Please evaluate my profile!

Question

Request you to kindly evaluate my chances from the below profile:

Indian Female 23.

School - Class X - 95.6% 
School - Class XII - 93.5% 
University - B.Sc Economics - 3.58/4.0 CGPA - Symbiosis International University - 3year degree

Work Experience: Mckinsey & Company (2 yrs, 11 months)
Analytics Analyst (Marketing & Sales)

GMAT Score 740 (Q50 V40)

Schools in mind: Stanford, Haas, Kellogg, NYU Stern

Post MBA Goals: Short term: Product management, Product strategy roles in the Retail tech space.

AvantiPrep · Answer

Hi srivshreya , Thank you for your post. You have a nice GMAT score and strong work experience, so with the right execution, I believe you can field competitive applications. Still, I'd say that your list of target schools could use some more balance. Stanford is an extreme long shot for pretty much anyone and Kellogg and Haas are highly competitive. I think you should consider two more programs from the T10-20 range to diversify your strategy. Application execution will be critical for you. (It is for everyone, after all!) That means coherent and specific career goals; a deep and well articulated rationale for why you need an MBA (and "why now"); a specific understanding of each program, what you'd do there, and how you'd uniquely contribute; personality, passion, and purpose (what's "your story"?); and strong and specific recommendations. Here are a few questions to ask yourself (and ultimately articulate in your applications): On the career side, it seems you've given some good consideration to your goals. Continue researching and refining them, and perhaps even speaking with people in the types of roles and types of companies you'd hope to join post-MBA. What exact role(s) are those? At what company or companies? Where? Why? How does who you are what you've done to this point PLUS the MBA get you there? What knowledge, skills, and experience do you have that are already relevant? What knowledge, skills, and experience are you missing and therefore need to acquire via the MBA? On the school side, how exactly will you acquire them at XYZ program? Which courses, clubs, and extracurriculars? What about that program's culture and community and career opportunities make it right for you? What unique perspective can you bring to the class? In what ways can you uniquely contribute? What's your "passion and purpose" and how does that align with the program? Continue to research programs that align with your goals, diversify your list, attend events (online and/or in person) and chat with current students and alumni who share your interests. On the recommendation front, make sure your recommenders understand how introspective and specific their recommendations need to be. You have a strong foundation, so you don't want a couple of lukewarm or vague recommendations undermine your chances. Recommendations need to be very thoughtful and full of specific examples that support the claims being made. Choose your recommenders wisely; meet with them to introduce them to the process / questions and discuss your goals / reasons to pursue an MBA; and brainstorm themes and supporting examples you might want them to cover ("recommender prep"). One further observation I'll share relates to "age." Applying with three years of work experience to enroll with four aligns pretty well with these programs, so the work experience seems fine. For example, the average work experience at Stanford is four and the average at the other programs you've listed is five. The only piece that could give the adcoms a hint of pause is your age. Optically, seeing "23 years old" feels a little young when the average age at most of these programs is 28. I realize you're likely a little younger than your peers because you graduated in three years rather than four. Will you turn 24 before applying? If so, you'd be 25 at enrollment, which feels a little more in scope. I'd be happy to continue our conversation via a Free Consultation: https://www.avantiprep.com/free-consultation.html Best Regards, Greg

suthernam · Answer

Hi Greg,

Thanks for your response. 
It is by far the most useful answer I have got.

One very important concern for me was that 2 of these schools - Stanford & Haas explicitly mention on the website that 3 year degree from India is not acceptable.
I mailed both adcoms and here are the replies:-

*****************HAAS***********************

Hello Shreya,

Thank you for your interest in the full-time MBA program at Berkeley Haas. Please note, you are eligible to apply with your 3-year degree, however you could be at a competitive disadvantage in the pool of applicants who primarily have 4-year degrees.

One of the best tools for learning more about our program is our website, which outlines the details of the MBA program as well as the application procedure:

Each applicant’s professional experience is reviewed along with academic aptitude, GMAT or GRE examination results, TOEFL or IELTS examination results (if applicable), and letters of recommendation. Generally speaking, most of the current MBA students have between 3 and 8 years of full-time professional experience following the completion of their undergraduate degree.

We encourage you to review the profile of our students at. This will give you a good reference point for measuring your qualifications in comparison.

Best wishes,
Pam Maestas

Full-Time Berkeley MBA Admissions
Haas School of Business
University of California, Berkeley
(510) 642-1405

******************GSB*********************************

Hello Shreya,

A U.S. bachelor’s degree or equivalent is required for admission to the Stanford MBA Program; yet our admissions committee has flexibility Please note the following for international degrees from India:

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal: Bachelor’s degree in engineering or medicine; master’s degree in all other fields. (Note: A three-year bachelor’s degree in any subject is not considered sufficient for graduate study at Stanford. The two-year master’s degree following the three-year bachelor’s degree from India is required.)

Information about our US Bachelor's degree equivalent requirement can be found in the "Admission" section of the MBA Program website. These are Stanford’s general requirements. While the preference is for a four-year equivalent, we have flexibility with these requirements and you are welcome to apply.

Kind regards,

Nancy

MBA Admissions Office

Stanford Graduate School of Business

**************************************************************************************

Now you have already mentioned that GSB is a long shot and their response is also more negative but do you think I should take a chance by applying.

Also on the age front, I will turn 24 by the time I apply and 25 when I join.

AvantiPrep · Answer

Hi  srivshreya ,

Thank you for your kind words and follow-up note!

The three-year degree element is worth covering, so thank you for highlighting it. Beyond Stanford and Haas, I'd encourage you to look deeply into the requirements and FAQs for all of the programs you're considering, and if anything remains unclear, you should also reach out to those programs to inquire. As for Stanford and Haas, I read both of these to be fairly strict, but with a hint of flexibility.

Here's  another Haas response  from an Admissions Chat four months ago:

"Hello Anonymous, with a three year Bachelor's degree, you are welcome to apply to the program, however your application might not be as competitive as individuals who have completed a four year Bachelor's degree. We usually suggest for applicants in a similar situation to complete a one year Master's degree or certificate program to have the same number of study as the majority of the applicants. Keep in mind we have a holistic overview process."

That response and Haas's email response to you leave the door open a little bit more than their official requirements and FAQs. Stanford's email response leaves the door open slightly, too, citing that they have "flexibility" in the same breath that they're telling you a three-year degree does not satisfy the official requirements.

In both cases (and potentially others, again you should check the rules for every single school), you are going to be at a competitive disadvantage but are welcome to apply. You'd basically be hoping that "McKinsey" helps provide enough credibility to make up for the three-year degree, and that they're willing to look past the academic elements of the requirement. And they will need to fall in your with your applications of course! The three-year degree does make things harder for you, which is tough with an already challenging list of schools.

Again, you should continue to vet the policy for every program you're considering, and it should factor into your school selection strategy. You can still apply to these programs, but understand that it's going to be more difficult than it would otherwise be. I would calibrate your school strategy accordingly, favoring programs that are open to it, and probably being a little more conservative with your overall strategy and specific school selection than I suggested in my previous post, when I did not explicitly address the three-year degree factor.

I will let you know if I have any future discussions that shed further light on the matter. Coming from McKinsey, you're in a little better of a situation than someone who has a three-year degree and nondescript or mediocre work experience. But it still puts you at a competitive disadvantage relative to if you had a four-year degree.

Best Regards,
Greg

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