Rotman Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hello arpitalewe

On the face of it, 2 years might be on the lower side for most B schools, especially considering your Indian Engineer background. Look at it this way- You will be competing with other applicants, who, by the virtue of having worked in the industry longer will most likely have stronger achievements and career progress. So make sure you make the cut and are sure this is the right time for you to pursue an MBA (versus a few years later).
That said, it depends on what your long term/short term career goals are, something missing in your post. If your career goals demand an MBA (and that too now) the point above may be negated.

Best
Varun Sharma
+919137133507
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
info@mbakarma.com

Hello Shubham11

Academic scores, GMAT, extracurricular (Toastmasters) can help you stand out.
Not many top B Schools in Canada, so you shouldn't get confused. However, the right set of schools, along with your GMAT, work ex, extracurricular depend highly on your career goals. You may want to read here to add to your research on career goals.

Best
Varun Sharma
+919137133507
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
info@mbakarma.com

Hello anindakumars

If IVEY has stated their preference for a certain range of work ex, then you have it straight from the proverbial horse's mouth- there is no better source.
What you must understand is that along with your profile, academics, GMAT, work ex, career goals etc. a major part in admissions is played by 'institutional priorities'.
Due to any number of 'institutional priorities' the university may not want to admit certain types of candidates (maybe they cannot find such people jobs or maybe such people do not do well in the program, there can be N number of reasons- let us not get into predicting them)
Some schools such as IVEY may be clear and vocal about it, but not all and not for all types of candidates. There are just too many variables involved.
That is why the best idea is to connect with the university and express an interest. What you hear from them will set you on the right path. Discuss your profile, career goals, everything. The school (if right for you) will also appreciate you connecting with them and showcasing genuine interest. This, if not improve your chances of admission, will at least not hurt it in any way. And will give you a lot of first hand insight also. Another way to is speak to recent alumni or current students- no better person than that. I say 'recent' or 'current' because someone who graduated 5 years back may not have the right understanding of ground zero realities. If you can get hold of people with a profile similar to yours, nothing like it. You can connect with such people via the school or LinkedIn (it has a great search feature with amazing filters)

Best
Varun Sharma
+919137133507
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
info@mbakarma.com

Hi sanjeevsanthanam,

Thanks for your query.

While we would have liked to have more information on your performance at work, there are a couple of recommendations we would like to make:

-A slight boost on the GMAT (look at a 720); however, say a jump of only 10 points may not help if you are shifting your applications to R3 since chances are bound to fall in R3. Frankly, it would make more sense to apply in R2.
-Your career goals are not quite in line with your years of experience. A better sync between your existing work experience and career goals is desired.

For a more detailed profile evaluation, please feel free to get in touch.

Thanks.

All the best!
_________________

Hi Bn1509,

Hope this finds you well.

The GMAT is good, if not stellar and your leadership experience will hold value. Having said that, there are two things you will need to take care of in order to put forth a compelling case:
-A more specific set of career goals; of course, we don't want your goals to sound too exclusive; however, what you currently have in place does not do justice to why you would need an MBA. Moreover, the same does not sound very focused.
-The essays will be crucial - particularly how well you portray your career growth, achievements, and acquired skill-set. Moreover, your career goals will need to be in strong sync with your existing experience.

If you are able to take care of the above-mentioned points, you stand a good chance at Rotman.

All the best!
_________________

Hello meemam,

Thanks for sharing your query.

The target GMAT score, experience with Teach for India, and extra-curricular activities sound good.

Having said the above, the career goals are an important piece in the applications puzzle and must flow in sync with your existing experience. As the same are not included in your query, we are unable to comment in detail. Furthermore, your current experience (which is part-time) may pose a few questions and hence you must be prepared with a suitable response for the same. Generally, schools would like to see you involved in full-time work and your part-time involvement may cause some concern.

To add to the above, chances in R3 will be substantially lower than the previous rounds particularly because you are an international candidate. We would, therefore, recommend that you apply in R1 next year (of course, it is advisable that you get involved in full-time work).

Thanks.

Alll the best!
_________________

Hi,
Please eval my profile for Roman
X- 90.8
XII- 94.4
B TECH(ECE)- 81.94

WORK EX- 8 years in Hydro Power Plant Operations that includes managing a team of 30 Technical professionals.
Keys role in establishing the Quality Assurance and Inspection Deptt. in the company.
Company - THDC India Limited, a mini ratna PSU

Part of Company's Table Tennis team and participated in National level tournaments.

GMAT- 740

Kindly advise

Posted from my mobile device

Hello Sraghav786

The outline of your profile looks good. Past acads, GMAT, the national level TT experience and different work experience (versus the larger pool of Indian applicants).
No info on career goals though, a clarity on why MBA and why Rotman will be vital at the time of the interview.
Key for you is execution and what 'spike' you decide to show in your written application.

Best
Varun Sharma
+919137133507
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
info@mbakarma.com

Hi All,
Would appreciate a profile evaluation. Targeting R1 next year.

Background and nationality: Indian Female

Undergrad Information: B.Tech - ECE. Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University(MSIT). CGPA: 9.0(one of the toppers of my stream)
10th : CGPA 10 (95%)
12th : CGPA 9.3 (88%)

GMAT: 760

Work experience and leadership : 4.5 years at present in a techno-functional role. Working as a Senior Software Engineer in Infosys Ltd serving domestic and international banks. Have worked with private, public sector and international banks, all at client site. Currently heading all clients in Africa and Sri Lanka region (about 2 years of international work ex). Regarded as a domain expert and have worked as a team lead in multiple project implementations.

Awards: Top Performer in the Entry Level Training, Most Promising Joinee Award, Listed as Infosys Pride Factor, Awarded by multiple clients for contribution to the project.
Was the head of Self-Governance Team in Infosys for a year.

Community and others : Associated with Leaders for Tomorrow and part of their project – Igniting Young Minds to provide life skills to the disadvantaged; Member of Help Age India in higher secondary for care of disadvantaged elderly.
Recently Joined Toastmasters. Awarded as Best Table Topic Speaker in the guest meeting. Event Head of Technical Fest in college ensuring a footfall of more than 2500 people in the event. Member of the organization committee of Infosys Finacle Fever’15.

Post MBA goals: Consulting.

Thank you for your help.

A fellow Rotman applicant here. Safe to say, you have solid academics. One thing that I would like to see more is - a clear connection between your client handling/leadership role experiences and your post MBA goal of consulting. It maybe a straightforward answer for you, but make sure that you are able to clearly articulate this connection in your essays. A sense of numbers would also help. Apart from that, I really don't see a lot to pick on, but again, I am just an applicant and I am no expert. One question, however, is that why would you go for Rotman when your credentials are worthy of a top-50 b-school admit?

Posted from my mobile device

Hi can you please evaluate the below profile for September 2019 applying in round 3.

GMAT - 710

10th - 91.38
12th - 82.4
Btech + Mtech from IIT Bombay in Metallurgical Engineering and Material sciences - CGPA of 8.48/10
CFA - Level 2

Work experience -
Designation - Strategy assistant to Chairman/Managing Director in Raycon Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., an Indo German Real estate firm from July 2016 till date (total effective experience till Sept 19 is 3 years)

About my work -
My expertise is in Financial modelling and analysis, Management information systems, Strategic Hiring and corporate communications. My daily responsibilities involve working in coordination with the Heads across all the business functions to make sure the business runs effectively and vision of the Managing Director is implemented. In the past 2 and half years, I have gained fair amount of knowledge and experience in the following business functions in the Real Estate industry namely HR, Business Development, Project Management, Procurement, Sales and Marketing, Facility Management, Accounting and Finance. Post my MBA, after having a thorough experience in strategizing the growth of a firm in the Real Industry, I would like to pursue a career in Strategy/Management Consulting so as to work across diverse industries.

Extra curricular in college during IIT - Founded a social body in IIT which conducts year long events and is active till date.

Letter of Recommendations - 1) Chairman/Managing Director 2) Senior consultant from our board of directors with 40+ year of experience


Would love to hear your honest feedback

Hello tushar171093

While your past acads, GMAT and the academic brand on the CV looks good for Rotman, work profile looks strong too, however, I'm not sure if applying in R3 is the best strategy.
Firstly, R3 is extremely selective, secondly, with ~3 years of experience you are slightly on the lower end of the spectrum and under no time pressure to begin your MBA in 2019 itself. Applying in R1 to Rotman (and other schools as well) will increase your chances significantly.
Also focus on extracurricular activities outside university as well (focus on something more recent and with more impact)

Best
Varun Sharma
+919137133507
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
info@mbakarma.com

I am having a hard time to decide on the Universities best suited for my profile.
I would really appreciate your inputs. I am posting my details below:

Nationality: Indian
Age: 24
Qualification: B.com Honours, University of Delhi and Cleared CFA Level II, Cfa Institute USA
GMAT Score: 660 (Q48 V34), IR 7, AWA 4
IELTS: 7.5
Undergrad Score: 78.63% (Considered First division)
Academic Scholarship:
1. Received one for my undergraduate studies.
2. Twice from the CFA Institute - Access Scholarship
High school score: 94.4%
Internship:
1. PepsiCo, India - Finance Department
2. Sabio Capital, an Investment management startup in India
Work Experience:
1. A fin-tech startup in Equity Research - 1 year 4 months - Held positions of responsibility (training of new employees)
2. A Knowledge Process Outsourcing company- 10 months - Corporate FInance - M&A Advisory services - worked on multiple deals

Extracurricular activities:
1. Represented state at the national level in declamation (oration basically, similar to debates) contest
2. Affiliation with Red Cross Society (NGO)
3. Organized various inter-college events as a part of the Debating Society and the Fine Arts Club in college

I intend to apply to European Universities. GMAT:660 - this bothers me but I chose to move on with this. Stockholm School of Economics is my first preference. Other universities that I will be applying to are - NHH Norway, BI Norwegian School of Economics, Lund University (School of Economics and Management), Rotterdam School of Management. Considering my profile and the low GMAT score, I have a few questions:
1. What are my chances of converting the above mentioned schools (esp. Stockholm School and NHH Norway)? Do I stand a chance to win a scholarship in any of these listed schools?
2. What other schools should I send an application to? Does it make sense for me to apply to St Gallen (Switzerland), Bocconi University (Italy), IE Spain, Frankfurt School (Germany), EADA Spain, Esade Spain or Essec (France)?
3. Do you think that my low GMAT score can be compensated with my academics? Do I still have a chance to fetch scholarship?

Posted from my mobile device

Hi tushar171093,

Thanks for writing in.

Frankly, you have a lot working for you - fine pedigree, good GPA, and a decent (if not a very high) GMAT score. If you could portray your 'Spike Factor' through these, by means of well-drafted essays, you would have had a pretty decent chance of getting into Rotman in the initial rounds.

The major issue right now is the fact that Round 3 is a bit late in the day particularly because you are an international candidate and while you could still apply, we strongly recommend that you shift your application to R1, next year. In the meantime, if you wish, you could even work on building your profile. Ideally, an application for Fall 2020 will be your best chance.

Hope this helps!

Good Luck!
_________________

Hi
ExpertsGlobal,

Could you please help me with my profile for MS in Finance at Rotman.

Hello TinaSethi,

Thanks for writing in.

While the fact that you have cleared two levels of the CFA will help your case to a point, the GMAT score will prove to be an impediment as it falls on the lower end of the spectrum for most schools. Considering the same, we would strongly recommend a retake (even more, since you appear to be very keen on a scholarship).

Having said the above, the essays are also an important component of the applications process and how logically you portray your career goals through the same will also be very crucial in determining your chances. As a thumb rule, try to put forth career goals that appear to be in logical sync with your existing experience. To add to this, try to talk about take aways from each of your experiences - professional and extra-curricular.

Thanks.

All the best!
_________________

Hi all,

Would really appreciate a profile review. I'm planning to apply for the 2020 intake in round 1.

Profile - Indian male, non engineering background
Age - 26 years (will be 27 when I apply)

Gmat 1 - 730 (Q49, V40)
Gmat 2 - 720 (Q50, V39)
Gmat 3 - 740 (Q49,V42)

Educational Qualification - A chartered accountant (equivalent to a US CPA) with a bachelor's degree in commerce with accounting as the major. I have cleared all 3 levels of the CA exam in the first attempt (probablity of 0.2% considering the result statistics) and stood 2nd in my City at the final level. The CA course also involved 3 years of full time intership experience at a CA firm in international taxation. Additionally I have also cleared all 3 levels of the CFA course.

Post qualification experience (approx. 5 to 5.5 years when I apply)

1) 3 and a half years of experience in International tax (transfer pricing) at PwC Mumbai. Only the 2nd associate in PwC transfer pricing practice to get promoted to an assistant manager in 1 and half years.

2) Current role - Approximately 8 months of experience with Citibank Mumbai in credit risk management. Currently leading a key project on automation which has the potential to transform the way our team functions and reduce manpower substantially.

Reason for pursuing an MBA - having made a successful transition from international taxation to banking, I'm looking at an MBA to give me the right impetus and platform to further switch to investment management.

Reason for considering Rotman - With strong placement statistics in finance and the fact that it is based out of Toronto, I believe Rotman gives me a real shot at achieving my post MBA goal.

It would really help if someone can analyse my candidature for the 2020 intake at Rotman.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Hello sharan05

Yours looks like a pretty strong profile, with good GMAT score, professional work ex that can potentially help you stand out.
What will further help you are some extracurricular activities. Rotman loves to see diversity in successful candidates- look at this years essay and you will understand.
Now, diversity can come from a several places- but strong extracurricular help (as they want to see a spike in non-work related activities too).

You may want to read here on what factors work in a profile and here to add to your research on career goals.

Best
Varun Sharma
+919137133507
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
info@mbakarma.com

Hi All,

Please evaluate my profile for the MBA program at Rotman

Nationality: Bangladeshi
Age: 33
Undergraduate Qualification: Bachelor in Civil Engineering from BUET
GPA: 2.47 ( It is very poor)
GMAT: 740
Toefl:110
Work experience: Total 7 years; 2 years as Project engineer, 3 years as Project manager and Structural designer; currently running business for 2 years (with 7 employees)

How good are my chances for Rotman?

Thanks in advance!
Hemal