Ross Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Hi SidSridhar,

Thank you for your post and for sharing your profile. You have strong academics, which will prove useful in your application process. Your overall GMAT score is slightly above the school's average; however, since you belong to a group of overrepresented applicants, the score is on the low range of the spectrum. You have leadership experience, which is also a plus. At this stage, I would focus your energy on the qualitative aspect of the application. You have good quantitative details, but you must bring those all together to tell a compelling story that would appeal to Ross.

I am happy to continue the conversation. If interested, please reach out to schedule a free consultation (contact details in signature).

Good luck!

Hello,

Request for evaluation

Male,Indian
Age - 29 years
Gmat - first attempt (720 Q50 V39 )
Education - B.Tech+M.Tech 5 Year Integrated Program, IIT Delhi(65%)
Mining Engineering
WE - 4 Yrs 6 Months
High School - Indian Military Cadet Corp. for two years on voluntary basis.
1-year gap between School and college (study break for Engineering entrance exam)
College

International Experience - Technical research internship in Technical University in Munich for duration of 3 months and had great working experience with a diverse research team.
Internship No 2(technical) - Worked on optimisation of assembly line of a Steel plant in India
Extra Academics (IIT KGP) - (Sports) I was part of Hostel football team for consistent 5 years and had a opportunity to captain the team in final year. Active participant of athletics event at college level.
I was treasurer of Mining Engineering department and organised workshops and events like1) internship and career consulting 2) farewell for graduate students 3) sports events for professor vs students teams 4) Fresher Induction

WE
Post-graduation chose Financial service domain given the fact that I have mathematics background. I joined Swiss based knowledge process outsourcing company (5000 employee) out of Mumbai(India) location. Worked in Equity/future/Fixed income index administration team who were managing asset worth $9-10B for London based investment bank and we were managing US, Europe market. This involved all activities of Index administration like working with IT team , trading and index structuring team.(total 2 years 6 months )(I was under top 3 performer and gained one promotion with maximum bonus among peers
Later on I joined S&P Global company, India and was working with Investment banking client. Assisted client in structuring and launching activities of Equity/Future index. This involved working in python, mat lab and excel. Worked on index worth $700M(2 years and still working. Gained one promotion)
Community Service
5 months back i started working with NGO who were working towards educating unprivileged children. Not much just started.
Target(USA) - Anderson,Ross,Tepper,Tuck,Yale,Kelley
Future plan - I wish to explore consulting and tech but skeptical about it, given the risk involved with the switch from finance
Story is not yet finalised I am working on it.
Please evaluate my profile and if my target schools are appropriate w.r.t constraints like cost and job prospects post MBA
and it would be great if you could tell if domain switch is good to go for. And I have any shot for any better schools?.

Hi there, and thanks for writing. You have some strengths to your profile including strong academics and progressive work experience. It's great that you've started working at an NGO as well and that you had strong extracurriculars in college. A couple of notes:

- 720 is a solid GMAT score, but for a school as competitive as Ross especially for Indian applicants, if you could increase it by 10+ points that could be helpful
- Before you apply, you need to figure out your career goal - staying in finance, vs. moving to consulting or tech. Think about what drives you and also, the aspects of your job you enjoy and the ones you want to see change post-MBA. Being able to communicate a clear and feasible path in your applications is very important, as well as making a case for why each program will help you meet your professional and personal goals

Hope that helps a bit!

Hello,

Do I stand a realistic chance of getting in? My profile:

1.) Indian Female, 24, Muslim
2.) GMAT: 730 (q50, v39, IR-3( I know it's bad!), AWA-6.0)
3.) Undergrad: Engineering , GPA: 4.0 (according to MBA.com conversion table)
4.) Currently working at Dell Technologies, 2 years of work experience after graduating. (Will be 3 yrs before joining the school)

International work experience: YES (was one of the select few to attend the Dell Annual IT Summit at Austin and learnt a lot from the experience)

I joined my team as a software analyst but my manager seeing good management and communication skills in me, encouraged me to take up project management and thus I became a project coordinator for my team within 6 months of joining the company. I worked with my team to do anything possible to help them perform at their highest level. This involves removing any impediments to progress, communicating with other teams for requirements, etc. So, you might say I have managing experience as well. I was a Scrum Master for my team and I have a certification of Certified Scrum Master as well.

5.) Extra-curricular: Vocalist in college band and still sing sometimes at clubs,worked with NGOs to help educate poor muslim girls, blogging, modelling, travelling

I was also the networking lead in the IT Development Program in Dell. I have organised numerous events and led all the members(in numbers of 50-60) of the ITDP program on various occasions.

Post MBA goals: Product Marketing Manager in a company I believe in.
Long term goals: Chief Marketing officer , again in a company I believe in.

Please give an honest feedback if I have a shot at getting in. And if not, which schools do you suggest me to apply to?

Thanks a bunch!!
Tasneem

Hi all,

Male, American (White)
Age - 24
GMAT - 700 (Q45, V40) - will likely retake.
Education - BBA in Finance, Chemistry minor. No-name state school. 3.65 GPA with upward trend (pre-med first 3 years @ ~3.2, finance last two years @ 3.9+).
Also, 5 month study abroad in Taiwan. Took master's level marketing and communications classes while simultaneously tutoring English to groups of my Asian classmates. Led 13 separate groups of ~3 people weekly.

Work experience - Currently 1.5 years total as a functional controller at a T1 auto supplier. Responsible for ~$40m budget and my entire function in North America (~50 locations in CA/US/MX, 200 people). No formal promotions, but after the first year I gained 3 direct reports. Report directly to VP and primarily work with directors.
Aside from my normal controlling duties, I'm on numerous committees. I mentor the North American President on digital trends (social media, AI, blockchain), was nominated to be on leadership committee for annual North American charity drive (nominated by said President), am on a committee to revamp our onboarding process with HR, am leading a project to implement a solution within my function, etc. Overall, a lot of opportunities to lead and interact with leadership. Letters of rec could probably come from VP and President that would discuss different topics.

Extra curriculars - Membership Officer for regional chapter of Mensa. Responsible for enhancing community engagement and membership satisfaction for group of ~900. Member of Mensa for 2 years, in the executive committee role for ~6 months.
Was part of a competitive leadership program in college. One of 12 students were selected to learn business leadership, lead a multidisciplinary team in identifying a problem and presenting a solution to the community, as well as a week-long study abroad to explore business practices in Europe. Also member of Finance Club, but fairly
irrelevant.

Goal of MBA - Near-term goal is to transition to strategy consulting - preferably MBB (of course). My favorite aspects of my current job are identifying areas of improvement and finding solutions to them. Less a fan of the routine tasks, which controlling consists heavily of for much of the year. I also enjoy the people-oriented side of things - something controlling and other technical jobs lack. My manager has provided a lot of positive feedback regarding my leadership skills and potential, which makes me optimistic.

Long-term goal is to pivot back from consulting into industry and climb. Consulting is a method to gain a more broad scope of knowledge and continue to refine my leadership and interpersonal skills while accelerating my career. It's ambitious, but I'd really like to be in the C-suite of an F500 someday.

Target schools - If I were to apply now, Ross and Fuqua would probably be the only remotely realistic stretches (I think?). If my chances are currently too low, I'll probably wait a year or two, boost my GMAT, add another job and change to something more like M7 + Ross, Yale and Fuqua. Ultimately, I'm still young and can wait. I'm not willing to compromise on a school that I wouldn't be 100% proud of for the rest of my life.

Any shot at matriculating in 2019? Will a higher GMAT make any difference, or am I still reaching too far with only 2.X years of WE?

Thanks!

Hi there!
It would be really helpful if you can evaluate my profile. Thanks in advance.

Age/ Gender/ Nationality: 26/ Male/ Indian

Education: BE Mech with a cgpa of 7.7/10 (non-IIT NIT). recently completed a 30 hr certificate course in finance.

Work Experience: 4.5 years as a mechanical engineer in a private engineering services company. was involved in R&d under a retired IIT prof. Lead a team of 4 individuals, all of them elder to me.

Extra curriculars: Was active in plays during college. Also some sporadic volunteer activities that involved creating environmental awareness to kids in schools hrough plays, organising cultural events for kids from orphanages throughout the city etc. Captain of a local futsal team.

GMAT: 720

Post MBA: Corporate Finance

Short term goal is I would like to get a job as financial analyst at the Big 4s, preferably in the valuation depts. Continuing and growing up the corporate ladder would be my long term goal.

Hi IReadABunch,

Thank you for your post and for sharing your profile. You have a great professional background and community engagement. You also seem to have a broad idea about where you are going professionally (which you will have to flesh out a bit more when applying).

The challenges I foresee with your profile is your GMAT and GPA; Ross has a 720 average GMAT. While 3.65 is a good GPA, combining your GPA from "no-name state school" with a 700 GMAT score might risk not showing your academic strength to the Admissions Committee, so I do recommend retaking the GMAT. For your application at Ross, the length of your work experience is competitive (2.5 years at matriculation). For Fuqua, however, your work experience might be on the low end of the spectrum. If you choose to wait to apply to M7s, Ross, Yale, and Fuqua, there are things you can do to improve your academic strength and round out your profile professionally.


Happy to continue the conversation live (phone) with a 30-minute free consultation. If interested, click here to coordinate.

Good luck!

Hi,

Please evaluate my profile below!

Background and nationality: Male, White, US citizen, 25 years old.

Undergrad Information: BBA in finance from Ohio State (Yes, big rivals, probably doesn't help haha) 3.2 GPA ( I had one bad semester where I dealt with depression from the death of my best friend, dragging down my gpa. I plan to use the optional essay to explain this).

GMAT: 730 (Q 47, V 44, IR 6, AWA 6)

Work experience and leadership: At the time of applying, will be 5 years working as a financial analyst for major bank with one promotion to intermediate analyst. In charge of a team of analysts based in India, led many projects, and have mentored some of the associates on my team.

Community and others: Done many different volunteering activities but not through only one organization. Currently part of a mentoring program through Ohio State. Serving on the board of a non-profit Irish heritage organization (Even though I'm not Irish).

Post MBA goals: Wanting to either switch to investment banking or consulting.

Thanks!

Hi jaja231,

Thank you for your post and for sharing your profile. You have a competitive profile for Ross. As you pointed out, I recommend you address your low GPA in the optional essay. You have strong community engagement and leadership experiences. Of course, you will be required to address this in all portions of the application. An additional component that you will need to develop is your post-MBA plans, which you will have to address in the longer essay prompt - you should be specific here. I hope this helps.

Happy to continue the conversation. If interested click here to coordinate a 30-minute free consultation.

Good luck!

Hi ,

Can you please help me evaluate my profile for Full time MBA at Michigan Ross?

Bachelors : BE(Hons) Electrical and Electronics - BITS Pilani
Masters : MSc. Physics - BITS Pilani
GPA : 7.5 / 10
GMAT : 730 (Q-50, V-40, IR-7 , AWA- 5, IR - 7)

Work Experience

2 years as Business Analyst catering to Commercial Aviation. Will have completed 3 years at the time of admission.
Have worked with some of the largest airlines in the world in terms of implementations and health Checks
Traveled extensively in South East Asia - Vietnam, Seychelles , Japan, Papua New Guinea etc. working with clients with diverse business needs and hailing from different cultures and traditions
Assisted Marketing teams in Sales pursuits

Rewards and Recognition:
Awarded employee of the quarter among 1300 employees in Bangalore. Youngest employee to be given the award since the company's inception in BLR.
Promoted within 1 year of joining.

Community Experience:
- Helped underprivileged children of nearby slums gain admission to government schools during college
- No major community service post college

Thank you!

My question would be how could you demonstrate contribution outside of community service. Have you done anything internally that might count? What is the quality of your work experience the, BA sounds a little bit vanilla and you're going to need to pull out some interesting stories that reflect teamwork leadership and problem solving. I honestly think that it might benefit you to wait a year get 20 more points on your GMAT do Toastmasters get some Community involvement and at that point you will be a strong fit for and might even be a candidate for higher ranked schools. Deepen your contributions at work and outside of work, get a record of accomplishment and kind of a brand going with what you're known for

https://mbaprepcoach.com

Hi,

So, I am a 21 y/o Indian.
I am a BBA Graduate from Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies, Pune. Majored in Accounting and Finance.
GPA: 3.18/ 4.0
GMAT: Averaging between 720-740 on my mocks.
I have one year of work experience at my family-managed business. I am now an entrepreneur, and have recently started a Company. Which makes it 1.5 years, so far.
With regard to my extra-curricular activities: Avid Golfer, Drummer for a band. I was Head of the Finance Club at College, also Head of Department for our College fest.
Apart from this, I have interned with Teach for India, Make a Difference, People for Animals, and now an active member of Young Indians. I was recently awarded the 'New Promising Leader' award for my efforts towards the cause of the Organisation.
I am now learning Mandarin, as well.

Looking forward to some valuable feedback on my profile.

Given your lower GPA and competitive demographic, definitely aim for 730+ on the GMAT. Ross generally requires at least 2-3 years of work experience, with the average being about 5 years. It will benefit your candidacy if you continue to grow your current company and stay involved in extracurriculars in a meaningful capacity. Also, make sure you research the program so you can make a strong case for why it's a good fit. Hope that helps!

Hi Please evaluate my profile for Ross.

Indian Male Engineer , 25 years
UG : B.Tech, Mechanical Engineering (with specialisation in Automotive Engineering) - Vellore Institute of Technology, India
GMAT : 740 (Q51, V39)
GPA : 4.0 (according to mba.com conversion table)

Additional Coursework:
- Business Foundations Specialisation (4 courses + 1 capstone project ) , Wharton Online
- Business Analytics Specialisation (4courses + 1 capstone project), Wharton Online
- X- series certificate in Supply chain management (3 courses), MIT CTLx

Work Experience : 4 years (upon matriculation)
Industry : Farm Mechanisation Sector (1.5 years) + Automotive Sector (2.5 years)
Compaines worked for : Escorts ltd. Agri Machinery group, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (Automotive and Farm Equipment Sector)
Function : Research & Development

Part-Time WE: Principal Advisor (Strategy & Operations), Istriwala.com (Startup)

Extra-curricular Activities:
-Zumba instructor (member of the ZIN community)
- Dancer
- Short film maker (Director, Screenwriter, Editor for 3 films)
- Freelance Graphic designer (KRISH designs)
- Badminton player

Community Service:
- Head of Marketing & PR , Head of Social issues - Vijayawada needs You (Non-Profit)

Long Term vision : Lead innovations in Farm Mechanisation towards sustainable Agriculture

Short term goal : Strategy role in Farm Equipment/Automotive sector.

Hellokrish7

Statistically speaking you have a decent profile.
GMAT, past grades, Industry, extracurricular, all seem strong and make you different from an average Indian applicant. (You may read here on the factors crucial in your written application)
You will now need to focus on the 'qualitative' details- Career progress, achievements at work, business impact, contribution in extracurricular etc (namely impressive stories/anecdotes)
Though your career goals look pretty realistic and organic, I see 2 minor concerns- 1) Why the need of an MBA if you are already in the field and seem to be doing pretty well 2) By saying you wish to go into a strategic role in farm mechanization- you might be going too specific. Make sure this is something that is reachable through the school, else you should broaden the industry a bit to begin with. Do your research.
Apart from that, you have the goods, need to deliver now.

Best
Varun Sharma
+919137133507
MBAkarma.com
GMAT Score Predictor
info@mbakarma.com

Hi Krish,

Incidentally, my father had a business in manufacturing farmer machinery for about 20 years , although that was nowhere near Escort's scale.

You have got a good profile, and you are applying to a good MBA program - Ross is very strong for operations and you meet their high GMAT score requirement (being an Indian). Ross also likes applicants who have done community service, which I can see on your profile description (depth of involvement and impact ofcourse matter).

As you come from R&D, I am going to emphasize- don't get technical in your resume . R&D guys also have a role to play in business outcomes (albeit indirectly), and they should be highlighted specifically in the resume, as achievements. ( We have a resume Ninja in my team, should you wish to take our assistance)

I like your long-term goal, however as Varun pointed out, the short-term goal sounds too narrow focused. Strategy roles are far and few...so this will definitely need to be discussed further.

Thanks a lot for the evaluation and suggestions Varun & Namita (MBAkarma @MBADecoder).
Since you both mentioned about the short term goal, I am giving my short term goal as, "A Role in strategy and product planning for automotive or Farm Equipment specialised companies such as Ford, John Deere, GM, etc. or for a Consulting firm specialised in consulting for Automotive/ Farm Equipment sector such as Bain & Co., EY, etc."

I am not able to find the line between too narrow and too broad, please let me know what you guys think of framing it this way.

Thank you in advance.