Probability of getting into top 10 US MBA schools

Question

Hi - Please Find Below my academic backgrounds so far. I am trying to gauge the possibility of getting into one of the top US BA schools for finance.

1. Bachelors in Science with a focus on Maths / Stats from one of the top 10 colleges in India - GPA ~3.1/4.0
2. Masters in Applied Economics from one of the top 10 colleges in India - ~75%
3. Work Ex of 3 Years with one of global Investment Banks as an Investment Banking Analyst, based out of India
4. GPA not yet taken - due in March

Furthermore, if I shift to Human Capital Industry for the next 1 year before my MBA does that hamper my chances to get into the top 10 schools?

Thanks a lot in advance for your help!

u1983 · Answer

Hello R1taja ....... welcome to the community.

Let's concentrate one the first thing. The GPA & GMAT both cannot be low( in general ). The GPA you can not change now .... its in the past ...... so I would concentrate on GMAT ( only GMAT now.....nothing else at this point -if I am serious about Top 10 US) and due to Indian profile I would look to score 720-730 + .... Seriously!!

Please go through the link below to get a more elaborate idea :
https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-club-mb ... 66258.html

Hope this helps!!

globaldesi · Answer

Have you given GMAT yet.
I think that is the first key.
Focus on GMAT exam and try to finish it asap

Admissionado · Answer

It's tough to say where you'll be competitive without knowing your GMAT score. You do face a few challenges: your undergrad GPA is on the low end, you're coming from a tough demographic as an Indian applicant, your existing masters can make your "why MBA" argument a bit more challenging, and based on what you shared here it sounds like you may be above to the average age (typically around 27) by the time you apply. That's not to say you can't still get into a top b-school but it will be important to really make sure your masters GPA is high (to help outweigh the low undergrad one), to score very well on the GMAT (ideally 740+ for a top 15-20 school) and to name some strong, specific career goals that then set you up to make a strong argument for why you need the MBA. Ideally you'll also want to point to some meaningful accomplishments from your work experience. B-schools get nervous when someone has an existing masters - especially if it's a business-related one. First, they ideally like to see your time spent working, not in school, since that allows you to bring more real-life contributions to the classroom. Second, when you have an existing business-related masters, it means you've already learned a chunk of stuff that you would have learned in b-school, so it's important to be really specific about the skill gaps you still need to fill via the MBA.

Your demographic also makes things challenging. It's good that you're not from an engineering background, and I'm not sure from your post if you're male or female, but applying as an Indian male is definitely tough (female is slightly better) since it's such an overrepresented population among b-school applicants and since it's also a group that tends to have very high GMAT scores (740+) at top schools.

In terms of whether or not to get a job prior to applying, if you are graduating this spring, I would recommend doing some kind of work upon graduation but you may want to wait to apply in fall of 2020 so you can gain some experience in that role. The adcom does not like to see applicants who are currently unemployed, but at the same time, starting a new job immediately before applying to b-school can also raise red flags. Very few hiring managers will hire you if they know you plan to leave in a year, so the adcom can worry that either you weren't honest with your new company about your intentions to go to b-school so soon, or that you are not actually that committed to b-school (since you just started a new job). If you just start your job this summer & then apply this fall you also will have very little to say about that new role since realistically it will be too soon to have made any meaningful impact or accomplishments. If you wait & apply fall of 2020 it does put you most likely over the average age but adcoms are a bit more willing to forgive that if some of your time has been spent in school.

Career goals will be important as well. Not only are goals an opportunity to differentiate yourself, but they also are the basis for your "why MBA" argument. It will be important to name the specific roles you aspire to have in the ST & LT, 2-3 target firms (and why those are your targets), as well as details on what exactly you hope to accomplish in your goals and why. What problems do you hope to solve? What opportunities do you hope to take advantage of? And WHY is this your passion?

Based on the challenges in your candidacy, I do think top 20 is more realistic than top 10 - again depending on your GMAT. If you score a 720+ you will be competitive for top 20 schools but top 10 will still be more of a stretch. You may want to also consider European schools, where the average age tends to be a bit older than US schools.

As you can see, there are all sorts of factors that go into determining how competitive you are for a school! So it's hard to give you a simple answer here. But I hope this info is helpful as you think through your next steps!

R1taja · Answer

Thank you everyone for taking the time out and helping me with my questions. Really appreciate all the advise!

I shall take my GMAT and then re-connect.

@Admissionado thank you for the detailed explanation. 
However, think you got one thing wrong. I am already working and would have had 3 years of work-ex by Oct this year. I work in the Financial Services sector one of the leading Global Investment Banking Companies since completing my Masters

Thanks again!

Admissionado · Answer

Ah got it - I guess you meant GMAT not taken then instead of GPA not taken? That was the line that threw me off!

It's great news that you are currently working. Given that, my advice would be to apply this fall & not wait any longer. If you apply this fall you'll be entering with 4 years of experience, which puts you right at the average.

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