burrah wrote:
Hi All,
Would greatly appreciate if you would be able to take some time out to review my profile and prospects for the Ivy Leagues:
General Info:
- Citizenship: Indian
- Graduation Stream: Finance and Management
Work Experience:
- 2.5 years in a Bulge Bracket bank as a Risk Analyst
- Will be moving to a Boutique firm next month to a trading profile. The said firm is considered the best Prop firm for emerging markets. Thus, will have a total work ex of 3-3.5 years by the time I join a B-School next year.
Work Achievements:
- Youngest Analyst in the entire Group (Started working 5 days after my 18th birthday)
- Subject Matter Expert for 3 different process
- Training Lead
- Managed The entire team of 20 people in absence of the associates
- Had the largest portfolio of clients in the entire Profile
Academic Profile:
- 3 year Graduation in Finance and Management from one of India's best colleges
- Graduation Score : 62.04% (Class valedictorian and 99.99th percentile in the class)
- Law Student. Expected to complete the course this year.
- Score in the Law Programme : 57% (still in the 95th percentile of the entire class)
- CFA Level 2 candidate
- FRM Level 1 candidate
- Been paying my own tuition and expenses since High School
Academic Achievements:
- Graduated at the age of 17 - one of the youngest graduates in the country
- Member of the Placement Committee - Placed more than 90% of the batch
- Member of the entrepreneurship cell - Incubated 3 start ups
- Won various Debate, Creative Writing, Essay, and Poetry competitions
Entrepreneurial Stints:
- Co-founder of a training institute valued at $2 mn
- Was able to lead the organisation to have one of the best results (as a percentage) in the entre country. Tons of CSR activities through this firm.
- Chief Investment Officer in a Waste Management Firm valued at $1 mn
- Sales Director in a Cyber Security Firm valued at $1.5 mn
- Mentored 3 other startups that are now well known in the respective industry.
Finance Related Stints:
- Managed Portfolios worth $0.5 mn
- Actively Trading since past 11 years with an annualized return of 50%+
Concerns:
1. Is it even possible for me to get into any of the Ivy Leagues given the Low Graduation Scores?
2. My current age is 20.5 and total work ex till now is 2.5 years. Is it advisable for me to go for an MBA at such an age? This questions stems from the fact that for Finance, the ideal work ex for an MBA is 2-3 years. If not, then when would be the right time?
3. If the profile is not good enough for IVY Leagues, what other B-Schools can I target?
4. What else can I do to improve my profile to match the Ivy League standards?
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks and regards,
Burrah
Hey dude,
Good to hear from you. Lemme jump into your questions first:
1. Is it even possible for me to get into any of the Ivy Leagues given the Low Graduation Scores?
I think you can try. You have enough other good stuff in your profile which would make it possible.
2. My current age is 20.5 and total work ex till now is 2.5 years. Is it advisable for me to go for an MBA at such an age? This questions stems from the fact that for Finance, the ideal work ex for an MBA is 2-3 years. If not, then when would be the right time?
This is up to you. Try not to think solely in terms of "industry standard". Meaning, if you are in no rush, and are doing interesting things, take more time. Keep in mind also that a large component is social. Obviously, you are used to being the youngest
, but at the same time there is definitely room to argue to wait. I feel this is more of a personal decision.
3. If the profile is not good enough for IVY Leagues, what other B-Schools can I target?
Depends on your GMAT. Overall, I would say if your GMAT is good enough, Top 20 schools could be good for you.
4. What else can I do to improve my profile to match the Ivy League standards?
More volunteer work, and extra curriculars. Keep on moving up fast.
I think otherwise what is most impressive, even if you didn't graduate IIT and with what seems like low grades is that you have done so much so young and so quickly. And I feel like you should build your application story around that.
I wish you the best of luck!
I hope this helps! And feel free to drop us a line for a
Best,
JF
Thank you so much for the swift response. Your help is greatly appreciated!
Since you mentioned a line about volunteer work, I do have something relevant on my resume:
- Was a part of a teaching initiative during college through which I taught school children having an economically weak background.
- Was a part of a Local NGO that aims at helping Autistic children.
- Have been managing family owned LPO firm (unregistered).
- Have also co-authored 20+ Guidebooks through the firm that I co-founded.
- Contributed to a lot of Forums and can easily get a LOR from 1-2 such forums.
Does this help? I thought this wasn't relevant hence did not include this in the original post.
close
11 Jun 2017, 20:20
