Profile evaluation request

Question

I'm planning on going for my MBA in the future & would like your input for the same. 
My school choices are LBS, HEC Paris, INSEAD (any campus), University of Toronto, IE and Cambridge Judge. I'm preferring UK, Singapore & Canada as my work destinations.

Post MBA, I'm targeting IB Associate or PE associate positions. I'm just about to start my work experience but want your guidance to make sure I'm going the right way.

My profile is as follows:

Age 24 - Indian
B.S. Material Science & Engineering from Big Ten school (Not Iowa, Nebraska or Michigan State) from the US. GPA: 2.9 GPA. #18 Engineering program in the US.
Have a 3-year post graduation gap. Reasons: 
Prepared & passed all levels of CFA, FRM & CAIA exams in one attempt.
Worked (part-time) with a relative for 2 years to convert his loss-making small medical clinic into profitable one with the highest footfall in the area. Improved revenue 3 times, reduced cost and conducted aggressive marketing & other promotional campaigns.
Co-managed one of my relative's equity portfolio worth ~$90k & outperformed the market handsomely. Also managed my personal portfolio and maintained my outperformance. Total portfolio management period: 1.5 years. 
Wrote a research paper proposing valuation models for firms & employee stock compensations.
One month out of city relief work in a drought affected area with a globally well-known NGO (how to show a proof here, does a letter work).
4 online finance courses from Coursera & CFA institute Continuing education. Performed very well in them. 
Learned playing a musical instrument.
Most of my above work & study happened simultaneously.

Hobby: In total Play 4 musical instruments (3 from 8 years, 1 from 6 months).
Now, started working as an IB analyst dealing with PE syndication. Top dealer in my country (not a BB though - missed the recruitment cycle). Hope to work there for 2 years & then move onto PE (initially local PE then well-known) for 3 years. 
GMAT: 730.

School participation:

Led a winning team of 5 in a start-up competition  The  university. Presented start-up idea & detailed business plan to a Director of Fortune 100 company & the business partner of a Fortune 200 company.
AIESEC - Part of the business development team for the city where I did my undergrad to raise trainee-ship & internship by contacting companies. We were successful in getting 2 companies on board but the final process happened after I left.
Possibly in the future, will volunteer in Teach for India & TedX.

I would like to know whether my low GPA will be a drag on my resume? Will CFA, GMAT and other activities help offset the low GPA & gap years? Am I going the right direction to making my application strong for the MBA. I will be applying for MBA after gaining 4 yr WE  age  of 28.

I appreciate you taking out time & advising aspiring MBAs like me. Keep up the good work!

Admissionado · Answer

Hey there dude,
Good to hear from you.
Well you definitely have some interesting stuff in your profile. And some real weaknesses too (gap year, Indian applicant, low GPA, and non-IIT). On the other hand is your strong GMAT, and your PE work.

It's honestly a bit early to give you a genuine profile eval (Cause there's two years of performance to go yet, but essentially I think LBS will be a long shot, INSEAD will be a bit tough, and the others should be competitive.

But a lot will depend on what happens in the MEANWHILE - meaning first and foremost how you perform in your job, secondly your volunteer work and ECs in the two years, and of course any leadership or whatever else you might pick up.

So that's your mission!

If you would like to write more about your plan, I'd be happy to give you some feedback.

Best,
JF

kachnar007 · Answer

Thanks for your evaluation. I appreciate your good work. I have few follow-up questions, which are as follows:

I understand that my low GPA & gap year will be a negative for my profile. But I would like to highlight that even if my GPA was low, I aced my non-major courses like economics, advanced maths, statistics, etc. Will that be taken into consideration? My undergraduate university is ranked #5 for ChemE in the US according to US News. MatE comes under the same department, will that be taken into consideration if mentioned in my application (in the future)? Will clearing CFA & other exams in one go within 2 years help offset my academic disaster? I have a job offer from a top domestic PE for an internship, shall I take it by leaving my current permanent IB job which I just started? I know I need to take the decision, but by leaving a job so soon look bad on my resume. Or shall I think in this way - I got into PE right away without prior IB experience? Also, I would like to highlight that I learned French during my gap years in order to meet the INSEAD language policy.

Also, I observed there are not many IB/PE applicants from India, will that work in my favor when applying? As I mostly see IT, Engineers in other industry & consulting MBA applicants. I would also like to ask, how do I show leadership within my industry (IB/PE) other than working on deals which everyone does. Can you share any professional leadership experience in my industry that your client has shown which helped him/her differentiate from others?

I would also like to clarify that I will be applying after 5 yrs of WE in IB/PE or combined. I won't' be considering my portfolio management as WE. I think you assumed I will be applying after just 2 years WE. It would be true that I will possibly enter B-school at age 29, which might go against me given other students enter at a younger age.

It would be great if you could share some insight into how b-schools accept students. In other words, is there a quota by country, type of industry WE , gender, undergraduate degree or a combination of them, by which b-schools accept students.

Admissionado · Answer

Hey dude,
No problem,
Let me jump in below.

So regarding the coursework, it doesn't matter. Clearing the CFA is fine. But the thing that would help most at this point is an awesome GMAT.
As for the PE internship versus your current job, honestly that's a call you need to take by yourself. Forget about the MBA, you can't predict what will happen, but make your decision based on salary/opportunities/desire/gut like you would any job decision.

That's true. And for that alone you will stand out. And yes, IB/PE is a much better industry than IT, in general. But it doesnt mean that if someone has two years managing at Google and a 8.5 at an IIT with an awesome GMAT, that the schools will choose any PE/IB people over him. So yes, your industry is good, but that alone won't coast you in. It also depends on your performance, your employer, etc. But of course, you are in a far more advantageous position than your average IT applicant.

Okay got it. 29 is a fine age. There will be more applicants who will be 26, but you are within a standard deviation, so don't worry about it.

There's no simple answer here. There aren't direct quotas per se, but they will desire to create a diverse class, in terms of countries like industries, etc. Most schools will FIRST and foremost simply try and get the best people they can get (with the strongest profiles) and diversity would be a secondary goal for them. Every school has a different philosophy, and every year sees a different pool of candidates and different readers on the Adcom, so the best way to position yourself is still with the strength of your profile taking into consideration your pool.

I hope this helps,
Best,
JF

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