akpiper86
30 year Indian Male
GMAT: 760 (51Q, 41V)
GPA: Undergraduate - 61.5% from a leading Indian Engineering school (non-IIT)
Post-grad - 2.7/4 from MICA, Asia's leading Communications school
Work Experience:
-Currently employed in a Strategy role by one of India's largest media networks, managing a team of 4 people. Promoted to the Senior Manager level in three months ago (July 2017).
-Was previous employed in a strategy role for one of India's leading General Entertainment Channels, the Indian arm of a multi-national American media giant
Extra-curricular's:
-Theatre - Director for grad college theatre group. Directed a two-hour, ticketed English play at the prestigious Natrani Theatre in Ahmedabad
-Writing - Founder of college magazine in undergrad. Have written numerous short stories and currently working on my first novel
-Headed the Media & PR verticals for the annual brand management festival at grad school.
Goals:
My career goal is to head the Asia Pacific business for a Tech/Media company such as Amazon, Netflix, Google etc.
Short term goal would be to work in the Strategy/Business Development/Partnerships team for such an organisation in UK/US.
Schools (no order):
Cambridge Judge
LBS
Wharton
Oxford Said
UCLA Anderson
NYU Stern
Questions - My GPA in both my undergrad and Masters is comparatively low, especially for an Indian student, but I do have an above-average GMAT. Compared to the average Indian applicant, my work experience is different, both in terms of role and industry, but with a strong presence of quant work and working closely with senior management. Also, I have a good extra-curricular record, although slightly tilted to the creative side and mostly during post-graduation.
Given the above, do I have a realistic chance at the schools I'm targetting? Should I be considering other schools given my profile?
Hey dude,
So great to hear from you!
And awesome GMAT!
Yet, as you probably have guessed, an awesome GMAT is not usually enough for Top10 schools, which will have so many fantastic India applicants who will have the grades and the schools, etc. I'd say you should be from the get go considering Top20 schools, and not limit yourself to the highest ranked schools. So I'd say you'd be competitive at UCLA, but that LBS, Oxford, Whartonw ill all be stretches for you. So I think you just need to balance things out a bit.
Things are very very competitive for Indian applicants. So better to play it a bit safe.
Also, I'd love to hear more about your profile, your work experience, and what your post-MBA goals will be.
And feel free to drop us a line for a more full-on Free Consultation:
https://bit.ly/mbafcGCBest,
JF