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hprashi
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Joined: 15 Jan 2011
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Where do I stand? 19 Jan 2011, 21:58
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Could you please evaluate my profile?

1) Work Ex:
- I have been working as a Risk Analyst with HSBC for the past 2 years. My work mainly involves building statistical models and designing strategies for HSBC across geographies and across product lines.
- Within 6 months of joining the organisation I proactively identified and solved a problem which is saving HSBC $171,000 annually. Was recognized with an award for financial and behavioral impact.
- Even though I am based in India, I work with business partners of different nationality - US, Canada, and Turkey so far.
- I led a project on Turkey and mentored 2 new joinees and brought them upto speed. I was awarded a leadership and high business impact award recently.
- Built framework to forecast loss of modification and restructured mortgages which has a direct bottom line impact


2) Your GMAT.
Have taken GMAT twice:
ATTEMPT1: 660(Q50, V27, AWA5)
ATTEMPT2: 700(Q51, V33, AWA4.5)

3) College info:
- I have completed Engineering from National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal(NITK) majoring in Electronics and Communication
- CGPA 6.71/10
- Reason for low GPA: Started a company and was focusing on it. Also, was involved in too many extra curriculars
- My Acads are better before my undergrad : Was selected for the National level Phyics(top 1% of the country) and Chemistry Olympiad. Scored 100% in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in 12th grade. Secured rank 24 among 35,000+ candidates in a State level undergrad entrance exam(local equivalent for SAT)


4) Significant college and post-college extra-curricular activities or community service, especially leadership experience.
- I started a company focusing on medical sector when in college. Within 6 months of starting off, we were targetted for acquisation which we refused. Raised Seed 1 capital of INR 150,000. But things didnt work out and we decided to close the shop.
- Founding member of the entrepreneurship club at NITK
- Technical co-ordinator of Indian Society for Technical Education NITK Chapter
- Runner up at a National level B-Plan competition
- Pioneered an online tresure hunt game which has become a tradition in the universtiy
- Almost zero community service

5) Important certifications like CFA, CPA, FSA, or CA.
- Level 2 candidate in the CFA program

6) Post MBA career
Plan A: Get into a rotational leadership program such as HSBC IM program, GE's leadership program
Plan B: Mgmt Consulting
Plan C: IB/Equity research

7) Your target programs.
- Kellogg, Ross, Duke, Tuck, Cornell, Darden, Yale

I plan to apply for the batch starting in 2012.


Below are the questions that I am seeking answers to:

1) Given the above profile am I competitive at the above schools?
2) I have a good quant score and a low verbal score(700 Q51 V33). Is it worth taking GMAT again - for the 3rd time? O am be able to push the score to 720-730.
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hprashi
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Where do I stand? 23 Jan 2011, 04:52
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Please do post your opinion.
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bpengage
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Concentration: Social Enterprise
Schools:R1: Berkeley, Stanford, Yale, Michigan, Kellogg, Duke
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Where do I stand? 24 Jan 2011, 16:32
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IMO, I would recommend you retake the GMAT since you seem to come from a standard competitive pool of applicants and your GPA is low. I would also recommend maybe get involved in some sort of community service. Your other extracurricular activities seems impressive and I'm sure you could write some good essays based on that. I'm assuming based on your info that you only have 2 years of work experience? Is there a reason why you're applying earlier than average? (average number of years is 4 or 5)
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hprashi
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Where do I stand? 24 Jan 2011, 22:24
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@bpengage
Firstly, thanks a lot for replying and sharing your opinion.

I currently have ~2 yrs of work exp and would have 3 yrs by the time I join the B-School next year.

I am looking out for more challenging opportunities, and in case I do land such a job where learning curve is steep, I don't mind postponing MBA plans by another couple of years.

But what I have realised over the last couple of months is that, unless your are from IIT/Tier 1 B-School, it is almost impossible to land a good role. As of now, it seems like I will mostly be just increasing the count in work exp.

Hence, have decided to go for MBA this year itself.

What is your take on this?
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bpengage
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Where do I stand? 25 Jan 2011, 07:27
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2 things why bschools like more experience:

- Leadership. You have more opportunities to display your leadership the longer you have worked. This comes out in your essays.
- Maturity. You understand yourself and your career goals better. This also comes out in your essays.

If you feel that you have both of these qualities already (well-defined career goals and plenty of leadership examples), then definitely apply to bschool this year. There are certainly people with 3 years of experience in bschool, although they are the minority still.