Please evaluate my profile

Question

Hi experts,
It would be great if you could find some time to evaluate my profile.

Background
Personal: 25 years old, Male, Indian
GMAT 2nd attempt: 720 (Q 51/ V 35/ AWA and IR awaited)
GMAT 1st attempt : 650 (Q50/V29/AWA 4.5 and IR 5)
Undergrad/Post grad : Dual degree from Indian Institute of Technology Madras (B.Tech Mechanical Eng, M.Tech Energy Technology) 
GPA: 8.5/10
Student Semester Exchange program : Did my 7th semester in NTU, Singapore. Scored the highest GPA in NTU of 3.96/4.

Work Ex:2+ years (banking and insurance domain)
1.5 years with Aviva Life Insurance : As a business analyst. Working with the strategic initiative team to make sales strategy.
Worked on various statistical model to segment the customer portfolio and predict future business to bridge the gap between target and predicted business.)
Employee award (one quarterly). Got an award as early as 9 months with Aviva Life insurance.
7 months with Citi bank Global (Current) : Working as a Senior Business analyst with North America Retail Banking Citi Partners.
Work is to analyze past data, build predictive and descriptive statistical models and consult partners with the right business strategy. 
Ventures explored : 
1.Founder of a Indian food chain restaurant chain called “Teekhi Mirch”.
Successfully ran the restaurant for 9 months. Got a break even on the overall running cost from the 5th month (which is rare across industry). Some of the sales strategy included ,
1. Segmentation of the customer base to value segments and offering different product and service levels to each segment
2. Product bundling to find best combo for each segment.
3. Retention calls and SMS for high attrition propensity customers.
4. Resource effective marketing strategy
5. Raw material inventory management and supply chain optimization for the food delivery
6. Streamlining the overall process.
These strategies were very rare in industry gave the restaurant a competitive edge.
2. Founder of a travel consulting company Naya sheher :
Though the company is yet to enter the market. Following are the key highlights,
1. Helps people relocating to new cities.
2. Helps client cut discounts in unknown cities and help vendor get a competitive edge
3. Helps people connect with people who are supposed to move to same cities.

Extra-curricular:
Lead a team of 100 coordinators and volunteer to conduct a college festival called Mechanica.
Won many Robotics and Industrial design competition in college.
Instrumental in various tech fest and cultural festivals organized in college
Hostel Badminton Captain.
Career goal:
Want to work in the strategy/consulting field and expand my horizon to various industries. 
My plan is to apply for following,
1 of the top 10 : Wharton
1 in India : ISB
2 in Singapore : NTU and NUS (Have already been in NTU for a semester)
1 in Hong Kong University
 Following are my queries,
1. Will me GMAT 1st attempt have a negative impact on my application. If yes, then to what extent?
2. Do you think I should apply to more of top 10 universities. If yes, do you think I stand a good chance
3. Do you think I should mention my ventures in my application.
4. Thank You!

Admissionado · Answer

Hey there dude, First of all, let me say that things look pretty good. You have your 720, you are an IIT grad with good grades, and work in good industry. Your two application weaknesses are that 1. Your work experience is a bit on the low side of things, so other applicants may have more impressive profiles 2. Your work experience is good, but maybe could be better (in terms of companies/positions) To adress your questions: 1. Not at all. Congratulations on your fantastic 720!

2. I think that you have a good shot, and I would urge you to apply to as many places as you can (as long as you would like to go there). I think Wharton will be tough for you, but maybe some other schools in Top 10 will be easier: Duke, Kellogg, Haas.. and I would also urge you to consider some Top 20 schools, from which basically you can get the similar types of consulting jobs and fulfill your goal. 3. Of course! These things make you stand out, and it is VERY important for you to stand out. But don;t spend toooo much time on these. They look good, but as you have written yourself, haven't yet necessarily had fantastic long-term results.... So the risk you took, the venture itself is fascinating, and add to your interest and profile, but you also want to make sure you leave space for good concrete results on your projects. 4. You're welcome! Overall, things could pretty good, but keep in mind that you are in a very competitive pool, and applying with one or two slight weaknesses in your application. If I were you, I'd swap out Wharton for another Top 10 school at which you'd have better chances, and maybe (if you have the time) add one more Top 20 school to your list

tavishsrivastava · Answer

Thanks Jon for the super quick reply. I have one question though..Do you think applying in NTU NUS will be a wise call for me..

Admissionado · Answer

In terms of what?

It depends on you and your goals.

Sure, top US schools have more prestige internationally and in the US, but if you know you want to remain in Asia, they can be fantastic choices.

tavishsrivastava · Answer

Jon, I do not have any preference of staying in Asia. But as it is a 1 year MBA course, my experience of only 2 years can be on a very low side among the applicants.

Admissionado · Answer

Well, your experience should be thee years by matriculation, and yes your experience will be on the low side. This holds also for US schools, but as you know probably, the Asian and European schools tend to have more experiences and older candidates. Can you apply anyway? Sure! Would it improve your chances if you waited a year? Probably. But again you need to measure that against the advantage of going at the right time for you, and it's definitely something to think about.

Please evaluate my profile

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