Profile evaluation - CA - 5 yrs of exp in IB & Fund

Question

Hi,

I am at the very beginning the journey (doing initial research of mode of prep/material/schools; wandering the forums; pondering the meaning of life etc etc). Seeking this evaluation is my first concrete step really.
So would really appreciate some pointers and advice. I have a broad list of schools I would like to target. It will be a big help if you could offer some clarity on what range of Gmat score will I need for these, given my background.

Will post further details below.

gMatCauthon · Answer

Cant seem to add in details. I keep getting an error prompt saying I am not allowed to post URLs.
There are no URLs in my draft post, but cant get around this issue.
Can someone please suggest a solution.

gMatCauthon · Answer

Hi,

I am at the very beginning the journey (doing initial research of mode of prep/material/schools; wandering the forums; pondering the meaning of life etc etc). Seeking this evaluation is my first concrete step really.
So would really appreciate some pointers and advice. I have a broad list of schools I would like to target. It will be a big help if you could offer some clarity on what range of Gmat score will I need for these, given my background.

Basics:
29 year old male from India
Planning to appear for Gmat around July’18
Targeting a 1 year MBA program commencing in 2019

Academics:
92.5% in Tenth Grade (CBSE)
90.0% in Twelfth Grade (CBSE)
First Division in B Com (Honors) from Sri Venkateswara College (University of Delhi)
Qualified as a Chartered Accountant in November 2012 (multiple attempts)

Work experience:
5 years of experience post qualifying chartered accountancy:
2 years as a Senior analyst with the M&A Investment Banking team at KPMG (Front end) – Worked on several pitches and some live deals; drafted pitchbooks and IMs; built financial models; undertook company/industry research
3 years as an associate investment manager with a prominent Real Estate Fund in India (AUM $11 bn+) – Worked end-to-end on 11 deals; analysis and execution; monitoring of assigned portfolio of investments; regularly interfacing with investee management/ consultants/ lawyers/ bankers

I have received good ratings in appraisals throughout and was promoted this year.
Given nature of roles, both positions were with small teams, and thus I do not have any direct leadership experience however I have worked with other functional teams in a supervisory capacity and mentored interns/ trainees.

Prior to all this, I went through the 3.5 years of mandatory training as part of the CA coursework, and worked with the treasury team of a large Indian financing corporation for 9 months before appearing for the CA Final exams. I figure this will not be considered by the schools in their evaluation.

Extra-curricular:
Competed at CBSE national level in swimming and water polo. Served as the captain for the aquatics team in senior year of school and throughout college.
Held student council positions in school – prefect, house captain
Also pursued several other hobbies activities – guitarist for school band and orchestra, competed in kickboxing competitions, taught myself basic Japanese.. but I doubt these will carry any weight. All these things were put on hold once focus shifted to CA, IB etc
Swimming is the key extra-curricular activity with several medals to back it up.

I do not have any social impact activities to showcase. Though I have been keen to contribute towards education as a social cause, and would be keen to work towards it in case I leave my current position to prepare for the Gmat.

Widely travelled, but no international work experience to speak of.

I am very committed to pursuing MBA and plan to leave my current job in order to devote a few months to full time prep/ take a sabbatical from the 65hr+ work weeks.
I have performed well in verbal and above par in quant throughout my academic past. I expect quant to be the more challenging aspect once I get down to preparing.

Target schools:
Not planning to apply to US based schools. Would love to study in Singapore (love the country in general

).
Broad list of target schools for 1 year programs: (ranked for preference)
Aspirational
1. INSEAD (Singapore)
2. London Business School
3. CEIBS
Realistic (IMO)
4. HKUST
5. Nanyang (Singapore)
6. NUS (Singapore)
7. Indian School of Business (Hyderabad, India)
8. IIM Ahmadabad (India) – 1 year program
9. IIM Banglore (India) – 1 year program

Would appreciate your advice on the range of scores I would need to target/ other supplements needed in my profile for the above programs.

Apologies for the length of this thing.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Best Regards,
D

). Broad list of target schools for 1 year programs : (ranked for preference) Aspirational 1. INSEAD (Singapore) 2. London Business School 3. CEIBS Realistic (IMO) 4. HKUST 5. Nanyang (Singapore) 6. NUS (Singapore) 7. Indian School of Business (Hyderabad, India) 8. IIM Ahmadabad (India) – 1 year program 9. IIM Banglore (India) – 1 year program Would appreciate your advice on the range of scores I would need to target/ other supplements needed in my profile for the above programs. Apologies for the length of this thing. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Best Regards, D

Admissionado · Answer

Dear D,
Most excellent to hear from you!

Overall you have a solid profile, with good experience and very good grades. The first step is of course matching those with a rock solid GMAT that will bolster your profile yet further.

I think that from your list LBS will be out of range, and you might as well skip that application. INSEAD and CEIBS are surely worth a try if you can hit that GMAT score.

I think given that we are also far enough away from applications for next year, you may want to consider adding some social/volunteer work. sure it's a bit late, but as we always say "better late than never".

A final word before we part: Do not, under any circumstance quit your job to to the GMAT unless you have one lined up right after. Being unemployed looks bad and makes your application a LOT more challenging.

Otherwise, I wish you the best of luck!!!

Please do feel free to reach out should there be anything,

Best,

gMatCauthon · Answer

Thanks for the encouraging response. I feel more confident about the track I'm setting out on. ?

Wanted advice on 2 points:

Firstly, given my background, what ballpark range of scores would I need to target for a good chance at INSEAD, CEIBS, NUS, NTU; ISB or the IIMs ?

A secondly, about the planned unemployment, my job typically has me working most waking hours, weekends are worse than weekdays. So sticking to any kind of prep schedule might be impossible. I don't want to risk missing the 2019 batch as that would affect the whole family's plans.
Furthermore, I need the time off to refocus on health as well - recovering from a sports injury, would want to be in fighting shape for the new chapter in life.
Is there a work around for this ? Perhaps I could take up a volunteering position or an internship.

Sent from my SM-N920G using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

gMatCauthon · Answer

That first question mark was supoosed to be a smiley face. This thread is not painting me in a very tech savvy light..

Sent from my SM-N920G using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Admissionado · Answer

Hey,
So first of all as far as score goes: 670 could work, 700 would be better.

For the job thing... do what you can. If you need to quit it is what it is. But what would be better would be if you could find another job and maybe take a month of two before you started the second one. The job can pay less, but hopefully (for the MBA I mean) would bring you closer to your goals.

There are also other solutions - using your recovery from an injury as a story, volunteer work, etc.... but basically if you can avoid being unemployed it is better. But if it's really best, there are other solutions such as the ones you pointed out.

Best,

Profile evaluation - CA - 5 yrs of exp in IB & Fund

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