Profile Evaluation request

Hi catechol,

Thank you for your post. Here are my thoughts:

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WORK EXPERIENCE / WHEN TO APPLY

All else equal, I like the idea of applying in 2021 over applying in 2020. Next year, you'd still have only two years of work experience at the point of application and three years of work experience at the point of enrollment. That's effectively the "earliest" point at which applicants might reasonably apply, but even then, you're only beginning to touch the middle 80% range for work experience at most of these programs (i.e., you'd be in something like the 10th percentile in terms of work experience), two years doesn't given you a ton to cover in your essays (or for your recommenders to do the same), and your opportunities for really meaningful leadership and impact will be more limited. For added context, there are going to be other applicants with similar profiles who are applying with four years of experience to enroll with five -- the average for most of these programs -- and they are going to have (literally) twice as much experience to draw upon. When applicants apply too soon, they usually leave "school upside" on the table (i.e., reduce their chances at schools they might have chance to get into later on. (As an aside, you'd likely be better off applying in 2022 than 2020 in my opinion.)

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AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Regarding potential areas for improvement, I'd highlight three things:

First, you should definitely build your post-college extracurriculars; college extracurriculars are all well and good, but post-college is more recent and valuable. You've got a bit of time to consider areas of focus. I encourage you to consider what your passions are and what unique impact you believe you can create. Deep impact and real leadership in one (maybe two) areas is much better than passive and/or sporadic involvement in a number of areas.

Second, think about what "extras" you can be pursuing at work beyond your core job responsibilities. What unique initiatives can you build or raise your hand to lead? How can you go beyond the scope of "merely" doing a great job in the realm of what's already expected of you? Again, leadership and depth of impact trump sporadic activity.

Third, I encourage you to really think about and research your goals. Product management is the "career goal du jour" in MBA application land, and many applicants fail to do the hard work of thinking about exactly what kind of sub-industries they want to work in, what size firms, what kind of products within those sub-industries, and what exactly product management means at different firms (as the hiring prerequisites and on-the-job responsibilities can vary greatly). Use the amount of time you have now to research, speak with people, and build this understanding. Consider getting an early jump information sessions and conversations with current students and alumni, specifically those in the industries you're considering and for the schools you're thinking about. (Please check out this blog post for information about career goal specificity, school specificity, passion and purpose, etc.)

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SCHOOLS

There are some very nice features to your profile, and I think you have the potential to be competitive at several of the schools you mentioned. There's a lot of contingency to that, of course -- how well do you with the items above, how well you articulate your goals, reasons for pursuing an MBA, how each school uniquely enables you to achieve those goals (courses, clubs, special programs, culture, community, location, etc.), how you can uniquely contribute to each class, how well you articulate your "fit" with the values of each program, how well you reveal your authentic story and self within your essays, how strong your recommendations are, how well you interview, and so forth.

Moreover, your demographic and professional field is super crowded and competitive, and there is a lot of variance in terms of chances among the schools that you've described. One GMAT Club study suggests that Indian applicants with a 760 GMAT score still have only around a 16% chance of admission across the entirety of the U.S. top 20, and there are other studies out there that imply around a 5% chance of admission to Wharton for Indian applicants that that score. That 5% figure is naturally going to be even lower at Stanford, Harvard, and MIT Sloan.

The GMAT is only one piece of the application puzzle, and depending on your priorities, it can be okay to be aggressive, especially when you'd still have time on your side to re-apply in a subsequent year. In the meantime, you might look into some programs that sit "in between" the M7 and Tepper, as there's currently something of a gap in your school considerations. Depending on your priorities, risk tolerance, and circumstances with your current job (i.e., opportunity cost of pursuing the MBA), that could help balance out your school strategy down the road. But for now, you have time on your side, so I'd encourage you to really dig in and research schools!

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Please feel free to email me at greg@avantiprep.com or sign up for a Free Consultation if you have any questions or I can be of further assistance, whether now or in the future! https://www.avantiprep.com/free-consultation.html

Best Regards,
Greg