NEW HERE? LEARN MORE
closeclose
Last visit was: 23 Apr 2024, 13:07 It is currently 23 Apr 2024, 13:07
Decision Tracker
My Rewards
New posts
New comers' posts

Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel

Profile Evaluation USA top 15 HAAS School of Business and Stanford

SORT BY:
Date
Kudos
User avatar
B
ankit1345
Intern
Intern
Joined: 09 Jul 2017
Posts: 25
Own Kudos [?]: 7 [0]
Given Kudos: 261
Schools: HEC'22 (J) (A) NYU Tech MBA'22 (S)
Send PM
Profile Evaluation USA top 15 HAAS School of Business and Stanford [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 10 Aug 2017, 06:06
Hello everyone,

I would like some expert comments on my candidacy at top 15 MBA colleges in USA. Dream Schools: HAAS and STANFORD

Brief overview:

Education: Integrated Masters of Technology (Geophysics). IIT Roorkee (Tier-1 Engineering institute in India) - 5 year course
GPA: 6.4
GMAT: 710 (Q49, V38)
TOEFL: Soon
Age: 27
Indian

Work Experience: Total 4+ years


StartUp in India (failed) (jun,2016- june, 2017)
worked on an exploration product/service for geothermal. Presented our work and reports to multiple government organizations in India. Did a proof of concept study for Oil and natural gas corporation India (for geothermal initiative). We were not able to generate any revenue. After a year decided to shut it down .

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ( Aug, 2013- Feb, 2016)
I started as a Student Assistant and final title before leaving the job was Sr. Research Associate. Had three promotions in a span of 2.5 years.
Most of my work was on Geothermal Energy. My work involved product/service development, project handling, business development etc,. I worked on project funded by CHEVRON, Calpine Corporation (Leading geothermal company in the world), EDC, Phillippines ( World's second largest geothermal produced company in the world), Department of Energy (USA), etc,. Collaborative work across different organizations and universities was a major component.

consultant (contract - 3 months)
Geothermal Energy

Internship: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA (summers 2012)

Extra curricular
- In college was majorly involved in cultural and sports events organizing. Represented IIT in FOOTBALL and Pole vault at INTER IIT SPORTS Competition. Was a member of CHOREOGRAPHY section at college. I have always been involved in sports. I love outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking, rafting etc. Have done plenty of hikes in India as well as in USA.
- Didn't get extra time for community work while I was at college and while working in USA.

Post MBA Goals

Short Term:
Want to work in Clean energy Industry . Gain more knowledge and experience and make more connections.

Long term Goal:
Want to start an organization in India promoting technology development in Clean Tech, collaborating with government, Universities and other research institutions all around the world. More like a social entrepreneurship

Top MBA colleges priority: HAAS School of Business and Stanford as they are well known for their initiative in Clean energy.

All suggestions are welcome. I am really looking forward to it.
The other question I have is that should I take GMAT again? I did mess up the test. I was scoring more than this in gmat preps and I am confident that I can score around 740 in next attempt.

Thanks
Ankit

Originally posted by ankit1345 on 10 Aug 2017, 05:38.
Last edited by ankit1345 on 10 Aug 2017, 06:06, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
L
MBAPrepCoach
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 24 Mar 2015
Status:MBA Admissions Consultant
Affiliations: MBA Prep Coach
Posts: 3699
Own Kudos [?]: 1424 [0]
Given Kudos: 570
Location: United States
Farrell Nelson: MBA
Schools: Insead Sept19 Intake HEC Sept19 intake IMD '20 Kellogg '21 CBS '21 LBS '21
Send PM
Re: Profile Evaluation USA top 15 HAAS School of Business and Stanford [#permalink] New post   10 Aug 2017, 06:02
Expert Reply
Hi Ankit, without a single doubt I would recommend that you retake the GMAT. Especially if your mock scores have been in the 740 area. You really need to nail that because your grades are not so hot. I do realize it's IIT, which helps. Good GMAT is necessary but not sufficient, because you're not going to get into the schools that you're mentioning *because* of a GMAT score 740. I do like the data points that you have that lead up to your goal and I think that you should work with a consultant on developing a really well-articulated narrative and goal statement. I think that would be very key to your candidacy. Also I think you should make sure to work with recommenders who can really champion you and put you in the best light. I will be honest, I think that Berkeley and Stanford are both reach schools for you, being Indian with subpar grades and also not having any post graduate community involvement. I would encourage you to apply to Berkeley but I'd like you to also think about applying to Texas at Austin and potentially even Anderson since you seem to really want to move to California. MIT could possibly be a reach school as well they have a pretty good sustainability program and I think you could establish some fit with that. Also ironically their GMAT average is not insanely high so if you have a 740 it would probably put you in the same neighborhood as most Indians who are applying. I'm not really sure about that though because obviously GMAT scores by ethnicity are not released and I only have anecdotal evidence to go off of. If you have to apply to round two I think that it would be worth it if you had 30 extra points on your GMAT score. And if you have the ability to wait another year, that would not be such a bad thing. I'm a little bit confused about your work background have you not worked for the past year-and-a-half? Without a single doubt I would not go into this process without a job that is certain death. If that's your situation that in your GMAT are the priority put all of your plans aside until you fix those things and have a bit of a track record with that job actually, if you need them for recs.

https://MBAPrepCoach.COM
User avatar
B
ankit1345
Intern
Intern
Joined: 09 Jul 2017
Posts: 25
Own Kudos [?]: 7 [0]
Given Kudos: 261
Schools: HEC'22 (J) (A) NYU Tech MBA'22 (S)
Send PM
Re: Profile Evaluation USA top 15 HAAS School of Business and Stanford [#permalink] New post   10 Aug 2017, 06:17
Thanks for the quick reply Farrell.
Sorry, I forgot to provide the dates for the positions I held. I have now. I have been always been working.
I also want to to tell you that I did some pro-bono consulting to help a company in India that was showing a great interest in Geothermal Energy, while I was in USA.

I want to know if my experience of working at a DOE funded National Lab can help compensate my grade. Also HAAS has clean tech courses like " Clean Tech to market" in which the collaborate with LBNL (my former working place) and that's exactly I want to learn and do. Will all these factors can help to compensate for my low GPA and no community work provided I get good GMAT score in next attempt?
User avatar
L
MBAPrepCoach
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 24 Mar 2015
Status:MBA Admissions Consultant
Affiliations: MBA Prep Coach
Posts: 3699
Own Kudos [?]: 1424 [0]
Given Kudos: 570
Location: United States
Farrell Nelson: MBA
Schools: Insead Sept19 Intake HEC Sept19 intake IMD '20 Kellogg '21 CBS '21 LBS '21
Send PM
Re: Profile Evaluation USA top 15 HAAS School of Business and Stanford [#permalink] New post   10 Aug 2017, 06:23
Expert Reply
Yes your work experience is really not the problem and it's definitely your competitive Advantage. So hats off to that good for you. You have a lot of focus and for schools that care about future goals and Ambitions, which do include Berkeley and Stanford, this will go far. MIT would care a lot about this as well because they like historical evidence. If you have some impact from those experiences at work then that is going to be very important as well. If you get a GMAT in the 740 range I would apply but anything less I would probably not encourage you to apply to Berkeley or anything higher. You need to give them assurance that you're going to be able to succeed academically. That is kind of the Box you need to check right now but then obviously focus on your higher strengths which is what you've mentioned. If you're familiar with the insead criteria model it is academic aptitude, leadership, ability to contribute and international orientation. Minus the international orientation I would say that those go for all schools.

https://MBAPrepCoach.COM
User avatar
B
ankit1345
Intern
Intern
Joined: 09 Jul 2017
Posts: 25
Own Kudos [?]: 7 [0]
Given Kudos: 261
Schools: HEC'22 (J) (A) NYU Tech MBA'22 (S)
Send PM
Re: Profile Evaluation USA top 15 HAAS School of Business and Stanford [#permalink] New post   10 Aug 2017, 06:29
Thank you so much Farrell for the valuable information. It was very informative.
User avatar
L
MBAPrepCoach
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 24 Mar 2015
Status:MBA Admissions Consultant
Affiliations: MBA Prep Coach
Posts: 3699
Own Kudos [?]: 1424 [0]
Given Kudos: 570
Location: United States
Farrell Nelson: MBA
Schools: Insead Sept19 Intake HEC Sept19 intake IMD '20 Kellogg '21 CBS '21 LBS '21
Send PM
Re: Profile Evaluation USA top 15 HAAS School of Business and Stanford [#permalink] New post   10 Aug 2017, 06:34
Expert Reply
:)

https://MBAPrepCoach.COM
User avatar
P
MG4MBACrystalBall
Director
Director
Joined: 29 Aug 2010
Posts: 918
Own Kudos [?]: 146 [0]
Given Kudos: 1
Send PM
Re: Profile Evaluation USA top 15 HAAS School of Business and Stanford [#permalink] New post   10 Aug 2017, 06:43
A few more thoughts on this Ankit:
  1. The continuity in your efforts - from the startup to the Lab phase will make for a good story. During your time there, did you also do any additional courses/certifications? Might be useful to showcase your commitment to this even further.
  2. You mentioned that the startup shut down - are you on some sort of contract now? This will be important to understand clearly.
  3. The GPA is obviously not going away anywhere. Read here on potential ways to overcome it.
  4. The GMAT re-take is definitely a bit of a no-brainer. R1 is important but never at the cost of a sub-optimal application. So plan things accordingly.
  5. Finally, definitely expand that target set. More importantly, do more research on post-MBA plans from an employability perspective - it might be a tough proposition overall in your area of interest.

Hope this helps some.

Cheers,
avatar
S
99Colleges
Senior Manager
Senior Manager
Joined: 02 Jul 2015
Status:MBA Admissions Consultant
Affiliations: 99colleges.com
Posts: 329
Own Kudos [?]: 42 [0]
Given Kudos: 4
Schools: Wharton
Send PM
Re: Profile Evaluation USA top 15 HAAS School of Business and Stanford [#permalink] New post   10 Aug 2017, 23:06
Hi ankit1345,

As mentioned, continuity in employment is important. It’s also important to posit the lessons you’ve drawn from your startup experience in your application because that's your most recent experience. (There can be multiple reasons for the failure of a startup, but in India it’s extremely hard for a fledgling company to make revenue from government/ PSUs because they go by rule book.)

Second, you should ascertain the job prospects and sponsorship scenario in the industry of your choice. And one of the best ways to do it is to talk to current students and school officials at your target schools.

Third, check if you need TOEFL. With English as the medium of instruction at IITs, you don’t need to submit TOEFL at most schools.
GMAT Club Bot
gmatclubot
Re: Profile Evaluation USA top 15 HAAS School of Business and Stanford [#permalink]
10 Aug 2017, 23:06

Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group | Emoji artwork provided by EmojiOne
Main navigation
GMAT Resources
Partners
MBA Resources
www.gmac.com|www.mba.com | | GMAT Club Rules | Terms and Conditions