Profile Review - FAANG Engineer

Question

25 M - Indian

Work Ex & Education: 
 SDE2 -   - 4 years work experience 
B.Tech - Computer Science   - 9.2 CGPA
12th Standard - 94%
10th Standard - 10 CGPA

Extra Curriculars: 
 5+ hackathons won within   company 
Built a digital product, advertised & marketed it - Generated 1500$ Monthly Recurring Revenue - Solo 
President in college club organising events, hosting learning sessions, leading a team of 300+ members
Earned royalty by selling digital assets to companies   in college  
Have a few other experiences

GMAT Target Score: 720
Target Colleges: INSEAD, NTU, ISB

I'd love to get some feedback on my profile.
And if i should target better colleges than the ones I've shortlisted.

bb · Answer

Welcome to GMAT Club! That's an awesome track record/ profile. Your profile looks strong. You could improve your chances if you are able to pull up GMAT Score to 750+ (that's where the top 15 in the US and places such as INSEAD). You did not mention your goals but I think the school selection/options are solid. Your work experience and background are great.... though $1,500 is probably not going to impress anyone since you likely were paid as much on a monthly basis

You can poke around this tool by the way: WAMC Also, you can see the Decision tracker and use the filters for the schools you are interested in to see what scores are getting admitted. Good Luck! B

nanoname · Answer

Thank you so much for evaluating my profile on such a short notice. I think I should elaborate on a few points:
1. I have taken note of increasing my GMAT score to 750+ to increase my chances. Thanks for calling this out.
2. The business I built with 1500$ MRR was whilst working full time. I was able to do a little over 15k+ USD in a span of 8-9 months. Had 0 prior experience in this field and marketing as well.

Considering I'm highly over represented, I end up getting bogged down that my selected colleges don't even end up in the "average" bucket. I think it's due to the fact that the tool doesn't factor in other attributes apart from age and score.

Let me review this. Thank you so much.

Anything else I can do to increase my chances at INSEAD/ISB or any other colleges/programs that you think I should target?

MBAandBeyond · Answer

Hi nanoname , Thanks for sharing your profile. It seems you have a very interesting profile. Talking about your stats, it’s great, and with your targeted GMAT score, you are defining your academic potential. So, this part is pretty sorted. On the work front, I assume you must have impactful stories to speak about your work experience. I would like to know if you have promotions, leadership roles and explored different organisation functions to evaluate your chances better. Your Ecs are interesting and unique. I can see some wonderful things such as hackathons and leading a team of 300+ exhibits a great leader in you. Building a product and generating huge revenue all alone shows that you are a hardworking, ambitious and innovative personality. Speaking about all these with the right passion would greatly enhance your apps. Overall you have a good profile and had shot at INSEAD, ISB and NTU. Based on your profile, I'd also suggest you look into the 2-year MBA program, as this program will allow you to explore different career paths through internships and extracurricular activities. The 1-year program is intense, and there are fewer opportunities to explore. But if you are clear and focused on your career goals, you can go for a 1-year program. It would be great to know your post-MBA goals to guide you more on this. As you are targeting INSEAD, and if you want to get better insights into what the school looks for and how you can better strategise your application, you can look into this session . It's on 27th March, and it's a personalised session to help you assess your chances. If you’d like, we are happy to hop on a call with you to discuss your profile in length and answer any of your concern. Feel free to book a free session with us as per your convenience. Cheers! Shantanu Sharma Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond Testimonials Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com What s app: +65-97158525

SagarJaiswal · Answer

Hi Veterans,
I am looking forward to join ISB. I haven't given GMAT but gmat mock1 has put me on 640. Q49/V30 as of Apr5,21. I am aware of my weak areas and believe I would max out around 690-710 considering that I am thinking about round 1. Please evaluate my profile and suggest.

10th -88.8% (merit certificate in maths from CBSE for being in top 0.1 percentile)
12th -79.8%
Grad-B.tech civil from NBA tier1 college, passed with ~76% percent distinction.

Age -28

Work exp- 6.5 years in TCS. With 2.5 of which is in South Africa at Banking Client location. Currently in RSA handling operations of 9 countries. Not as project leader or managerial role. Have done few projects single handedly. I look into both business and IT sides of banking. I am technically very sound in banking and IT both.

E.C- 1) Few in organisation performance awards. Special intiatives, star of month, contribution to org. awards etc.
2) Worked over 2 years post graduation in a couple of NGOs simultaneously, got myself in newspaper and stuff.
3) I am recognized by both Education evaluation and IT skills evaluating bodies in South Africa
4) Had been in news for political party awareness campaign in Delhi.
5)Have done in house (organisation funded) "Project management" certification.
6) Had created a fb group for helping new joinees of organization. The strength of group stands at 2000+ members.
7) Active on quora, get around 3000+ views each month.
8) Organizing mobile game events.
9) Have membership of American society of civil engineers.
10) Several other school/college days certificates which I consider obsolete keeping I mind it's been a while.

Hobbies.1) Playing mobile game namely Pokemon go,PUBG etc.
2) Swimming with fins and everything
3)All kinds of gunshooting don't carry experience in snipers.
4) Have finished two marathons.
5) Currently busy learning guitar.

Thanks,
Waiting for reviews.

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

Hi. Welcome to GMAT Club

I recommend checking out this topic as well: https://gmatclub.com/forum/how-to-evalu ... 53896.html

MBAandBeyond · Answer

Hi SagarJaiswal , Thanks for sharing your profile. Your profile definitely looks promising with good academics. The average GMAT for the class stands at 710. I would suggest you try to push your score up to 720 to be on safer ground. It will maximise your selection chances, and then everything will depend on your essays and interview. On the work front, your work experience plays a more important role in your candidacy. You have in total 6.5 years of work experience with considerable leadership experiences and international exposure as well! I would like to know some major aspects of your profile, such as impact and career progression. ISB prefers candidates who have had a steady career progression and substantially contributed to their organisation. Therefore, you'll need to emphasise this in your profile and show how you outperformed your TCS colleagues. Your ECs are interesting and will uplift your profile. You've done many amazing things; talk about the things you're most excited about, which shows a little bit of your personality. You will make your profile even more appealing by linking all of this with a story about how your previous accomplishments would be a strong fit for your MBA at ISB. Then, with such a varied background, explain how you will be able to relate to society and your future organisation. Your hobbies are cool! Focus on one of your hobbies that you are very passionate about and can bring colour to your apps. Overall you have a good profile and had a decent shot at the b-school. I would like to know your post-MBA goals to determine your fit for ISB. You’ll need to connect the dots right and bring a story that can talk impact loud and clear. If you’d like, we are happy to hop on a call with your sometime this week to discuss your profile in length and your further chances to ISB. Feel free to book a free session with us as per your convenience. Let’s maximize your chances for US Schools. Cheers! Shantanu Sharma Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond Testimonials Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com What s app: +65-97158525 Ask MBA & Beyond - if you're concerned about any of your gaps in your profile & need direction

SagarJaiswal · Answer

MBAandBeyond

Thanks for your review,

I have had a steep growth untill now. I witnessed early promotion. I was offered abroad deputation with 2.5 years of exp. Could travel late bcz of Visa delays.
Also since i am civil engineering grad, this pretty much shows my performance being better than most of IT clan.

My Grad marks also had steep growth and look like this:
1st year (there isn't semester 1 or 2) -68%
2nd year ( s3 and s4 ) avg- 73%
3rd year avg- 76%
4the year avg- 84%

As for MBA option, I am looking into Management consultancy considering i have knowledge and exp from multiple industries. If not this then General Management will suit me. Coming back to IT or Finance/Investment Banking is always an option but i want to explore more.

Regards
Sagar Jaiswal

MBAandBeyond · Answer

That’s great SagarJaiswal , you must showcase your career progression in a stark way as it will provide the image of a high performing individual. Try to bring a good blend of the professional and personal self to bring a person in your application. Regarding your post-MBA goals, consulting is the best career for ISB then comes tech. Make sure you explain how ISB will help you fill the gaps in your profile and achieve your goals. What’s going to matter most is how you link the dots with the values of the b-school and bring a great narrative to stand out from the other applicants in the pool. Feel free to book a free session with us as per your convenience. Let’s maximize your chances for US Schools. Cheers! Shantanu Sharma Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond Testimonials Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com What s app: +65-97158525 Ask MBA & Beyond - if you're concerned about any of your gaps in your profile & need direction

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