Hi
akhily,
Thank you for your post. Your undergraduate university is well regarded and your experience seems solid, though perhaps not spectacular. The promotion is good and the projects you've outlined seem quite interesting, so I encourage you to really unpack those and showcase your advancement, impact, teamwork, leadership, and learning. The international experience you had in Japan sounds interesting, too.
I'd be curious to learn more about your badminton playing, but your post-university extracurriculars are very light, so that will be a big soft spot to your candidacy. It's hard to see who you are as a person and engaged community member. And while a nice score, your GMAT is unfortunately not where it needs to be for the T10/15. With that in mind, I find your list of schools to be far too aggressive at this point. Columbia, Sloan, Haas, and Yale are going to be extremely difficult / next to impossible with a 720 and no ECs. Johnson and Stern will not be easy, either.
I encourage you to
read this post about the admissions chances for Indian applicants to the top 50 programs in the U.S. And I likewise encourage you to
read this subjective but thorough "admissions guide" for Indian male MBA applicants. The posts should help calibrate your expectations and understanding of what kind of schools you should be targeting.
For added context, conventional wisdom suggests that you want to target 30 points above the GMAT average for the schools you're interested in. That implies a 750+ for Columbia, Sloan, Haas, Yale, and Stern, and around a 740 for Cornell. With that in mind, I encourage you to re-take the GMAT to boost your score. The Indian male demographic is simply too crowded to realistically target the schools you've referenced with a 720. Right now, Columbia, Sloan, Haas, and Yale would be mega-reaches and Stern and Johnson would be reaches for you. You'd have to build backward from there if you were putting together a school strategy this year (e.g., a diversified T15 to T30/40 school strategy... not the T5 to T15 schools you've mentioned.).
I also encourage you to build your leadership experience and community engagement. This can be both inside your company (but beyond your core professional responsibilities) and outside of work. Round 1 application deadlines are only 2-3 months away, so between the GMAT situation and the ECs, you might be better of building now and applying next year.
I realize my comments might feel somewhat discouraging, but I do hope they help. And remember -- the areas of your candidacy that seem to need the most work are ones you can largely control. You're young and you have time on your side. So focus on boosting your GMAT score and building your profile, and that can help improve your future prospects!
Best Regards,
Greg
akhily wrote:
Hello,
I'm looking for a
profile review. Request a feedback from an admission consultant.
Nationality: Indian
Sex: Male
Age: 25
GMAT: 720 Q50 V38 IR 5 AWA 5
Education: Btech & Mtech (dual degree) from IIT Kanpur
GPA: 7.4/10 (Btech); 8.4/10 (Mtech)
Work experience: 3 years
Currently working in consulting at PwC. I have been with the firm for nearly 2.5 years.
Recently promoted from Consultant to Senior Consultant (on a fast track in 2 years instead of the average 3 year). Awarded a certificate of appreciation for outstanding work.
Have worked on multiple projects with Govt, PSUs, multi-lateral banks and private clients. Area of focus primarily on aviation, logistics and infrastructure sector.
Some key projects include:
Business process reingineering and financial modelling for development of a community system for Govt.
Identified strategies to improve air cargo operations for a large PSU
Devised a market entry strategy for a private client looking to enter the Indian aviation market
Formulated a bid strategy for a large PSU bidding for development of a greenfield airport.
Formulated an economic development plan of South Asia for a multi-lateral bank.
Have also worked for a data analytics firm for 0.5 years.
Research experiencesResearch internship at Hokkaido University (Japan)
Worked on a network optimization problem in Mtech thesis. Presented a research paper in an international conference
Teaching assisstant for a UG course
Extra curriculars: part of the college badminton team; played badminton at State level and inter school nationals; part of the core team of the placement office in college;
Target Bschools: Columbia, Sloan, Haas, Yale, Johnson, Stern
Post MBA plan: consulting or product management
Thanks!!