Profile Evaluation Requested

Question

1. GMAT 700 Q49/V36/AWA-6.0/IR-7..

2. B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Manipal University (Top 10) - 7.6/10 CGPA (Not sure how this scales on a 4-point) 90% in 10th and 78% in 12 (Both CBSE)

3. Top 10% in academics and top 1% co-curricular-wise (Graduating class of 1700 students)

4. Work Experience - Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. (July '13 - Current)

Working at THCM(60:40 Joint venture of the Hitachi and TATA Groups) since July 2013 after being selected as one of 14 Graduate Engineer Trainees from a nationwide pool of approx 6000 applicants. Currently handling the portfolio of Sales and Marketing - Strategic Markets and Key Accounts - North Karnataka (approx. 100,000 sq. km. and 30 mil population) I have joined this office after completing my in-plant training (July-October '13) and have been responsible for improving the market share in my segment from 41 to 85% over the last 5 months, whilst contributing to an overall market share growth of 11 %. Direct revenue generated - approx. $5 mil. I also lead a team of dealer sales executives (11 individuals) in my territory and conceptualize & implement promotional activities, and carry out opportunity & prospect evaluation, competition comparison studies, product evaluation and field trials in addition to my core tasks.

5. Selected for and attending Stanford GSB's SIGM program - June '14.

6. Internship 1 - Motorsport Engineer with Volkswagen Motorsport (6 months)

For my final semester I was taken onboard by Volkswagen Motorsport team working on the POLO R Cup, a single manufacturer racing series that takes place in locations across the country. I worked in the design and prototyping teams for the 2013 build. Once the build had been approved, I was part of the 3-man team responsible for the thorough testing and certification of the new build by the Federation of Motorsport Clubs of India. Various other sub-projects including creating technical documentations for the gearbox of the proto-build. Offered and declined a permanent position at the end of my tenure.

6. Internship 2 - Systems Analyst (Intern) - Jaguar Land Rover & Tata Motors (3 months)

Carried out Kaizen and TBM productivity assignments on the Jaguar XXXXXXX at Tata Motors's Pune Unit alongside minor assignments on:
1) Cycle-Time and cost reduction in a XXXXXX weld-assembly line.
2) Fixture Optimization and Operator Ergonomics Analysis on the XXXXXXXXXXXX Assembly Line

7. Internship 3 - Production Intern - Tata Motors (Passenger Car Business Unit) (3 months)

Summer Intern at Tata Motors PCBU, Pune. Work included intensive study on the press shop floor and the main assembly line studying the impact of proposed higher degrees of automation on the production line, in addition to a report on Spares Inventory Optimization in the Press shop.

8. Internship 4 - Industrial Intern - Indo-Danish Tool Room (2 months)

Certifications and training in various Product Lifecycle Management tools, design and analysis applications.

9. Co-Curricular 1 - Team Captain - Team Manipal Racing (3 years)

Initially joining as a structural engineer in my junior year at college, I rose to be the team principal of Manipal Unviersity's official Off-Road Racing team. Funded entirely by sponsorships ( 21 sponsors - Tata Group, Sahara Force India F1 team, Reliance Industries, Vodafone notably) the budget of the project was approx. $ 200,000.

I led the team of 31 students to successfully participate in the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) BAJA USA 2012 competition at Madison, Wisconsin. TMR became the best performing Asian team in the event's history. I was the primary driver for the competition. A year later, the same vehicle was entered in SAE BAJA India at Indore where the team won an award for best safety features and build quality apart from finishing in the top 5 in every other category.

10. Co-Curricular - 2 - Mechanical Head - IEEE (2 years)

A senior committee member of IEEE and ex-head of IEEE Manipal's Mechanical Division, successfully conceptualized and carried out a number of research projects, workshops, projects and competitions for the Technical Resource Team (8 members) which was then raised to a seat on the IEEE steering committee.

11. Volunteer work:

1) Classroom instructor for the underprivileged as part of Tata Hitachi's Corporate Social Resposibilty initiative.
2) USAID Volunteer for vaccination programs in rural India.
(I have a few other citations as well)

12. Extracurriculars

State and Zonal General Quizzing champion at high school. State U-16 Badminton team, U-15 district cricket and School Table-Tennis and badminton teams.

13. Citations,Recommendations and Letters of Introduction:

1) CEO and Managing Director Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Co.
2) Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India, Volkswagen GmbH
3) Area Manager, North Karnataka, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Co.
4) National Head, Excavators, Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Co.(ex-ISB)
3) Director, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal University
4) Project Coordinator and Technical Head, Volkswagen Motorsport
5) Head of Department, Mechanical Engineering, Manipal University
6) Head of Department, Automobile and Aeronautical Engineering, Manipal University

Dream Schools:

1) Stanford GSB
2) Harvard
3) Wharton
3) MIT, Sloan
4) Chicago - Booth
5) NYU - Stern
6) Columbia
7) Dartmouth

Would really appreciate if someone can provide an evaluation of my candidacy for applications to the classes of 2017 i.e. R1-2015, R2-2015.

P.S. Thanks for taking the time to read through that !!

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bryantmichaels · Answer

You are certainly on your way to what could be a decent run at the top schools, but your application pool is very deep and full of qualified applicants, so you must be prepared to go toe-to-toe with others who have a similar background. Your internships are great but will be discounted somewhat by some of the schools since it's not post-UG work like the mgt training program. The selectivity of the program you are in sounds impressive, and the adcom will also be impressed, but only to the extent you communicate what it is and how selective it was. Don't expect them to know anything about it. You seem like someone who gets involved, but I don't see nearly as much current involvement as I would expect someone going for the most elite schools in the world would have. Things you did in high school are going to be largely irrelevant, except of course as a part of a narrative to explain your passions and history of involvement. Definitely don't mention anything in high school unless you feel it relates this story and your passion for some area you are still currently involved in. One big missing piece of the puzzle is your short and long term post MBA career vision. This is one of the most critical pieces of the puzzle for adcoms and they like to see things that make sense. You have done a variety of things, so be careful not to seem indecisive about your career or what exactly you hope to get out of b-school. B-schools hate for students to come looking to find themselves, and the career vision is an important piece of evidence to avoid looking like you are searching for your plan via b-school. Know up front why you have liked what you have done and lay out a confident vision of how you will leverage that into your longer term post MBA career. Let us know if we can help you pull it together.

siddharthsid007 · Answer

Hi Bryant !

Thanks for the feedback . I will be appearing for the GMAT again on the 27th; was scoring significantly higher in prep so reckoned another shot couldn't hurt, it was my first try and I was fatigued (and a bit excited to see my score) towards the end of verbal, got a string of 3-4 wrong towards the end.... Anyways, I'm focusing on resolving the issues that I have identified and hope to improve the verbal to the V40-44 range that I normally achieve in prep.

I'm assuming you're referring to my full-time position, when you mentioned the selectivity/prestige. There are only 14 graduates in my batch out of a candidate pool of over 10000 so competition was pretty tough. Also the Stanford SIGM program's application process is similar to the Full-time MBA (Same essay questions, minus the face to face interviews). I agree, I will need to have all the answers ready when the time comes but I am still considering whether I should apply this year or wait another. Here's what I feel: There's isn't a lot left to learn in my current position. Prolonging here I can build bigger numbers, but since career progression is rigid in our culture, promotions to graduates before turn do not happen as a rule. And more importantly, I feel like I am ready.

I've not mentioned all of the things that I've done and/or achieved on the post so there are a few noteworthy highlights that I can use to show how much I have been involved as well as the personal impact that I have made.

I've had a wide range of opinions on the above questions as well as the prospective colleges that I'm looking to apply to. My tentative list is:

1) Stanford GSB (Round 1 / Fellowship Application)
2) Columbia Business School (Round 1)
3) Berkeley- Haas (Round 1)
4) Ross - U Mich/Fuqua (Round 2)
5) NYU Stern (Round 2)
6) ISB - Hyderabad (N/A, single application deadline)
7) NUS/INSEAD- Singapore (Round 1)

I'd really appreciate your input on these points. Also, it will be great if we can speak sometime over skype. I am looking to use an admissions consultant for at least 1 application but not yet convinced if doing so will benefit me. I've spoken to a couple of consultants (in India and another over the net) and their overt-enthusiasm has made me wary and somewhat cynical.

Regards
Siddharth

bryantmichaels · Answer

Good quant score, but if you really want to stand out in the Indian Applicant pool, you should go for an even higher GMAT score if you can. If not, a 700 is certainly in the ballpark for your target schools. One unique thing about you is that you are young, yet have real leadership and management experience that the typical applicant does not have By the time you log another couple of years at work as you plan to do, you should have a very impressive work history, especially when you factor in your internships. The key will be in tying all the experience together with a thread which captures a post MBA vision the adcom can get their minds around. The post MBA vision is critical for younger applicants (granted you will be a couple years older when you actually apply), but it's the post MBA vision which really communicates to the adcoms you are ready.

siddharthsid007 · Answer

Hi Bryant,

I just gave the GMAT gain today. Here's the break-up.

IR=8/8
AWA = Not available yet (Expecting a 6, hopefully)
Quant = 50
Verbal = 40
Total = 740

Thoughts ?

Best
Sid

bryantmichaels · Answer

Sid you can officially cross the GMAT off your list

congrats on a well executed test score!

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