Profile Evaluation - Indian Male 3.5 years of WE, GMAT - 740

Question

25 years Indian Male
GMAT: 740 (97%); 51Q (96%); 38 (85%); IR: 8/8 (92%); AWA 5/6 (53%)
GPA: Undergraduate - 89%% from one of old IIT's
12th - 91%
10th - 92 %

Work Experience (3.5 years)
1. Citi - Technology- 2 years
2. JP Morgan Chase- Investment Banking technology - 1.5 years. Currently building trading platform for fixed income securities.

Extra-curricular's: 
1. Founder of Orphanage at home town 1 year ago. Now affiliated with the government.
2. Member of Tennis team in college. 
3. Self learnt Spanish- Intermediate level proficiency
4. Other college activities - may be not relevant because older than 5 years.

Short Term Goal:
Sales and Trading, research of Fixed Income Securities (MBS specially) in an Investment Bank like JP Morgan/ Goldman Sachs.

Target Schools:
Wharton, Columbia, LBS, ChicagoBooth and Kellogg.

Question:
I am very clear about my short term goals, but not so much about my long term goals. Any suggestions about, what industries could I transition after some experience in Trading field.
As an Indian, who wants to switch from technology to Trading, does CFA or other certification could have helped? 
Also I don't have any awards/certificates to show. given these details, what are my chances in the target schools?

MG4MBACrystalBall · Answer

A few thoughts on your profile  marvel3001 :
 
  The academic arc I'd say is the star of your application. The GPA looks healthy and 740 is always good - though that may not be stellar enough given the Indian average tends to be in that vicinity in your target schools. 
  We had someone with a very similar arc work with us last year. The main difference being more experience that you've had and the healthier ECs arc. Think about how you will use those to your advantage.  
  For reasons mentioned  here , we do not speculate on school selection. That being said, given the R2 timeframe, it might worth having a school or two in the relatively safer zone. 
  The post-MBA plan would need to be clearly reasoned and defended. Tech to IB is not a natural progression and a CFA would have certainly help indicate your intention lot more forcefully. Spend sufficient time on this aspect to weave a compelling proposition

Hope this helps some.

Cheers,

marvel3001 · Answer

MG4MBACrystalBall  
you meant "The main difference being more experience  than  you've had and the healthier ECs arc". Right?

MG4MBACrystalBall · Answer

That is correct, sorry for the typo there.

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

Marvel, Thanks for posting! I won't harp too much on the academic or professional accomplishments - you've got great brand names on your resume and solid scores across the board. I'm focusing more on your goal of Sales & Trading, which many could argue you don't need an MBA to do. Most people are trying to get out of S&T and fixed income to go back to business school and go on to work in IB, consulting, or tech. If I were you, I would focus my application on fintech (or even finance at a tech company) or investment banking, both fields that M7 place well at and that you have a reasonable story for. The same goes for fixed income - not a very popular post-MBA goal but doable (on the west coast especially, a lot of credit shops in LA). Have you considered expanding your school search beyond those 5? It's difficult to place a % on chances coming from a competitive applicant pool, but I would recommend selecting schools in the 10-20 ranking range as addition targets/safeties, since admission at M7 can be highly subjective. You're also on the younger side, so I also wouldn't be against limiting your application focus and re-applying next year to a broader range if you don't get the result you are looking for. It simply depends on your own personal timeline. Hope this helps and please let me know if you have any more questions about your candidacy! Regards, Personal MBA Coach www.personalmbacoach.com

marvel3001 · Answer

PersonalMBACoach

1. I am choosing S&T because that would show transition from my current job. Currently I am building trading platforms for traders and I aspire to be a trader after mba(so, kind of both career progression and career switch). Also, S&T is not very commonly sort-after field for Indians, so going for that less crowded pool.

2. Fintech - This was my second choice after S&T. but again this pool is very overcrowded. I don't want to take a chance.

3. IB core - I don't really know how to connect dots between my work so far and future roles. I don't have financial certifications like CFA.

4. No, I have not really looked schools in the range 10-20. I gave my gmat pretty late (Oct -2018). Currently focussing on 5 schools only for round 2.

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

Marvel,

I understand what your goals are Post-MBA, what I'm saying is that basing your applications around S&T isnt an ideal path given your background. Your goal is to first get into a school and then explore the opportunities. An Adcom is going to wonder why you need an MBA for a role in S&T, since very few people become traders after their MBA.

With a strong background such as yours, your story works better as fintech and an Adcom will see you as someone who has realistic post-MBA goals and is hirable. Remember, your goal is to maximize your chances of admission, not pidgeonhole yourself into a "category." Does this make sense?

marvel3001 · Answer

PersonalMBACoach

Thank you for your analysis.
I completely understand your point and it totally makes sense. 
I am honestly in bit of dilemma at this point whether to change the goals this late, when deadlines are just few days away.

Could you tell what could be a transition points from tech(IB) to fintech (product management)?

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

Thank you for the note. This goes a bit beyond the type of advice usually given here but if you would like formal help on your applications, feel free to reach out!

Good luck!

Best,

Profile Evaluation - Indian Male 3.5 years of WE, GMAT - 740

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