed to build a niche and valuable skillset before doing so. Regarding marketable skills, I feel ready now, but I need an MBA to help me transition.

Work experience:
I'm currently a Product Manager in Internet Business in a Multinational Telecommunications company. I have 5.5 years of full-time experience, all in Telecommunications product management. The firm I work for is one of the top ones in my country, Bangladesh, and is a part of the 10th largest mobile network operator in the world. I've gotten regular, formal awards (Marketing Award for six quarters out of the twelve quarters of my employment till date + Employee of the month multiple times) at work, and my portfolio has increased with time. I can back my achievements with solid numbers.

Some career highlights
- Successful completion of 1-month international assignment & placement in HQ
- Former Management Trainee with fast track progression to Managerial role, within only 2.5 years of my career
- Project Manager for the first telecom merger in Bangladesh
- Product Manager for Facebook's Freebasics program in Bangladesh, which focuses on giving internet connectivity to the bottom of the pyramid, launching it for the first time in my country

On the side, I'm a director at my family business which focuses on government and non-profit sector consulting. I do business advisory for non-profits, and one of these non-profits was founded by an Oxford Said MBA alum. My area of expertise is "mobile tech & communications for development".

Extracurriculars:
During my undergrad I won multiple international & national awards in social entrepreneurship competitions. One of that was GSEC organized by the University of Washington's Foster School of Business. My team had beat out MIT in that competition. I was also awarded by Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, for winning Yunus Centre's social entrepreneurship idea competition. I've coordinated nationwide charity drives back in my undergrad, 100+ people reporting to me.

Other coursework:
I finished MBA Math and I scored 100% in all of the MBA Math courses.

Nationality: Bangladeshi

Sex: Male

*Stats*

GRE Score:
My GRE total is 328, with a breakdown of 169 in Verbal, 159 in Quant, 4.5 in AW. I'm also done with my TOEFL with a 113/120.

Undergrad GPA:
I graduated from the best business school in my country. My alma mater has alums in top business schools all over the world, including the business schools that I plan to apply to.

My 3.13/4 CGPA (Major- Finance) is measly though. I dived into ECAs during my first two years, achieving great success at the expense of my academics. Reprioritized and did very well in academics during my third year. During my fourth year I contracted Hepatitis E just before my final exams, and my CGPA took a nosedive. My last year’s GPA was 3/4 versus my third year’s GPA of 3.7/4. I had the choice of postponing my studies for a year or taking a bad hit to my CGPA, & I chose the latter due to financial reasons. Anyways, even after taking my horrible fourth year in account, my last two years' CGPA is 3.35/4, so there is an upward trend there.

*MBA Info*

Goal of MBA:
Working in social impact on the side has actually inspired me to enter social impact full-time post-MBA, perhaps joining my family's business on a full-time basis, and/or starting a sister organization to the family business focused on my area of expertise. My area of expertise, Telecommunications, is very important for social impact in my country, Bangladesh. Our internet connectivity is almost entirely mobile communications dependant.

Working in a large private organization has not given me the training I need to embark on an entrepreneurial venture or engage full-time in expanding a family business. I need an MBA to make me ready.

Target schools:
I plan to apply for the 2021 intake. My top favorites are- Said, Judge, Yale, Haas, Kellogg, Tuck, Johnson (P.S. Regarding Said and Judge, I made sure that I am eligible despite my CGPA, even though their websites give off a different impression)

My next favorites are- Stern, Fuqua, Ross, UCLA, LBS, INSEAD, Darden, Tepper, UNC, Foster, Goizueta, McDonough, Owen, Mendoza, Scheller, Rotman

I'll winnow down this list with further research.

However, I want a reality check so that I can focus on the schools which I actually stand a realistic chance at. For example, I don't think I'll be able to make it to Haas, Kellogg, Stern. I plan to resit the GRE to raise my Quant, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to make the time for it.

I'll also welcome suggestions on schools that I may be missing out on, which are good fits for me.

Posted from my mobile device

Hi,
I'm interested in doing an MBA. Kindly review my profile. Sharing a snapshot of the same below.

Bio: Indian, M, 24yo
Undergrad: Comp Sci from top 5 colleges in India(IIT)
Undergrad GPA: 5.6, It is on the lower side bur from a very prestigious college.
GRE: 329(Q166 V163)
Current Role: Project manager
Current Sector: Finance & Investments
Work experience: Worked in a MNC for 2 years where I worked abroad a project of 3 months duration. Got a promotion from a junior level to a Cloud lead. I worked with cross functional teams in India and US heavily- going to show teamwork and adaptability.
Post this, I Moved into an equity Research firm as a Project lead. Currently working as Project lead since 5 months. I currently lead multiple projects standing as a common ground between the investments team and the tech side.
Total work experience: 36 months by the time of Joining.
Short term goals: Move into an investment firm and work on Portfolio research in the equity markets(Sell side).
Long term goals: Move into a Private equity firm/Hedge fund in the buy side.

Extras:
Worked as a volunteer for differently abled
National level chess player
Lead departments in national level Fests.
Worked on an incognito startup(Failed)(Not sure if I should mention this)

Referees: Manager and colleague
Target Schools (R2): Any of the top 25 in US

Hi rohitdesh893,

Thank you for reaching out and for sharing your profile. It's not clear to me what type of project you are leading (are you in a CS type role within the Finance sector). Perhaps you can elaborate on that a bit; happy to schedule a consultation if you would find it helpful: https://www.siaadmissions.com/complimen ... nsultation.

While you have a great GRE score and the promotion in such short period of time looks great on a resume, given that you have limited years of work experience and less than ideal GPA, I would encourage you to wait another year to apply so you can really speak to the work experience and maximize your application ROI. While you can still apply this application cycle, as there are MBA programs that accept younger applicants, given the competitive sector you are targeting and the overepresented demographic you belong to, an admit would be challenging. If you apply next year round 1, you will have a higher probability of acceptance.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Susan

Hello Sir/Madam,

It would really help me if you can take a few minutes to go through my profile and help me evaluate my changes of a fit into the top b-schools in US.

My profile at a glance :

Nationality : Indian
Age : 24

Higher Secondary : 9.7/10
Senior Secondary : 97.8%
B.Tech : Computer Science Engineer. CGPA 8.72/10. VIT University. One of the top 20 Engineering schools in India. Initially was too focused on Entrepreneurship hence had a low GPA but once I realised I wanted to go for higher studies, I put my whole and soul into studies with the last two semesters giving me 9.5/10 and 9.8/10 in GPA.

GMAT : 730 Q50 V39 IR6 AWA4

Internships: 2
JPS Precast : Business development associate intern.
Novartis : Summer Intern.

Work Experience : 31 months at Novartis(Pharmaceutical Industry). 12 months as an Associate, 16 months as an Analyst and 3 months as a Manager.

Impact at work :
1. 2 promotions in 2 years. Currently performing the role of a Digital Operations Manager(Need a minimun exp of 5 years. So probably the youngest in the firm).
2. Represented my firm at the Bio Asia Conference.
3. Was part of the young leaders connect with the CEO.
4. Youngest person to receive the Above and Beyond Gold award.
5. Winner of the CIE - IIIT Medtech Hackathon. Developed a quantifiable mechanism to track the progress of alzheimers and the impact of medicine in curbing the same. Was offered an opporunity with a seed fund to take the idea forward. Could not because the the idea belongs to the firm since we represented the firm.
6. Part of a major initiative to completely transform the way patients are hired for clinical trials. Currently active in 3 different countries and very soon to expand to most of Europe and Americas.
7. Part of the first team of college graduates ever to convert the internship at the firm.
8. Led a team of 4 in streamlining the process to induct fresh grads into the firm and was part of the hiring team as well.
9. Organised several events for the firm both in the cultural and team building space.

Most Impactful achievement :
Developed a platform that automates the documentation required while recording clinical trials. The tools saves almost 2000 hours per annum. And it is currently used by almost 80% of trials in the organisation. Given that COVID has halted most of the work around the globe, this tool saw tremendous traction and really made an impact in the way clinical trials are documented. Given that clinical trials consume the most amount of time in a for a drug to release into the market, it made a huge difference that too with COVID all around.

Accomplishments outside work:
Gained admission to one of the most competetive high schools in the country with a merit scholarship. The conversion rate of which is 8%.
Won INSPIRE scholarship for being in the top 1% of students in Senior Secondary.
Organised and oversaw the execution of Kids festival, probably the first of its kind for a public school children, which saw several dignitaries attending and it soon got expanded in scope to several other schools.

Extracurriculars/Hobbies :
I am the founder/author of a Familial Public Charity trust and we try to provide for the educational requirements of the less previleged.
I am also one of the co founders of an agricultural startup with a business turover of almost $100k in the very first year.
I really love to Fish and travel.
Was part of a NGOs while in college.

Thats pretty much on a high level about me. I would really appreciate if you could tell me what schools are within my reach(I know that being an Indian with a 730, M7 may be out of my reach. I have always dreamed of placing myself with the likes of Ross, Darden, Stern, Anderson). I am looking to go into consulting post my MBA.

Thank you for your time and inputs in this regard.

I am currently working as manager in a Public Sector Bank with 4 yrs of experience. But I have a gap of 5 years after my graduation. Was preparing for some Govt exams. Now I am starting my GMAT preparation , but I am having doubt that is it possible to get into a Good B-School in India with a good gmat score of 720+ or this 5 year gap would hinder that even with any Gmat score. My Gmat preparation depends on this. Wether I should go with gmat or not. Please put some clarity.

Posted from my mobile device

Profile Evaluation for MBA 2022 Intake-
GMAT: 760
Duolingo: 145
Undergrad: 9.7 CGPA in Bachelor of Commerce(WES-> US Equivalent Undergrad).
University: Lovely Professional University, Punjab
12th Grade: 92%
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 - 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 and Online MOOC's over Analytics and Data Science.
Post-MBA goals - Want to transit in Product Management in FMCG.
Hope for the Comments.
Also, Please let me know if pursuing MBA in India or in Abroad is correct for my profile.
which schools can I apply for?

While it is great to visit the schools you are applying to; many universities have information sessions, webinars, etc. designed for prospective students who are applying from afar.