Four years at a firm you watched grow 10x, with CXO-facing work across two geographies, is a more interesting story than "Senior Consultant at boutique" suggests on paper, and the framing challenge is making sure adcoms read it that way.
• The boutique context is the central narrative risk: ISB and INSEAD adcoms will ask whether your client exposure is genuinely comparable to a Big 4 or MBB engagement, or whether it is primarily internal delivery. The 60+ engagements and Riyadh on-site work are your strongest counters here, so your essays need to show decision-making authority, not just volume.
• A Classic 715 GMAT target will sit right at or just below ISB's recent median, which means your application rides on everything else. A 735+ opens more margin for the academic profile concern that is actually the sharper risk: a 6.73 CGPA from a DU affiliate will get flagged in a pool where most applicants from India carry 8+ on a 10-point scale. CFA Level 1 helps signal quantitative ability but does not fully offset it, so your GMAT quant percentile becomes load-bearing.
• For INSEAD especially, the KSA and cross-geography exposure reads well because international mobility is a genuine differentiator there, but your career narrative needs to answer why an MBA now at seven years rather than four or five. The answer exists in your profile, but it needs to be constructed deliberately.
• Cambridge Judge tends to weigh professional trajectory and intellectual substance heavily, and the boutique growth story combined with the KPMG foundation actually fits that lens better than it fits the pure prestige filter at some other schools.
The path is genuinely there, but it runs through essay positioning and a strong GMAT quant showing more than through any single credential.
Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more queries as needed.
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arpitkatyal
I’m a Senior Consultant at a Gurgaon-based offshore boutique management consulting firm. I joined when it had ~25 employees and it’s now grown to ~250, and I’ve been here about 4 years. I lead a 15-member team and handle client-facing work spanning deal advisory, financial modeling, company valuation, and strategy, with exposure across US and KSA.
In total, I've led about 60+ engagements across all the projects that would span under the umbrella of Management Consulting. I've been awarded the Ace Manager twice in my tenure.
In this job, I’ve traveled to Riyadh 3 times for on-site client work, engaging directly with CXOs on the client side.
Beyond client work, I’ve been actively involved in recruiting at campuses from DU and tier 2 MBA institutes and training junior employees. I also lead the Cultural Committee in my firm, which organizes multiple employee engagement initiatives.
Before this, I spent ~2.8 years at KPMG Global Services in UK Funds Audit and left when I was a Senior Associate. I was also awarded the Rising Star which is awarded to the exceptional performers within 6 months of joining. (this was a campus placement from my undergrad)
(Total work experience: 7 years)
Education
I completed my BCom (Hons) from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, Delhi University, with a CGPA of 6.73. I’ve also cleared CFA Level 1.
12th: 94.5%
10th 9.6 CGPA
Extracurriculars:
1. I was a part of AIESEC for about 1 year and managed corporate relations in my first year of undergrad.
2. Have been a part of the organizing committee a Global Partnership Summit which had delegates spanning across 92 countries
3. Led the publication of “8 Years, 80 Miracles,” a book commemorating 8 years of the Government of India, released in 2022
Target Programs
I’m targeting ISB for Round 1. I’m also considering Cambridge Judge, INSEAD, and NUS.
Planning GMAT by end of August with a target of 715.