Hi GyanOne,

Thanks for the feedback. As far as extra curricular activities are concerned I really don't get much of time outside my office schedule.
However, I am quite active in the office and have run initiatives to take care for the development of the under privileged students around the state by organizing visits to thier schools and helping the students understand the importance of education and the options they have to choose their career. We assist them on studies,money management,self development and other personality building activities.
As a hobby, I used to write blogs for a reputed automotive website in India and I run a forum within my company where I help people to choose the right automobile and answer their queries on other automobile stuff, its a 700+ member group now.

Hi Chetsa,

While it all looks good, I'd like to understand more about your work profile- what did you do at Wipro? What are you doing at your event management company? what impact have you made at both of these companies?

Work experience is among the biggest criteria for admission, considered by b-schools.
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Chetsa

Your profile looks all set, but you should be looking carefully at the ISB essays. Your ECA are excellent, and your academics are decent, while your GMAT score is very strong. As an IT applicant, it will be critical for you to differentiate yourself in a competitive (and overcrowded) pool. If you can do that, you should certainly be good for an interview call Chetsa, and an admit provided you do well in the interview.
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Chetsa,

Focus upon the managerial aspects of your work when you write your application, because its these parts that will help you to differentiate yourself. Ofcourse with two years of work experience, you are not going to have many. Also use the essays and the resume to showcase your impact- the time when you took initiatives to make things better.

We have worked with an applicant a couple of years ago who started a salon in a metro and wrote about a grand career plan to make it national chain. She demonstrated her capability to achieve this by growing the chain to 2-3 salons already before applying. You have a story similar to hers - show a clear career vision, a real need for an MBA and back up your vision with demonstrated achievements.

Reach out if you wish to discuss further.
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Hi,
Please evaluate my profile for isb...

Gmat score: 700

Work Experience: 2 years. At the time of commencement of class: 3 years

Work Profile:
1) Senior Engineer - Project Management Group – Aerospace & Defence, Larsen & Toubro Ltd
2) 1 promotion in 2 years.
3) Handling projects worth INR 16.5 crores in sales value.
4) Directly supervising a team of 5 workshop supervisors, 2 marketing and contract executives and 3 quality inspectors.
5) Handling high profile customers such as DRDO and ISRO.
6) Flagship projects include Realization of key deployment mechanisms for Chandrayaan 2 and Mangalyaan 2 missions for ISRO.
7) Experience in handling few more Confidential projects for Defence. (Cannot disclose for obvious reasons!)
8) In short, responsible for the overall project planning, estimation, monitoring and control.
9) Well versed with Enterprise Resource Planning and Product lifecycle management software.
10) L&T's online certification in Project management and operations management.
11) Awarded 1st runner up in the “Best Workplace management system” category at the annual Safety Function

Academics:
Undergrad-
1) Mechanical Engineering from Amrita University, Coimbatore (Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham)
2) GPA: 8.32 (Distinction).
3) Final year project: Application of lean principles in a manufacturing facility to improve productivity. (Increased productivity by approx. 20% without automating any activity)

Schooling-
10th- 81%
12th – 79%

ECA-
@work
1) Awarded by the company for CSR volunteering effort. Top 1% get awarded every year.
2) Have been Volunteering on weekends for the last 2 years to teach English to underprivileged kids aged between 9-15.
3) Joined Mentor me India Program to personally mentor a kid aged 10 for a year.
4) Founded the corporate football team for my division at L&T. Participated (as a Goalkeeper and team manager) in City level corporate tournaments. Quarter finalist in 2015 and semifinalist in 2016.

@college
1) Headed the Annual National Level Technical Festival 2014. Achieved sales of INR 96 lacs with a budget of INR 57 lacs. Directly supervised 18 different student committees handling various non technical departments such as Public relations, Planning, Corporate relations, Resource management, hospitality to name a few.
2) Senior Editor of College magazine. (The magazine has been awarded Best college magazine in Tamil Nadu for a record 7 consecutive times. The magazine has also received a letter of appreciation from the Hon. President of India)
3) University’s literary club Secretary.
4) Drama and Theater club event manager.
5) 1st runner up at district level Debate competition, Coimbatore.
6) 1st Runner up in the Talent Hunt Debate competition at college.
7) 2 time winner of national level Business Plan competitions during under graduation while competing with other bschool students.

Hi,

To start with, this forum has been extraordinarily helping all MBA aspirants and I would like to thank each one of the contributors for their selfless inputs.

Would be great if you help evaluate my profile and share your thoughts on the chances I stand to make it to the Interview call for R1 application cycle in ISB.

Here's a snapshot of my profile :-

Academics
=======
ICSE - 81%
ISC - 82%
BTEch(ECE)(West Bengal University Of Technology) - 80%

Professional Life
==========
Total Work Ex - 6 years
Currently employed with Oracle in the Support Team
Leading a team of 4
Have worked 12 months out of UK at The Body Shop International Headquarters as a single point of contact for Business Intelligence Consultant(Infosys) and led the support and maintenance track for BI with three resources offshore.

Other highlights
===========
Have been the school captain for a year (St. Xavier's Institution)
Have had experience in penning plays and staging them in school
Have been a participant in TVS Sa Re Ga Ma Pa(2005)
Have been an Indian Idol participant
Have been onscreen in a regional singing event (Bengali)
Heading the Oracle Music Club Hyderabad(Current Strength of 30 heads)
Core Committee member of the Employee Club, Hyderabad, Oracle
Have had the pleasure of conceptualizing and implementing a gifting solution with my wife (google 'UphaarOccasionAnusaar')
Regular compere in all Oracle events
Member of Oracle Hyderabad Toastmasters Club


My questions are:-

1. With the profile that I have what kind of a GMAT score should I be looking at if I want to make it through ISB?
2. I am planning to take my GMAT exam the last week of August/first week of September. I am keeping a month for the essays and the application process. Would that be too late(given that I am eyeing ISB R1 cycle)?

Would be really great to know where I stand in the process.

Many thanks in advance.

Regards,
Arko

I'm contemplating applying for a PhD in marketing/consumer behavior but not sure my profile is strong enough. Undergrad school was Washington University in St. Louis (top 20) and GPA was 3.2 - environmental science major. Have MBA from Willamette University with GPA of 3.8. I'm 38 and have 16 years of work experience in a few different industries - government, higher education, environmental engineering, and tech. 580 on GMAT. Thanks in advance for your response!

Many thanks for sharing your thoughts about my profile.

The competition is tough indeed.

I qualified for the Mumbai rounds in Sa..PA and faced the trio in Indian Idol in Mumbai

craigurai,

Your GMAT score is not very competitive for a PhD in Management, assuming you are looking at top schools. The rest of your profile looks decent, assuming all your experience is related to marketing. Not sure of how much research experience you have, but your extensive work-ex, will certainly help compensate for that.

Try to raise your GMAT to 650+ at least (if not 700+) to have a shot at top PhD in Management programs (including the ISB FPM).
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Hi there,

You have good experience with L&T and the aerospace and defense space could be unique- so that's even better. However, the duration of your work experience is on the lower side and you would benefit from another year of experience. So, unless you are in a super hurry to apply this year, consider applying in 2017.

I also see that you are aiming, Ross, UNC - those schools also get very competitive and getting in with a GMAT of 700 might be very tough. Consider retaking it and enhancing the score by 30-40 points for these schools. OR re-think your target US schools. NUS and NTU seem more achievable.

If you want to talk more, email me at mail@vibranture.com

Good luck![/quote]


Thank you for the advice. I am planning to give GMAT again next month. Hopefully, i will cross 720 mark this time.