Profile Evaluation

Hi Navu,

Thank you very much for your note, and apologies for the overdue reply.

Avanti Prep experienced record levels of applicant demand this application season. As a result, my work with clients was super-active from R1 applications, through R1 Interview Prep, into R2 applications, and most recently through R2 Interview Prep. I naturally had to prioritize my work with applicants over the Forum, so I apologize for not getting back to you.

UNDERSTANDING THE ADMISSIONS LANDSCAPE

Regarding your profile inquiry, I would say that your list of schools tilts a little aggressive. With superb applications, essays, and recommendations; super specific career goals, why MBA, and articulation of fit with each school; and great interviews, I think that schools like Tuck, Stern, and Rotman would be difficult but potentially achievable (again, contingent on superb apps).

I unfortunately believe that HBS, Stanford, and Wharton are going to be out of range. The competition among Indian applicants is extreme, and while strong performance at ZS Associates is good, if you were to lift up the hood on who gets into H/S/W, you are often going to find "platinum" work experience, super unique community leadership, and even higher GMAT scores.

For added context, Indian applicants with a 740 GMAT have around an 11% acceptance rate across the entirety of the U.S. Top 20. Other studies suggest that Indian applicants with a 740 GMAT have around a 4% acceptance rate to Wharton. HBS and Stanford are considerably more competitive, so the chances there would be a fraction of that 4% estimated admit ate.

For still more context, we have seen a school in the U.S. T10-16 range publish a middle 80% GMAT range for its Indian students, which came in at 730 (10th percentile) to 780 (90th percentile). This is a couple of tiers "below" H/S/W. This doesn't mean you "couldn't" include a H/S/W in your school strategy, but I think that including all three would be overly aggressive.

YOUR SCHOOL STRATEGY

The GMAT is only one piece of the application puzzle, so I don't want to over-emphasize it here, but it can be a decent starting point in terms of understanding your chances and building a school strategy. It sounds like you've done well at your job, been promoted, and been active in the community, so those are all good things. But I'm not sure I totally see the differentiation here.

I realize that differentiation can be hard to capture in a short post. Our lives, passions, and interests are far more than a short profile review, after all! But I would encourage you to reflect on that, and to reflect on the data I've presented above. An 11% acceptance rate across the entirety of the U.S. Top 20 is very competitive. So where does your potential differentiation lie?

Long story short, and for the reasons described, I think that the school list you've presented is too aggressive. If you do end up applying to a lot of schools (like you've listed), I would strongly encourage you to swap out some of the mega-reaches on this list and replace them with a couple more schools from the T10-16 range, and some outside the U.S. T16. That would feel like a still difficult but more balanced strategy, whereas this current school list unfortunately feels too top-heavy and aggressive.

SPECIFICITY OF GOALS, WHY MBA, WHY XYZ SCHOOL

Please also be sure to develop the specificity of your goals. I know it's hard to capture full detail in a review post, but your goals are going to need to be ***several degrees more specific*** for purposes of your actual applications. Beyond gaining diverse experience in consulting (presumably after starting as a generalist post-MBA), what specific expertise do you hope to develop? What industry do you want to focus on? What functional expertise do you want to build? Why? What problems are you hoping to solve in these industries? Again, why? Where does the passion for this come from? How did it evolve along the way? How does who you are and what you've done to this point, plus the MBA, equal / lead to / enable these super-specific goals? How exactly does each school to which you're applying fill specific knowledge / skill / experience gaps toward these goals? How exactly and uniquely will you contribute to each school? In what ways do you fit with their culture and community?

YOUR STORY, FURTHER READING, FREE CONSULTATION

Much of this comes down to application execution. And beyond goals / why MBA / why XYZ school, you will want to develop your personal story. What makes you unique? I encourage you to read more here: https://www.avantiprep.com/blog/the-mos ... on-process

If you are interested in a Free Consultation, you can sign up here: https://www.avantiprep.com/free-consultation.html.

I wish you the best of luck!

Best Regards,
Greg