Fuqua Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hi there,

Have you ever tried a GRE?? Many who struggle with GMAT are able to achieve a better showing with GRE... and the average GRE scores at many schools are not quite as competitive if you were to translate, as GMAT (plus GRE scores don't impact rankings as of yet so there can be a touch more flexibility... vs with a 630 GMAT you ARE pulling down their class average theoretically. You can google and take a free online practice GRE to at least SEE if it appeals more or how you do. Food for thought!!
If not you can certainly try... but it does not look promising for Duke, and side note you'll also need to work on your story of transitioning from accounting to brand/product management as that is a fairly big change and schools want to ensure you'll be employable too.
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Hi there--- so your q is related to the drop-down on your goals? Business development sounds a bit more in-line than marketing at this point... you do want your story to make sense, and your goals to be ambitious but realistic, so there's nothing wrong with goals that stick with operations...
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Thank you and no I have never thought of taking the GRE. I will give the test a try and see if the results are any different.

Question why do you think moving from finance to brand management is difficult? Is there normally a more natural path students take from finance? I feel like I would be a good fit knowing how to manage a P&L for a brand and than helping market this brand. It is something I am very very interested and want to pursue and definitely want to do that from Duke.

Posted from my mobile device

-Deleting because I updated this post later on -

Duke Fuqua Foundations in Business:
Nationality - Indian
Gender - Female
Undergrad- B.Tech Civil Engineering at IIT (new) (cgpa 8.9 second in class)
GRE- 327 (Q-170, V-157, AWA-4.5)
Work exp-2 summer internships at top MNCs- design and construction
Many extra curriculars and leadership positions, not very great but alright-like students representative, fest coordinator etc
Please evaluate my profile
P.S I have a C in statistics and programming will it be bad?
What are my chances? Should I try working for a year and then apply?

You are welcome, good luck with the GRE trial!

Going from finance to brand management happens; I have seen it... but it's not very common. Usually people begin in various Marketing Coordinator/Marketing Manager, or even Sales, roles and progress to brand management. The question is how open to your background will specific firms you are interested in, be. And how believable/understandable is your story to admissions readers (i.e. you can always DO whatever works out, such as get a relevant internship and hopefully make that move... but for admissions it helps to have some past exposure to the new silo/function of marketing/brand to strengthen your story, just food for thought).

Best advice--- TALK TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE DONE THIS SAME SWITCH VIA THE MBA!! At Duke as a plus. As long as you hear confidence, evidence from others before you, then that works. It is also helpful to schedule informational interviews with HR at companies you may target and discuss paths and get feedback. All of this research will only help when you deal with telling your story in essays/interviews. Good luck!
PS-- check out our free Career Guides here in case useful too:
https://shop.mbamission.com/collections/career-primers
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Our stats are remarkably similar, I actually thought this was my own post until I read it a few times.

I got a 640 the first time I took the GMAT. Then, I buckled down, purchased a GMAT prep course, and then got a 730 next time.

Quite honestly, I wouldn't apply to Duke with a 630. That being said, I guarantee you can get higher than a 630 if you buckle down and put the time in. Are you doing self study or have you booked a GMAT review course? I did the Manhattan GMAT online course (would have preferred in person, but the city in which I was living did not offer one) and it helped tremendously.

I would look at Vanderbilt Owen as well. They had 4 people go to P&G last year (not sure how many went to Coke or Pepsi), which I believe may be more than Duke did.

Thanks for the words of advice on this, but I really don't know if I want to dump more money into this test. I have taken four times as I mentioned scoring from 600-630 all four times, when on the practice tests I'm always scoring in the 660-690 range. I just don't know what happens to me on test day. I have looked at Vandy and it does look like a great school but the class profile seems very similar to Duke just much smaller class. So I am not sure my odds of getting in are much better? I am definitely just frustrated with the test but I want to apply round 1 but after getting another 630 on test Saturday I don't know what to do. Maybe I should try another way outside the MBA to get into a brand management role at this point since I agree my chance at Duke is very slim.

Hi NehaReddy2712,

You have a good GRE score. And as you say good co curricular activities too. But am I reading it right you only have work ex of 2 internships? You don't have any full time work ex? If that is the case then, yes you should work for 2 years atleast before applying. Your scores are valid for 5 years so you don't have to worry about that. Hope this helps.

Best,

mbaMissionJenK, request you to please look into my post as well!

Hey guys, I wanted your assistance for the goals part of the application. I've completed my CFA (all 3 levels) and managing equity investments since a year.

Now, although my life goal is to manage equity investments, it may not be the most realistic goal post-MBA from Duke (since i'm from India, visa issues plus buyside tough to break through).

Keeping this in mind, should I state that my short term goal is still equities (despite how tough it is) OR my short term goal is investment banking then long term equities (more realistic but not truly my goal).

Looking for some advice to solve this dilema

Not sure if I should apply (a bit underconfident due to my score) - any help will be appreciated

Background and nationality: Indian, Male - 24 years old
Undergrad Information: MIT, Manipal - Mechanical Engineer, although I have always worked in Business roles
GMAT: 690 (Q48 V37 IR7 AWA6)
Work experience and leadership:

3 years work experience as of September 2017, currently working as a Growth Hacker (Head of Growth & have direct reportees) for an Indian startup that has secured a funding of $65 mn till date. Started off as a business analyst, then moved to digital marketing & further heading new customer acquisition, now taking care of the entire user journey. Directly impacting to $10 million p.a in revenues through business strategies implemented from my end

Have previously worked with Amazon as a Transaction Risk Investigator, directly impacting company's bad debt & customer experience.

Post MBA goals: Get into consulting/product management

Hi there,

Seems like you have good brand names on your resume which is good. You are already adept to the MBA lingo I see . However, it will be nice if you have a few more differentiators for your profile. GMAT score being below average you need to either improve that or have a secret weapon in your arsenal. Duke is an excellent school but there are other schools too specially for Product Management. Hope this helps.

Best,

Hey Rohit,

It is always difficult to choose this. More often than not, your real post MBA goal might not be MBA worthy. I think you should mention a goal that you can sell with 100% conviction. Adcoms are experienced people who can understand things that we don't even mention. Therefore, mention things you believe in. I know its not much but hope it helps.

Best,

Thanks for the help. I do not have the time or energy to give the GMAT again till next March. As far as a secret weapon, I can only talk about my work experience, which I find to be slightly relevant. There are quite a few talking points regarding it. Also, I can maybe get CEO's recommendation (top 5 B school grad). Should that be enough or should I stick with colleges that I have mentioned in my profile?

Hey
With Duke it will be like rolling a dice but you should definitely apply. Which other schools are you targeting? What are your post MBA goals ? Maybe I can help you shortlist those schools ?

Post MBA goal is to either get into Strategic Consulting or Product/Program (internet industry, not manufacturing) Management - Because there is a slight confusion, I am targeting Tepper since it gives me a leeway of another year to choose my electives. Other than that, I am applying to McDonough. I've written essays for both as of now. Have not shortlisted any other college. Which ones do you suggest? I guess I need to prepare a final shortlist by end of Sep 23, so that I am in a more comfortable position.

Hi,

Most schools have good support for consulting but not very many have product management infrastructure. You may need to research schools where you have the option of balancing both your consulting and product management goals. Tepper is definitely one such school. I'm not sure about McDonough but you may want to look at Foster, Washington. Specially since you mentioned Tech Product Management. Ofcourse that means you moving to west coast.

Best,

Tough question; certainly it's good to keep a certain amount of truth/authenticity in your answer on goals, BUT also keeping it realistic is important.... given what you've said here I might lean slightly towards IB as a short term goal then, and of course there are tons of recruitment opps for IB from the MBA!
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