AM1996 wrote:
Hello.
I was hoping if you would evaluate my profile and tell me my chances to get into NUS.
25 years old, Indian Male.
GMAT: 720 (Q49, V40)
Work Experience:
• 4 years at Deloitte as a Software engineer who worked for multiple US-based banks (including investment banks and multiple F500 Banks).
• Won multiple awards and back-to-back yearly promotions.
• Multiple instances of me leading teams from India and Singapore (virtually)
Extracurricular activities:
• Led a group of 30 volunteers in a leading Indian NGO for 3+ years.
• Organized weekly classes, health camps for underprivileged kids.
• Led initiatives that helped underprivileged primary school dropouts find scholarships and rejoin school.
• Organized multiple city-level charity fundraising events.
Studies:
• Engineering in Information Technology.
• CGPA of 7.25 which converts to 4/4 GPA (Not sure about the conversion process; I Will update once I confirm)
• Co-authored a research paper which was later on published in ‘Recent Developments in Machine Learning and Data Analytics. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 740. Springer, Singapore.’
Post MBA Goals: Product management, preferably in the cloud domain. (Backup - Consulting)
What are my chances at NUS?
Also, considering that I come from a very highly overrepresented pool, will the fact that I will apply in Round 2 decrease my chances?
Thanks a lot for your time and help, I'm looking forward to your reply.
Thanks,
AM
Hi AM1996 - Thank you for reaching out! You're right that you are in an overrepresented pool (not only Indian male, but also an engineer), but I think you have a lot of great things going for you, and will make a compelling candidate for NUS. We urge those in overrepresented pools to target getting at least 20 to 30 points above the average GMAT scores, and your 720 score is 50 points above NUS' average of 670 -- great job!
Your work experience and extracurriculars seem particularly solid - congrats on the awards and promotions. Will your recommenders say that you are better than your peers? And can you demonstrate specific impact? It does seem like you have great leadership examples in your ECs - are any of them still ongoing?
Your grades are also good - I would not worry about translating grades unless a school asks you to do so (most schools will not want you to).
One area that you might want to flesh out further is your long term goals. Ideally you will want to show a clear career plan and the impact you'd like to have someday, and connect all of the dots in your life, showing how your experience and an MBA specifically from NUS will best help you get where you're going.
Although R1 chances may be slightly better than R2 (they may have already admitted someone very similar to you in R1, which would lower your chances), I still think you can do well in R2. For most schools, R1 and R2 admission rates are somewhat similar, and there's only a big decrease in admission percentages when moving to R3 and beyond.
I hope this helps - if you are considering working with an admissions consultant, please sign up for a free consultation here. In any case, best of luck to you!!