Profile Evaluation GMAT 760

Question

First of all, Thank you for evaluating my profile. Any kind of help is highly appreciated. 
GMAT - 760 (Q50, V44) 
Gender - Male
Undergrad - IIT Patna (8.8/10 CGPA) (Department Rank 3)
12th - 95.4% (Though, it won't matter much)

WE - 8 months at Samsung , Delhi 
- 2.5 months (internship) NTU, Singapore
- 3 months (internship) IIT Kharagpur

Extracurriculars :-

1) National Level Table Tennis player (Under 18 and Under 16). Awards at school, college and district levels Table Tennis. 
2) Youtube Channel (DIY videos of some tech which I explored)
3) Electronics club coordinator (2015-2016). 
4) 3 research paper at IEEE conferences.
5) CISCO Ideate - Make in India challenge (Finalists)
6) NSO(National Science Olympiad) - AIR 41 , IMO(International Mathematics Olympiad) AIR -137 (In case this matters)

Post MBA :- Need to get more perspective, However I am much inclined towards Tech industry (Business Development Manager) and consulting

I know that without knowing my post MBA plans and other important variables that most of the schools look into, it will be very difficult to give an opinion on my profile.
However, I am sure that you will be able to provide me a ball park estimate of my current position.

I have three questions :-

1) I am thinking of applying for 2019 (Intake) MBA batch and will have 2 years work ex at the time joining the school. Is this strategy sound? Should I try waiting for a few more years ? Being in a software industry(less likely to be promoted even at the time of application of 2020 intake) I don't think if waiting for one more year is going to have a major impact on my profile. Any thoughts ?

2) Indian IT Male usually have lower likelihood of getting accepted. Samsung research is pretty good, atleast in my opnion(ranks #15 in Fortune 500), however the IT background might kill my application. What all methods I can use to overcome this drawback ? Should I try changing my industry ?

3) Which schools should I aim for ? Please classify the schools into 3x2 (Safe , Moderate , Reach) and (Scholarship, No Scholarship) . I am thinking of either choosing top 5 or one of top 5-20 on the basis of scholarship offered.

Thank you for taking out the time to evaluate my profile. Any other thoughts on my profile are welcome. Please feel free to ask any question related to my profile.

##Please ignore any grammatical mistakes that I may have made.

MG4MBACrystalBall · Answer

Consider the following points Piyush:
 
  The overall profile contours look decent. It is however important to understand the specific nature of your work and achievements, if any so far. That, and not just the Samsung name alone, will be of crucial importance.  
  In that context, in general most good GMAT based programs expect 4-5 years of solid experience. Applying for the 2019 intake will thus be a very risky strategy. For reasons mentioned  here , we do not speculate on school selection but our advice would be to wait for a few years, build the profile and then apply. You may want to consider  this .  
  Generally speaking, Samsung work is not likely to be clubbed with the usual IT pool - and you'd have to articulate the differentiation well to ensure that doesn't happen. If you are thinking of changing industries, all the more reason to wait a few years.

Hope this helps you take the right decision.

Cheers,

piyush1995 · Answer

Thank you for your response  MG4MBACrystalBall  . I am thinking of applying either with 2 year work ex or with a 3 year work ex(max) due to few of my personal reasons and because I
m quite eager to change industries. Would you be willing to give me a range of schools that I could consider with the 2 year work ex ?

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

Piyush, Thank you for the detailed information. I know you requested that I respond to this one offline, so here are my thoughts! 1) I am thinking of applying for 2019 (Intake) MBA batch and will have 2 years work ex at the time joining the school. Is this strategy sound? Should I try waiting for a few more years ? Being in a software industry(less likely to be promoted even at the time of application of 2020 intake) I don't think if waiting for one more year is going to have a major impact on my profile. Any thoughts ? I would wait to get a bit more experience. You ideally want to have at least a couple years of full-time consistent work experience at one company, though three helps more. Keep in mind the average is five. From what I see you have some internships to date and some Samsung experience. 2) Indian IT Male usually have lower likelihood of getting accepted. Samsung research is pretty good, atleast in my opnion(ranks #15 in Fortune 500), however the IT background might kill my application. What all methods I can use to overcome this drawback ? Should I try changing my industry ? This is a bit more of a complicated question as it gets to overall profile crafting and story development. On the surface, you can still succeed from this role because your stats are strong. Now can you improve the profile with another job? Sure this can be done. It depends on the overall plan and the likelihood of getting another role though. You also want to balance that with moving around as you ideally don't want to jump from job to job and then apply to school. 3) Which schools should I aim for ? Please classify the schools into 3x2 (Safe , Moderate , Reach) and (Scholarship, No Scholarship) . I am thinking of either choosing top 5 or one of top 5-20 on the basis of scholarship offered. Part of this would honestly depend upon your work development at Samsung, so without seeing that it is a bit tough to list specific schools. However your strategy of going for schools from top 5-20 is a very sound strategy and then letting scholarships perhaps influence the decision. Good luck and if you want help with further early planning, see below for how we can help! https://www.personalmbacoach.com/early-mba-planning

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

Thanks for sharing your profile. You have the right numbers for your demographic but a big part of how admissions receives your application will be through your resume, essays, and recommendations. A few of these components will stem from your performance in your work experience, which right now is very limited. Your work experience as you can see is VERY IMPORTANT and can be a way to help you stand out from your competitive demographic. I think the question of how many years of work experience you should apply with, will largely depend on the impact / results you are able to drive during this time. So you will need to take it on a year by year basis. Schools also looks for strong leadership experience, do you think you will be able to secure enough of that by next year? It may be tough for you, hence why more experience could help and not hurt your chances.

piyush1995 · Answer

VeritasPrepDozie  , I want to understand that if my role in the company does not change significantly, would it still be "significantly" beneficial for the application with 3 years of work ex than with 2 years of work ex.

How about trying to apply for Kellog, LBS, Tuck, McCombs with 2 years of work ex ? If I get into any of the programs with scholarship then maybe I can join them otherwise wait for a year and try again. I will also be able to estimate my standing based on the responses from these colleges

MG4MBACrystalBall · Answer

You may want to peruse the list  here  Piyush though approach with caution.

On your other query, reapplication is always a tricky business and in general, not something you should work into the strategy. European schools tend to have slightly more experience than US ones - so aim right.

TheIvyLeagueEdge · Answer

Great Vitals. IIT tag helps. Ranks help a great lot too.

Overall, WE less than 2 years, and with no promotion is heavily discounted. So, this discounts your profile big time. Besides, many of the essay questions will ask you for team-dynamics, and your answers will sound superficial, unless you have stuck for at least 2 years at a place.

Great EC. I would also recommend rounding off your personality with volunteering engagement, both to show initiatives, and maturity.

Totally doable; in fact, is quite common

Wrong on both 1 & 2... S/w industry does put you in greater competition, but at your stage, an early application will hurt you more. Apply with experience.

For 3, 5-20 looks better, but the right strategy while applying is important, and can even fetch you something higher.

Hope that helps.

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

I would say your thought process should be less about the change in your role and more about the experiences you have serving in the role. In particular how you have made an impact on the organization with which you have been a part of and how have you individually driven results. It's hard to make an impact if you're not around long enough at your firm to do so. Obviously best case scenario is you are being promoted and making an impact but if you are unable to be promoted your impact and interpersonal experiences will become even more important and if you matriculate with <2 years of experience you may not have either on your resume

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