Hello Gil,
Thanks for your effort with providing such valuable advice ; its greatly appreciated!
Mentioned below are details which may give you an insight into my application:
From: India, Age- Will be 29 this July
GPA: 3.28 Babson College, Massachusetts with a Finance major, Bachelors of Science, Business Management Degree in 2006
Started college with a 2.6 GPA freshman year & final semester was 3.9 GPA. Junior/Senior Year GPA was 3.5+and Finance Major GPA was about 3.7
Work Experience: (4 years in all PLUS entrepreneurial projects)
3 years in Financial Services at a small boutique firm in Boston - Financial Analyst, Investments (2006-2007 then 2008-2010)
1 year in Family Business - Manufacturing (India) from 2007-2008 ; then went back to Boston from 2008-2010
Returned to India in 2010 October as my father was diagnosed with cancer so i had to leave and return immediately.
Non Profit:
Im working on a non profit organization at this point but do not have it legally established yet - 125 embroiders/weavers have joined and my goal is to educate them and really market their services to fashion designers & consumers directly - also making sure they are not exploited in any way what so ever. My goal is to grow this to a membership of about 500 people over the next few months. Just thought of mentioning this on my application, for some reason i hadnt though of this earlier .. you think its a good idea?
Absolutely! Makes sense to mention this non-profit initiative because: 1. You already have some traction to show. 2. The fact you haven't been working over the past half a year or so (if I get this correctly) is likely to be a concern. This initiative is likely to mitigate this concern a bit. Entrepreneurship Experience:
Started a Fashion Accessories business while working , designed a collection of scarves and sold to e-commerce websites and boutiques in USA (2007 onwards while in India)
Also started another fashion jewelry brand a month ago (May 2011 ) and selling in the USA again- again handled everything from designing right up to dealing with buyers
GMAT: 700
Passion, Personal Story And Career goals:
Major passion is Textile Design (woven textiles- I also learned to weave myself over these years) of the type achieved during the highest period of the Renaissance in Europe, in Turkey & Iran. Long term goal is to setup a luxury lifestyle brand that has the ability to revitalize those extravagant hand woven textiles by making the designs more contemporary and suitable for Haute Couture and the finest Home Decor. Setting up such a company would be patronizing the work of villages full of weavers and artists in India who have left the trade for other lucrative professions and/or are dying in poverty due to no demand of their work. I feel an obligation to these artisans as patronage of the arts in India stopped around 1950 when the british raj was abolished. I belong to an Indian Royal Family
You mention this as a "by the way" - but, based on our experience, I think it is important that this fact be very noticeable in your application - find a way to bring it, even a few times, in the context of some of the essays/recommendations/resume so that in a way that seems natural, not forced. (not anymore though, my grand father was the last ruler---various Family members now are into National level politics- senator etc.) and would like to revitalize this industry but with an approach of running a luxury brand which is why i want to pursue a good MBA.
Keeping my long term goals in mind, I would like to work in the Luxury Industry immediately following the MBA program, on the management side which would eventually prepare me for my longer term goal !
Should i elaborate on family background and this story in my application essays?
Yes, see above. Is there a way to connect this focus with your investment job? To re-focus the presentation of your investment work in a way that emphasizes any investments you did related to the luxury/textile industry? I dont know where i could stand a chance though im very keen on Columbia (would early action help??)
Yes, it is likely to help a bit. , NYU, Dartmouth (Early action???)
Same here , Yale, UVA Darden and the more elite ones-where do you think i should apply... Id like Kellogg/Chicago and Wharton too but there's no change il get in there-
Your help is much appreciated-- Thank You!
On the basis of the information above, and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations, our experience shows that you will be a competitive-to-stretch (closer to competitive) candidate at Darden, competitive-to-stretch at Tuck, NYU and Yale (I put Yale here under the assumption that your non-profit initiative will gain a bit more traction by the time you apply), and stretch at Columbia, Kellogg, Chicago and Wharton.
Take a look at application tips and scholarship info for some of these schools here:
https://www.aringo.com/schools.htm
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Gil LeviAringo.comGet a free online chances indication now (no registration required)Put Me in Business (applying in less than a year)
Put Me in Business (applying in more than a year)