Profile Evaluation

Question

Hi Alex, here's another profile evaluation request -

27-year-old Indian male

750 GMAT (Q-50, V-41)

GPA - 8.2/10 (I got this converted at WES, which said the the equivalent US GPA would be 3.98 - something that I found unbelievable!)

Bachelor's - Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from IIT

5 years of work-ex (at matriculation) at one of India's largest integrated steel companies

Been one of the best performing employees of the company in the last four years (reflected in annual ratings)

Have worked in various job profiles including technical (process control and analysis, quality trouble-shooting, six sigma), operation strategy implementation, and corporate planning (Promoted from one to the other based on competency and performance)

Was handpicked to work directly with CEO of the company (will get his recommendation) and have been fortunate to see how the whole business works from close quarters.

Extra curriculars - Number of leadership positions in college (Head of Design in college's yearly technical festival, Captain of Fine Arts and Ad Design teams among others), General Secretary of the local chapter of alumni association

Short term goal - Move into strategy consulting with a focus on improving manufacturing capabilities of organizations from emerging markets

Long term goal - Strategy / Leadership role in a mid size manufacturing company in a developing market with an aim to transform it to an industry leader

Given my experience, I believe I can bring in excellent diversity and interesting insights into the classroom on the workings of emerging market manufacturing firms, though I wonder whether people would be interested in such a traditional field.

Concerns - My firm is NOT a feeder to US B-Schools (in fact I doubt if anyone has ever applied to a top MBA program from my firm. I think this is because of the nature of the industry more than anything else). Can I turn this into a strength?

Target Schools - 
Tier 1 - HBS/Wharton
Tier 2 - Tuck/Kellogg/Booth
Tier 3 - Darden/Yale

AlexMBAApply · Answer

I think you seem to have a realistic assessment of where you stand. H/S/W are stretches but where you have enough of an outside shot that they are worth applying to (IIT guy + "old school" engineering i.e. oil/gas, steel, manufacturing, etc. basically anything but high tech helps). Top 8 schools like Tuck, Kellogg, Booth are sweet spots, and those in the top 16 aren't "true safeties" but where you still have a pretty reasonable shot (if you want near guarantees, you'll have to look outside the top 16, which may or may not be worth it to you). Again it sounds like you have a pretty solid profile, and at this point it's just doing the best you can on the written applications and interviews.

niksworth · Answer

Thanks Alex. Much appreciated. Guess it's a question of getting honey out of nectar and laying it out for the adcoms to taste!

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