Re Vera Background Check | Salary Discrepancy | Indian National : Admitted

AshamedWeakness · 2022-03-13T13:55:47-07:00

I have been lucky to get into an M7 MBA Program, and am currently going through the re vera background check process. I am an Indian national based out of India. I was contacted by re vera a couple of weeks back on my salary details (they couldnt figure it out on their own due to my company choosing not to divulge it) . They asked me to explain the salary numbers I put in my application, which I did. (Note: I had used purchasing power parity conversion of 25, as opposed to the nominal USD INR conversion rate, which is 1USD = 76 INR ) They seemed to be happy with my explanation. Now I got contacted by the school's admission committee to let me know that there is a salary discrepancy, and rightly so, because my salary when converted to actual dollar terms (ie 1 USD= 76 INR) will be MUCH MUCH LESS than when my salary is converted to PPP Dollar Terms (i.e 1 USD = 25 INR) I explained the same to them, and while I await a response from them, I am freaking out! I never knew this would be such a big deal! My questions are: Is this a problem? I can justify the salary numbers I put in my application when converted to PPP Dollar terms, but it would seem OVERSTATED when its compared with my salary converted to actual Dollar Terms. That was never my intention though. I also figured out I put why whole salary number (Base + Provident Fund (401k eqvt) + Gratuity - One time 'loyalty' payment for staying in the same company for 5 years+) ---> Whereas the college application clearly mentions to only share the base amount, minus the fluff. ----> Again, is this a problem? Of course, it goes without saying that there was no intention to misrepresent or mislead, but I am freaking out if this is grounds for any action that the admission committee will take? How important is salary information anyway? Thanks Guys!

AnirudhaS

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19 Mar 2022, 10:37

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Should have just used the normal conversion to be honest. Adcoms know that salary from most countries is pretty much lower than the US equivalent. Especially Indian applicants constitute a significant proportion of the application, so the adcoms should be very well conversant with general Indian salaries. Also the problem with purchasing power parity index is it is heavily dependent on how its calculated (what comparable basket of goods would you consider?) , and differs significantly. Because of this variability, PPP is not used where you need to provide absolute values, in this case salary.

My advice would be to just explain yourself. There is no need to panic, as it was not your intention to inflate the numbers. However, you should have done a bit more research before writing that on in your application.

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19 Mar 2022, 10:46

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Thank you for taking out time to review my situation AnirudhaS.

Fully agreed that I shouldn't have used PPP and instead used the prevailing forex rates, however the PPP number is coming from a source of authority (for eg: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development stats). Also the application instructions nowhere state to use prevailing forex rates to convert Indian Salary to USD - The application instructions does ask to convert INR salary to USD, but nowhere specifies what conversion factor should one take.

That said, in hindsight, I should have just stuck to forex rates, as what other international students do, but now that it has happened, I am wondering how big a problem that is! and its driving me nuts!

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19 Mar 2022, 11:03

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AshamedWeakness

Thank you for taking out time to review my situation AnirudhaS.

Fully agreed that I shouldn't have used PPP and instead used the prevailing forex rates, however the PPP number is coming from a source of authority (for eg: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development stats). Also the application instructions nowhere state to use prevailing forex rates to convert Indian Salary to USD - The application instructions does ask to convert INR salary to USD, but nowhere specifies what conversion factor should one take.

That said, in hindsight, I should have just stuck to forex rates, as what other international students do, but now that it has happened, I am wondering how big a problem that is! and its driving me nuts!

Agree to almost everything you said. Also I am with you on this one that it was an honest mistake - probably you wanted to show that the salary was not as bad as it looks like!

However, said the application was for a M7 MBA Program. Now that is an elite list, and unfortunately for you, in this case you were expected to do your due diligence. Your application should have been flawless and uncontested by anyone.

Immensely happy for you though. I wish you all the best!!

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20 Mar 2022, 16:32

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Hi. I am sorry about the situation. We have not ran into something like this. I have not really seen schools verify salaries a whole lot…. Esp since it is a sensitive topic in the US big companies. I hope you just can’t easily call up and ask HR for anyones salary…. Or maybe you can? 😱 perhaps yours was so high that they felt compelled to verify it?

It seems you have already responded to the AdCom…. So not sure what else to do at this point. I guess it would be fair for them to triple the tuition cost but I don’t think they can do it … so it is a waiting game at this point unless you think something else can be done. I feel that it is not worth sending additional notes and emails. The salary may not have had any impact on their decision…. And in that case they may just let it go. If it did, they may be more upset…. I guess we will know soon.

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20 Mar 2022, 17:07

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When Re Vera was doing my background check, they confirmed my employment and income with my HR Director. I only know this because my HR Director asked for my approval to give out salary information.

bb

Hi. I am sorry about the situation. We have not ran into something like this. I have not really seen schools verify salaries a whole lot…. Esp since it is a sensitive topic in the US big companies. I hope you just can’t easily call up and ask HR for anyones salary…. Or maybe you can? 😱 perhaps yours was so high that they felt compelled to verify it?

It seems you have already responded to the AdCom…. So not sure what else to do at this point. I guess it would be fair for them to triple the tuition cost but I don’t think they can do it … so it is a waiting game at this point unless you think something else can be done. I feel that it is not worth sending additional notes and emails. The salary may not have had any impact on their decision…. And in that case they may just let it go. If it did, they may be more upset…. I guess we will know soon.

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22 Mar 2022, 16:30

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FinanceMan

When Re Vera was doing my background check, they confirmed my employment and income with my HR Director. I only know this because my HR Director asked for my approval to give out salary information.

bb

Hi. I am sorry about the situation. We have not ran into something like this. I have not really seen schools verify salaries a whole lot…. Esp since it is a sensitive topic in the US big companies. I hope you just can’t easily call up and ask HR for anyones salary…. Or maybe you can? 😱 perhaps yours was so high that they felt compelled to verify it?

It seems you have already responded to the AdCom…. So not sure what else to do at this point. I guess it would be fair for them to triple the tuition cost but I don’t think they can do it … so it is a waiting game at this point unless you think something else can be done. I feel that it is not worth sending additional notes and emails. The salary may not have had any impact on their decision…. And in that case they may just let it go. If it did, they may be more upset…. I guess we will know soon.

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I literally got the same email today, any idea how many jobs they verify? and how long the process took to complete after sending them that info? I sent everything they asked for (contract with company, paystubs, etc.) and I know HR has answered their questions (they told me) but just curious because the whole thing is a black box and that email was the first communication I received since signing the release form a month and a half ago.

Any answers would be greatly appreciated

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22 Mar 2022, 17:11

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Hello guys ,

Would a tax declaration(income statement, the equivalent of W2) suffice instead of paystubs etc (if you are self employed) ? Also , do they verify then the income statement with the IRS of the country that it was issued, the public services here are notoriously slow on handling demands it could take a really long time , that is my concern.

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22 Mar 2022, 17:22

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Thank you 🙏🙏🙏
Bit by bit I am learning some. We details! This is helpful!

FinanceMan

When Re Vera was doing my background check, they confirmed my employment and income with my HR Director. I only know this because my HR Director asked for my approval to give out salary information.

bb

Hi. I am sorry about the situation. We have not ran into something like this. I have not really seen schools verify salaries a whole lot…. Esp since it is a sensitive topic in the US big companies. I hope you just can’t easily call up and ask HR for anyones salary…. Or maybe you can? 😱 perhaps yours was so high that they felt compelled to verify it?

It seems you have already responded to the AdCom…. So not sure what else to do at this point. I guess it would be fair for them to triple the tuition cost but I don’t think they can do it … so it is a waiting game at this point unless you think something else can be done. I feel that it is not worth sending additional notes and emails. The salary may not have had any impact on their decision…. And in that case they may just let it go. If it did, they may be more upset…. I guess we will know soon.

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bb

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22 Mar 2022, 17:28

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Usually you have to authorize release of your information. At least that is what you would have to do in the United States. He would have to sign a piece of paper authorizing the IRS to release your personal records to whoever is requesting them. We have to do it for loans and things like that to verify income. I’m assuming there may be some kind of a ruling that in your country? 🤷‍♂️😬 (I was wrong about salary release info so I may be wrong again)

UNSTOPPABLE12

Hello guys ,

Would a tax declaration(income statement, the equivalent of W2) suffice instead of paystubs etc (if you are self employed) ? Also , do they verify then the income statement with the IRS of the country that it was issued, the public services here are notoriously slow on handling demands it could take a really long time , that is my concern.

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patopc

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22 Mar 2022, 17:32

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bb

Usually you have to authorize release of your information. At least that is what you would have to do in the United States. He would have to sign a piece of paper authorizing the IRS to release your personal records to whoever is requesting them. We have to do it for loans and things like that to verify income. I’m assuming there may be some kind of a ruling that in your country? 🤷‍♂️😬 (I was wrong about salary release info so I may be wrong again)

UNSTOPPABLE12

Hello guys ,

Would a tax declaration(income statement, the equivalent of W2) suffice instead of paystubs etc (if you are self employed) ? Also , do they verify then the income statement with the IRS of the country that it was issued, the public services here are notoriously slow on handling demands it could take a really long time , that is my concern.

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Hey BB, do you happen to know how long the verification takes once you've paid and signed your release? also would you happen to know how many jobs they verify? (it took them about 1.5 months to begin verification on my first job and I've had 4 since graduating from university so I'm wondering if I need to expect another month or 4.5 months before its complete haha

bb

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22 Mar 2022, 18:26

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patopc

bb

Usually you have to authorize release of your information. At least that is what you would have to do in the United States. He would have to sign a piece of paper authorizing the IRS to release your personal records to whoever is requesting them. We have to do it for loans and things like that to verify income. I’m assuming there may be some kind of a ruling that in your country? 🤷‍♂️😬 (I was wrong about salary release info so I may be wrong again)

UNSTOPPABLE12

Hello guys ,

Would a tax declaration(income statement, the equivalent of W2) suffice instead of paystubs etc (if you are self employed) ? Also , do they verify then the income statement with the IRS of the country that it was issued, the public services here are notoriously slow on handling demands it could take a really long time , that is my concern.

Posted from my mobile device

Hey BB, do you happen to know how long the verification takes once you've paid and signed your release? also would you happen to know how many jobs they verify? (it took them about 1.5 months to begin verification on my first job and I've had 4 since graduating from university so I'm wondering if I need to expect another month or 4.5 months before its complete haha

Things have been taking a lot longer with Covid. Verifications have been taking a long time in the past but usually they don’t get in the way of the usual admissions process. I have not heard of people in the past not able to get through. But I did hear about verification taking a long time and sometimes skipping jobs in and done just cursory

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