Profile Evaluation - Indian - Chartered Accountant - 700 GMAT

Question

Hi Jon,

Would request profile evaluation.

Academics -

-Qualified Chartered Accountant ( India ) - July 2013
-Bachelor of Commerce - HL Institute of Commerce - Ahmedabad University - CGPA 2.935 / 4.33 - Grade B - May 2012
-Cleared CFA Level 1 and Registered for Level 2 for June 2014
-Grade XII - 92.2%
-Grade X - 90%

Ongoing Education - Diploma in Information Systems Audit - Institute of Chartered Accountants of India

GMAT 1 - 5th Sept 2014 - 660 - Q48 V31 - AWA 6
GMAT 2 - 17th Oct 2014 - 700 - Q49 V36 - Official Score awaited

TOEFL/IELTS - Pending

Work Experience

-Intern Trainee from August 2010 to August 2013 and a Partner from December 2013 onwards at Dhariwal & Associates.
(The firm is owned by my family, so even though my title read intern trainee for 3 years but I did work in full capacity and did all the work that I am doing as a partner. The title intern trainee is because the course of Chartered Accountancy requires a minimum of 3 years of internship under a practicing Chartered Accountant. My undergrad CGPA is poor mainly because I was busy developing the business and making attempts to expand it.)

-General Business activity at my firm includes - Taxation and Representation services, Auditing Services, Accounting Services, and Debt Syndication and Project Reporting.
-My role is mainly managing a staff of about 10 people and 5-7 associates for the timely and quality delivery of services and ensure smooth and efficient functioning of the firm.

*There are no remarkable achievements to point out, but I headed all the innovative and new work in the firm and tried to provide the best delivery of services to clients.

Other Activites 
-active participant in sports, including state level tennis tournaments.
-actively involved in trading of equity and managing family portfolio
-possess basic knowledge of french as it was a part of my school curriculum for 6 years.

Nationality - Indian

Intended Application - Round 2 for September 2015 Intake. Or January 2016 intake for European B Schools

Concerns : 
-My Age and Location - 22 years - Indian Male - Something I cant help.
-Work Experience - Does it make a worthwhile work experience? 
-Undergrad CGPA - I know its too low but are other academic qualifications enough to make some balance or do I need to do something more? ( I am planning to appear for CPA Exams in February 2015 )

Could you please assess my profile and suggest the schools I can apply to. I am looking at Johnson Cornell , CMU Tepper and UVA - Darden in the US , HKU MBA in Asia and HEC Paris, IE Spain and ESADE Spain in Europe. However, I am open to suggestions for other schools where I would have a strong chance.

Thanks,
Yash .

Admissionado · Answer

Hey Yash, good to hear from you dude.

Well my first question is about your family business: Can you tell me more? How big is it? How many workers? How many clients? How much turnaround? Are you planning on taking over this business upon graduation?

Second, about your schooling: When were you in school? When did you graduate?? Do you have any interesting extra-currics?

Get back to me good sir, and I'll do my best to answer your Qs...

Cheers,
Jon

yd13 · Answer

Hi Jon,

Thanks a ton for your response.

Here are the answers to your questions

about your family business:
 
Can you tell me more? It is a consulting business where we provide consultancy in area of Taxation and Representation services, Auditing Services, Accounting Services, and Debt Syndication and Project Reporting. This is done in 3 firms as a matter of taxation planning. The business is a well established name in the area and is in the market since over 24 years. It is called Chartered Accountancy in India (CPA is the American Equivalent, however, the scope of activities for a Chartered Accountant here is much larger than a CPA)

My role in the business is mainly managing the work staff on the floor and execution of tasks. Whereas my father is more into public and client dealing and representation to taxation authorities.

How big is it? It is a closely held firm, owned and managed by my father and me.

How many workers? We have a staff of about 10 people and 5-7 associates for other specialized services.

How many clients? About 1000 people. Corporate Clients - 60 Including some major Indian banks. Other Incorporated Bodies - 250-300 and Individual Clients - 650-700 and Governmental Authorities - 3.

How much turnaround? Combined turnover of 3 firms is around Indian Rupees 3 Million. (1$= INR 60, however, owing to PPP you can convert 1 $ to about INR 12-15, So $ 200-250k in real terms and $ 50k in nominal terms.)

Are you planning on taking over this business upon graduation? Not in the short term. Post my MBA I would like to opt for a job in any of the developed markets to learn skills that would add value when I move to my family business in long term.

schooling:

When were you in school? April 2009- April 2012. Along with my undergrad, I finished my Chartered Accountancy in July 2013. Though, I have been working in my firm since August 2010 as an Intern Trainee which was a mandatory part of Chartered Accountancy course.

When did you graduate?? April 2012. However, Degree was issued in October 2012

Do you have any interesting extra-currics? No major extra-currics in college. But I am playing state level tennis tournaments right now, if that helps.

I hope I have answered all your questions, else you kindly ask any more questions.

Thanks for the time and interest Jon

Yash Dhariwal

Admissionado · Answer

Hey Yash,
Well the one thing I'm not sure of is if the schools will consider the part of your "internship" you accomplished while in school as a past of your work experience. Most likely not. which means that you are preparing to apply with two years of experience in the bag.. i.e. about a year too little.

So you MAY want to consider applying next year, especially since we are well into R2.

Your family business is good, but I think that it's size and range will be neither an advantage nor a disadvantage. It's great that you have done great work with lots of corporate clients and I think you should be able to show some very excellent experience, but at the same time the firm is not really big enough for its size to confer an advantage to your application.

So my advice to you would be to consider applying next year, and to think about what you can DO (Esp. in the volunteer work/extra side of things) to improve your profile up until then.

Let me know your thoughts, dude...
Best,
JF

yd13 · Answer

Hi Jon,

I agree about the schools not considering internship as a part of my work but by proving them that the college timing were actually 7am to 11am and post that I was working for my office.

Also I understand my Work Experience is less in terms of number of years, but applying for R2 - Sept 2015, by the time I join the course, I will have about 40 months of Work Experience post my Graduation, would that still be less, given that I am not the Indian IT Male Stereotype applicant?

Many Thanks
Yash

Admissionado · Answer

Yash, Well you can always try... but you probably will be at a bit of a disadvantage. It's true your profile is far more unique than the average! But to put things into perspective, the large majority of very young folks going into Bschool (with 3 years exp.) are either coming from Finance or MBB and are kind of farmed into the MBAs young, after which they often leave and return to their jobs. Your work experience is likely enough! But it will also likely keep you at a disadvantage. So it's up to you as to what you decide, but it's good to know...

Best, JF

yd13 · Answer

Hi Jon,

I appreciate your advice. Thanks a lot.

Yash

Admissionado · Answer

You got it Yash,
Good luck, and let me know how things go!

Best,
J

yd13 · Answer

Hi Jon,

It is almost a year since we talked. Your advise was of a great help and I did decide to hold on with my applications for a year.

I would like to apply early in R2.

Following are the highlights of my achievements over the last year:-
1. I cleared CFA - USA Level 2
2. I was a part of a social startup (NGO) which was involved in the cleanliness campaign and then, I pitched the start up at a Startup event at Indian Institute of Management and successfully obtained mentor ship, however, later found a perfect partner for takeover and got the startup absorbed a financially strong and politically connected NGO.
3. Cleared DISA ( Indian equivalent of CISA - ISACA). A course in information systems audit.

It would be great if I could seek your opinion on which B Schools I can consider for Sept 2016 intake.

Look forward to hear from you soon.
Thanks and regards,
Yash

Admissionado · Answer

Hey Yash, Good to hear from you! (although I did have to read through all our posts to remind myself)

So it's good that you have made progress, especially on the NGO side. That was a bit lacking. Plus with the extra year experience you should be good. with your profile, I'd suggest applying to 5-6 schools in a spread of schools in approximately the 10-30 ranking. I mean I can't tell you exactly where because they also need to meet your criteria (big city or small? active learning or case study? with what post-MBA goals? etc etc). But if you do tell me more of your criteria your goals and send me a short list, I could advise you further. Best, JF

yd13 · Answer

Hi Jon,

Many thanks for reading the entire post again and for the time.

My Goals are basically looking for a career in Accounting and Finance with relocation to US or Europe ( I know relocation part isn't quite easy). I am not too keen on IBs but am interested in Finance based consulting roles or industry roles. 
I would prefer case study method.
I would prefer a smaller city if there are equally good placement opportunities.

Yesterday, I had my interview with ESADE and it went good except for the part of lack of international exposure.

I was thinking for universities like

Europe

SDA Boconni
ESADE and 
IE

USA

UT Austin - McCombs 
CMU Tepper 
UVA - Darden 
Yale or Cornell for the Ivy leagues but my undergrad CGPA is pretty low (2.935 / 4.33)
Smeal or Broad or Tippie

Look forward to hear from you.

Many thanks.
Yash

Admissionado · Answer

Hey Yash,
Allright sounds good.

I think your European list is quite fair, but your US list is a bit tough. Meaning Yale and Cornell are probably far stretches. Even Darden/Tepper get a colossal amount of Indian applicants (once again doesn't mean you can't try but it depends on how many schools you ultimately apply to). So I would do something like Austin, Smeal, Broad, IE, Bocconi, and then one more which you like. I think that should be a fair list.

Best,
Jon

yd13 · Answer

Many thanks for the help there Jon.

Really makes a lot of difference. Will let you know at is goes.

Meanwhile, please feel free to add any school in the list which you think can be a better bet than the ones I mentioned.

Thanks
Yash

Admissionado · Answer

Actually I think your list is quite well chosen. The only other thing I would say, is apply to as many schools as you have time for. It's the best way to beat the odds.

And good luck!
Jon

yd13 · Answer

Thanks a lot Jon.

Helps a lot. Yash

Admissionado · Answer

Good luck Yash! It's been a looong voyage so far. and now you are in the home stretch....

yd13 · Answer

Thanks a lot.

Motivation certainly helps.

I would also like to ask that how would you rate the following universities keeping scholarships in mind:-

Carlson - Minnesota,
ASU - Carey,
Rochester - Simon (already obtained application fee waiver 8-)

),
Iowa - Tippie,
SMU - Cox,
Texas A&M - Mays.

Thanks,
Yash

), Iowa - Tippie, SMU - Cox, Texas A&M - Mays. Thanks, Yash

Admissionado · Answer

Dear Yash,
they are quire similarly ranked in terms of their Tier,a nd I think you should be quite competitive at these schools.

Best,
Jon

yd13 · Answer

Okay.

Thanks a lot.

Yash

Admissionado · Answer

You got it Yash!

Good luck.

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