Profile Evaluation

Question

Hello, Could some experts please evaluate my profile? 1. I am an Indian IT Male, but not a typical coder. I work as a Technology Consultant and I have five years of work experience which includes one year of international experience (Singapore) 2. I wrote my GMAT exam on 23rd October 2014. I was expecting to score around 670-700 but ended up scoring 730 (Q50 V40 IR3) :shock:

3. I have a lower than average undergraduate GPA (65.78/100) and lower than average extra-curriculars :cry:

4. Few of my target schools, based on my expected GMAT score, are: a. Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia b. Mays Business School, Texas A&M University c. Scheller College of Business, Georgia Tech d. Manchester Business School, University of Manchester e. NUS Business School, National University of Singapore f. Mannheim Business School g. European School of Management and Technology h. Desautels, McGill University I need inputs/suggestions on the following: 1. Should I re-evaluate my target schools given my GMAT score?

2. What are my chances of getting an admit to my target schools? 3. What are my chances of getting a scholarship? 4. Will my lower than average GPA and lower than average extra-curriculars be a problem? 5. Will my pathetic IR score be a problem? 6. Could you please suggest some b-schools, better than my target schools, where I'm likely to get an admit? I am planning to apply for Fall 2015 intake and will apply before the 2nd round deadlines, somewhere around mid-January 2015. I am mostly looking at top 100 b-schools within my budget (within USD 100k including cost of living), otherwise I will have to rely on scholarships. Thanks in advance!

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

Thanks for your detailed post and questions. I need inputs/suggestions on the following: 1. Should I re-evaluate my target schools given my GMAT score?

In order to best answer this, I need more info from you. Feel free to send me a PM or an email at scott@personalmbacoach.com if you don't feel comfortable posting here publicly... --What undergraduate school did you go to? --What company do you work for? Promotion / salary increase history? --Extra currics- what have you done? 2. What are my chances of getting an admit to my target schools? Caveat with this depends on the above answers, your chances look pretty good at those schools, but I will be even more/less optimistic based on those answers 3. What are my chances of getting a scholarship? 4. Will my lower than average GPA and lower than average extra-curriculars be a problem? GPA, only somewhat because GMAT counteracts that. Extra currics, let's discuss. 5. Will my pathetic IR score be a problem? Do you have a history of transacting business in English? I wouldn't be terribly concerned with this, not that it helps 6. Could you please suggest some b-schools, better than my target schools, where I'm likely to get an admit? Happy to do so once you let me know the above, as I do have some better ideas for you. Need to get started ASAP to create quality essays though. -Scott Edinburgh

GoonerGalactico · Answer

Hello Scott,

Thank you for your response. I've sent you a PM.

Admissionado · Answer

Hey there! So let's jump right in with your questions! 1. You can probably aim a bit higher thanks to your GMAT score. Now, you still have a low GPA from a non-target school, so Top 10 will be far stretches. But I think you can likely apply to top 30 schools. 2. If you apply to all those on your list, pretty good. 3. You would have a shot at the schools on the list. At higher-ranked ones, not so sure. 4. Well its not great.... but you have other strengths! 5. Well again, it's not great.. but the main score is far far more important, and since you surprised even yourself... I wouldn't worry about it! I mean you have already done what you can to improve your profile significantly. 6. Sure. On the upper side of things you could apply to schools like Tepper, Anderson, Mccombs, Johnson... Marshall.. Cambridge... Sound good??

Last thing: If you are intending on applying THIS round 2, you better get a move on!

Best, JF

CriticalSquare · Answer

Hey there - thanks for asking me to post here! So let's see what we've got here...

1 & 2) I agree with Jon here - you should be a smidge more aggressive. But what I would say is don't take that as the green light to go uber-aggressive. Pick a couple of stretch programs you're really really really passionate about to add a bit of aggressiveness but make sure you're still balancing that out. The schools you've listed are good in that they mix a bit of aligned & safety so that's great.

3) This is always hard to say - your chances are inversely correlated to rank. So the lower you go, the more likely to get $$. That said, you need to understand what schools use that money for. Merit based aid is to shift the balance of the equation to get better talent. So if you can offer these schools something a bit more unique, your chances go up. If you're pretty similar - then what's in it for them? Hard to say.

4) All schools value these components (especially the GPA) but for the schools you've listed, you're in play in terms of range. So it's not great but it's not bad. And your involvement - just sell them on how you'll be involved in the program. That's not as good but it's better than nothing! And after that, if those are your weaknesses, mitigate them and focus on what makes you more unique - e.g. the year in Singapore!

5) Schools still admit that they don't really use the IR and the GMAC is struggling to demonstrate its value. A lot of that comes down to the fact that its new. But it's more than that. So is a 3 great? No. It's out of 8. But it isn't reported and with a 730 a lot of schools will look the other way. Just make sure you cover those points elsewhere to make sure they aren't left wondering.

6) 15 - 30 is where you should look. Like I said, it's impossible to recommend schools without really knowing what you want to do or more about you. But that said - you're in play from a GMAT perspective for those programs so why not try a little?

Hope that helps!

Bhavik

GoonerGalactico · Answer

Thank you for your expert opinions.

If you don't mind answering another question - Would you know how to convert my GPA into a 4.0 point scale? Someone suggested this tool to me:

https://www.foreigncredits.com/Resources/GPA-Calculator/

According to this, my GPA is 3.35. Your thoughts?

CriticalSquare · Answer

Hey there, don't worry about converting - relativity is more important. Those conversion tools aren't as useful as most people think and adcoms tend to want unconverted scores anyway. But you can definitely help provide context - class rank, graduation honors, etc. So for example, if you converted your GPA and it came out to a 2.9 you graduated at the top of your class in a really difficult major / school, which do you think the adcom will want to know?

Bhavik

Bhavik

dheeraj7890 · Answer

Hi Kamran,

Regarding your GMAT, yes it always ends up + or - 20 from your expectation usually.
I would say you have a pretty decent profile and probably you should definitely re-evaluate the list of schools you should apply for.

I am also from India and an MBA myself from SDA Bocconi, Milan (Batch of 2011) and I am keen on helping other MBA aspirants.

Ideally you should apply to 5-6 schools and you should be able to get into at least 2 of them.
I see that budget is also a concern for you, but definitely there are good chances of scholarship for you. You need to add scholarship also as an criteria when you are selecting schools. There are certain schools who have scholarships specifically for Indians as well.

There are lot of things to be considered when you are selecting your schools and I can help you with things in case you need. Currently I am helping an aspirant in Korea as well just as a mentor. Let me know if you have more questions or would like to take my help.

All the best !

Cheers !
DJ

GoonerGalactico · Answer

Hello DJ,

Thank you for your inputs. Could you please list those schools - the ones that have scholarships specifically for Indians?

dheeraj7890 · Answer

Hey Kamran, Certainly there are some schools. A great example can be my school actually (SDA Bocconi), they have 3 scholarships for India & South Asia (1 for 70% and 2 for 50%) I would quote that again, in case you would like to get more info and continuous support for your admission process, let me know. Don't worry, I am not selling my MBA consultancy or something. Its something that I am just doing for myself and its free of cost. I can gather insights and help you with things based on my experience and network. You can have a look at my site and see if you find it interesting. Its called "globalmba-gyan". Or you can ask here as well, as you prefer

All the best for all your applications ! Cheers DJ

GeneralEducation · Answer

Hi there, You have a decent profile and GMAT Score. Please fin below the answers to your questions: 1. Should I re-evaluate my target schools given my GMAT score?

Yes, I would definitely suggest you to re-evaluate your target B-Schools, base on your overall profile and GMAT Score. 2. What are my chances of getting an admit to my target schools? I need to check your overall profile for this. If you can PM your resume, I can let you know your chances of getting admit to above mentioned B-Schools. 3. What are my chances of getting a scholarship? Again, need to check your profile for this. 4. Will my lower than average GPA and lower than average extra-curriculars be a problem? You can offset them through other parameters like your GMAT Score and work achievements (if you have any) 5. Will my pathetic IR score be a problem? same as above 6. Could you please suggest some b-schools, better than my target schools, where I'm likely to get an admit? Can suggest, after having a look t your resume. You may also gauge your chances of getting admission in a top business school by trying this Chances for B-School tool https://bit.ly/1rRCod5 Hope this helps. Cheers!

PrepMBA · Answer

You asked me to evaluate as well but it's hard to add value after so many thoughtful comments. If you were my client, I would advise you to aim a bit higher as well and would want to learn about what company you are consulting for (brand name shop?). With some great essays (hurry up given all the schools you want to hit) you could surprise yourself again at a school like Tepper or Texas Mcombs. I think your IR score is low enough that they will assume you blew it off:)

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