Profile evaluation - Journalist

Question

Greetings,

I am 26-year-old, a female Indian journalist. I did my undergrad from Delhi University in India and worked at a national daily newspaper as editor for two years. Then I came to the US to do a masters in arts journalism from S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University (one of the top three J-schools in the US). I graduated in June 2011 (GPA 3.77) and have been working as writer/editor for a fashion/marketing website in New York City since then.

I volunteered at a non-profit in India for two years and collaborated with Indians abroad to raise money for charities. I was also the head of the Journalism Students Association and the Debating Society during undergrad and got the Goldring Merit Scholarship in grad school. I was also the general secretary at the Indian Student Association at Syracuse University and helped organize events, raise funds and create awareness about the organization's initiatives.

I am planning to apply for Fall 2013. From what I have seen in class profiles of most schools and discussions here, most candidates come from an IT, management or finance background. Research tells me that schools look for diversity while selecting candidates and that's where my application will stand stronger than other Indian applicants, who apply to B-schools every year. Is this true for the top 20 schools?

I haven't taken the GMAT yet. I plan to take it mid-September and aiming for a 710-720 score.

The reason I want to do an MBA is because I now want to work in the management side of a media house or at a non-profit. After gaining some experience, I eventually want to start my own magazine and an MBA would help there too.

The schools I am planning to apply to are:

1. Harvard 
2. Chicago Booth
3. UCLA Anderson
4. Michigan Ross
5. UNC Kenan Flagler
6. University of Texas, Austin (McCombs)
7. NYU Stern
8. Kellogg
9. Emory (Goizueta)
10. Duke
11. Georgetown
12. USC Marshall
13. UC Berkley Haas

I will shortlist eight schools out of these and apply to those.

I will really appreciate any feedback that you may have for me.

Thanks.

- Avantika

OasisGC · Answer

Hello,

I believe you stand a good chance for top 15 schools. A few points though :

1) Since you are a person with non traditional background, you should ideally score high in GMAT to prove your academic excellence with familiarity with numbers
(though this may sound something miniscule, but believe me this helps you when you write stories in your essays). So, I would suggest you to score high on Quant side and overall you should be 730+ to be a competitive applicant.

2) Work experience : You have a good trajectory of work experience to talk about, you can talk about your work experience at Indian market and subsequently prove your flexibility by exhibiting your success at US markets. Here again, you are not a traditional applicant (banker/engineer etc), so you have better chance to prove your uniqueness, but at the end of the day, your essays must SCREAM that you are different.

3) Area of improvement - why not to enroll for some management courses ? , if you have some time. This gesture help you prove that you are genuinely interested in doing management, and you have taken some concrete steps to do so.

4) Challenge - You will have a challenge to prove leadership skill, i am not sure if you have a story to prove the same or not during your work experience, but all top b-schools look for some form of exhibited leadership (ideally at work).

Work on your GMAT first, because without GMAT, everything falls apart

, if possible take first attempt of your GMAT by aug end, so you have a chance of retake if scores do not turn out as per your expectations.

Hope this helps, keep us posted about your success.

, if possible take first attempt of your GMAT by aug end, so you have a chance of retake if scores do not turn out as per your expectations. Hope this helps, keep us posted about your success.

asharma86 · Answer

Thank you for responding to my post. I am working on getting a good GMAT score and will definitely take your advice and enroll in some management courses once I take the test. I am working on my story and will try to give evidence of leadership in my essays and through recommendations.

Best,
AS

Best,
AS

asharma86 · Answer

So, I am coming back here and looking for advice. I took the GMAT last month and got 640 (34V and 43Q). Not what I was expecting but I don't think I can do anything about it now and I have been focusing on writing strong essays after that. I have had my essays for 2 schools reviewed by 4 different current B-school students (in Emory and Austin) and one Columbia alum and have received very positive feedback from them, I know both my short term and long term goals are tied well with the MBA programs and my recos are pretty solid as well. Due to sub-par GMAT score, I have changed the list of schools I am applying to. How would you rate my chances in the following schools:

1. Duke - Fuqua
2. UNC- Kenan Flagler
3. Texas - McComba
4. Emory
5. Georgetown
6. USC
7. Boston College
8. Boston University

I understand there are so many factors involved that can affect the final decision, but based on my profile and GMAT, how do you rate my chances in these schools? I have already interviewed at Fuqua and KF (during school visits). Thanks!

1. Duke - Fuqua
2. UNC- Kenan Flagler
3. Texas - McComba
4. Emory
5. Georgetown
6. USC
7. Boston College
8. Boston University

I understand there are so many factors involved that can affect the final decision, but based on my profile and GMAT, how do you rate my chances in these schools? I have already interviewed at Fuqua and KF (during school visits). Thanks!

aerien · Answer

Your background is really interesting and will make you stand out, which is great. Being Indian with a 640 is going to hurt you for the top schools though.

Your updated school list looks competitive for your stats. I would say Duke might be harder to get in to compared to the others, but people have been accepted with similar profiles. You'll just have to sell yourself in your essays and in your interview. Good luck!

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asharma86 · Answer

I understand my score 640 will hurt me, specially since I come from Indian pool. But, then again, most Indians who apply are engineering grads, would my score be compared with them, or with applicants who have a profile similar to mine?

aerien · Answer

Not sure since I'm not adcom. You have to tell your own story in your application. Obviously a higher Gmat score will help (almost) any application, but expressive essays and good letters of recommendation can go a long way. I think you should be competitive at the schools you're looking at now if you retake your Gmat or not -- good luck!

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Posted from my mobile device

Ykisoa · Answer

I think you should be competitive at the schools

Businessconquerer · Answer

Hi Avantika,

It is a plus to have a deviation from the traditional IT roles as you add diversity of experience and it will be seen positively. Ensure your quant abilities are reflected in your applications though. So, yes, from the perspective of diversity, you do have a strong chance.

From your target score- let's say you get a 720, I can see you getting into six schools out of 13. At least that is what we have seen with our clients, you can see where they go here-   Where we got them

But if the score drops to a 700-710, I think the number drops to 3.

Aim for 740 at least if possible and do retake even after getting a score, just to see if you can raise the score a little.

Profile evaluation - Journalist

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