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Kggmat
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Schools: Anderson '26 (I) Haas '26 (I)
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Shortlisting colleges 05 Oct 2023, 07:43
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Hi,

I scored 710 (Q-48,V-38) on the GMAT. I will be taking the GMAT and hopefully will be able to score 740+

10th: 92%, 12th: 93.6%
College: BITS Pilani Goa, cgpa 8.3
Extracurriculars: Skating bronze U-16 in cbse Western zone championships, participated in kayaking nationalis and NCC during school years.

I graduated in 2012 after completing a 5 yr dual degree course (B.E. EEE & MSc(Hons) Maths).
During college, I was the coordinator of Abhigyaan in which I taught basic computer literacy skills to mess and construction workers.

After graduation, I worked for two and half years in the VLSI industry.

Post that I took a 2 yr gap from 2015-17 to prepare for UPSC (govt exams in India).

While preparing, I had a small stint where I went and taught xth class students in a tribal school.

I was always interested in working in the education field and ended up starting an edtech company with a friend of mine in 2016. Happy to say after many trials and tribulations over the past 7 yrs we turned recently profitable.
Over 5000 high school students use our platform.
I have decided to take a break now and do a MBA to maybe explore other fields like consulting. I feel a regular MBA will add more credibility to my profile.

I really need help in shortlisting colleges that I can aim for outside India. Wanted to know about placements and scholarships as well.

I recently gave my interview with ISB as part of the R1 cycle.

Please help.

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MBADecoder
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Shortlisting colleges 05 Oct 2023, 08:06
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Kggmat
Hi,

I scored 710 (Q-48,V-38) on the GMAT. I will be taking the GMAT and hopefully will be able to score 740+

10th: 92%, 12th: 93.6%
College: BITS Pilani Goa, cgpa 8.3
Extracurriculars: Skating bronze U-16 in cbse Western zone championships, participated in kayaking nationalis and NCC during school years.

I graduated in 2012 after completing a 5 yr dual degree course (B.E. EEE & MSc(Hons) Maths).
During college, I was the coordinator of Abhigyaan in which I taught basic computer literacy skills to mess and construction workers.

After graduation, I worked for two and half years in the VLSI industry.

Post that I took a 2 yr gap from 2015-17 to prepare for UPSC (govt exams in India).

While preparing, I had a small stint where I went and taught xth class students in a tribal school.

I was always interested in working in the education field and ended up starting an edtech company with a friend of mine in 2016. Happy to say after many trials and tribulations over the past 7 yrs we turned recently profitable.
Over 5000 high school students use our platform.
I have decided to take a break now and do a MBA to maybe explore other fields like consulting. I feel a regular MBA will add more credibility to my profile.

I really need help in shortlisting colleges that I can aim for outside India. Wanted to know about placements and scholarships as well.

I recently gave my interview with ISB as part of the R1 cycle.

Please help.

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Hi kggmat,
A lot depends on the GMAT for the b-school selection. There's a remarkable difference between a 710 and 740 and your choice of b-schools can change if you are able to push the score up to 740. But, lets first try to understand where (country/region) you want to do an MBA and with what purpose in mind? What kind of post MBA job/ industry are you seeking?
Also, give an idea on what the current venture does.

Namita Garg
Founder, MBA Decoder,
https://mbadecoder.com/services/free-pr ... valuation/
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Kggmat
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Location: India
Schools: Anderson '26 (I) Haas '26 (I)
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Posts: 46
Kudos: 3
Shortlisting colleges 05 Oct 2023, 08:18
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Kggmat
Hi,

I scored 710 (Q-48,V-38) on the GMAT. I will be taking the GMAT and hopefully will be able to score 740+

10th: 92%, 12th: 93.6%
College: BITS Pilani Goa, cgpa 8.3
Extracurriculars: Skating bronze U-16 in cbse Western zone championships, participated in kayaking nationalis and NCC during school years.

I graduated in 2012 after completing a 5 yr dual degree course (B.E. EEE & MSc(Hons) Maths).
During college, I was the coordinator of Abhigyaan in which I taught basic computer literacy skills to mess and construction workers.

After graduation, I worked for two and half years in the VLSI industry.

Post that I took a 2 yr gap from 2015-17 to prepare for UPSC (govt exams in India).

While preparing, I had a small stint where I went and taught xth class students in a tribal school.

I was always interested in working in the education field and ended up starting an edtech company with a friend of mine in 2016. Happy to say after many trials and tribulations over the past 7 yrs we turned recently profitable.
Over 5000 high school students use our platform.
I have decided to take a break now and do a MBA to maybe explore other fields like consulting. I feel a regular MBA will add more credibility to my profile.

I really need help in shortlisting colleges that I can aim for outside India. Wanted to know about placements and scholarships as well.

I recently gave my interview with ISB as part of the R1 cycle.

Please help.

Posted from my mobile device


Hi kggmat,
A lot depends on the GMAT for the b-school selection. There's a remarkable difference between a 710 and 740 and your choice of b-schools can change if you are able to push the score up to 740. But, lets first try to understand where (country/region) you want to do an MBA and with what purpose in mind? What kind of post MBA job/ industry are you seeking?
Also, give an idea on what the current venture does.

Namita Garg
Founder, MBA Decoder,
https://mbadecoder.com/services/free-pr ... valuation/
Show more

Hi Namita,

It is an edtech venture wherein we provide a platform and app to high schools connecting teachers and students. Along with academics we provide support for 30+ non academics as well.

I want to switch to either consulting or product management roles. Not constrained by any region as such.
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MBADecoder
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Shortlisting colleges 05 Oct 2023, 08:52
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Kggmat
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Kggmat
Hi,

I scored 710 (Q-48,V-38) on the GMAT. I will be taking the GMAT and hopefully will be able to score 740+

10th: 92%, 12th: 93.6%
College: BITS Pilani Goa, cgpa 8.3
Extracurriculars: Skating bronze U-16 in cbse Western zone championships, participated in kayaking nationalis and NCC during school years.

I graduated in 2012 after completing a 5 yr dual degree course (B.E. EEE & MSc(Hons) Maths).
During college, I was the coordinator of Abhigyaan in which I taught basic computer literacy skills to mess and construction workers.

After graduation, I worked for two and half years in the VLSI industry.

Post that I took a 2 yr gap from 2015-17 to prepare for UPSC (govt exams in India).

While preparing, I had a small stint where I went and taught xth class students in a tribal school.

I was always interested in working in the education field and ended up starting an edtech company with a friend of mine in 2016. Happy to say after many trials and tribulations over the past 7 yrs we turned recently profitable.
Over 5000 high school students use our platform.
I have decided to take a break now and do a MBA to maybe explore other fields like consulting. I feel a regular MBA will add more credibility to my profile.

I really need help in shortlisting colleges that I can aim for outside India. Wanted to know about placements and scholarships as well.

I recently gave my interview with ISB as part of the R1 cycle.

Please help.

Posted from my mobile device


Hi kggmat,
A lot depends on the GMAT for the b-school selection. There's a remarkable difference between a 710 and 740 and your choice of b-schools can change if you are able to push the score up to 740. But, lets first try to understand where (country/region) you want to do an MBA and with what purpose in mind? What kind of post MBA job/ industry are you seeking?
Also, give an idea on what the current venture does.

Namita Garg
Founder, MBA Decoder,
https://mbadecoder.com/services/free-pr ... valuation/

Hi Namita,

It is an edtech venture wherein we provide a platform and app to high schools connecting teachers and students. Along with academics we provide support for 30+ non academics as well.

I want to switch to either consulting or product management roles. Not constrained by any region as such.
Show more


Overall, its good work experience,
Can't say much about the VLSI experience as you haven't mentioned what you were doing there. The two year gap is a bit of a bummer, but many Indians have the civil services dream and take time off work for an attempt or two. You will have to address this gap in your application. If you had teaching gig for a longer time (than shorter, lol!) that would help. If this experience formed the basis for an edtech startup after becoming aware of the gaps in the education system, then you have a strong story to tell - and one that can also somehow connect with the UPSC dream to serve people.

Regarding b-schools- your entrepreneurial work exp is likely to be valued by many b-schools, and across regions. The 710 GMT is somewhat low for the top 15-20 American programs, however, that story will change if you manage a higher score in your next attempt. You still have a lot of options if you look into European/ UK MBA programs. Would be happy to have a chat and understand your profile better. Feel free to reach out to me at contact@mbadeocoder.com or fill this form: https://mbadecoder.com/services/free-pr ... valuation/

Namita Garg,
Founder, MBA Decoder
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MG4MBACrystalBall
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Shortlisting colleges 05 Oct 2023, 23:55
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Kggmat, a few thoughts on your profile evaluation and plans
  1. The academic arc is good given the BITS pedigree and a healthy GPA. A 740+ score can indeed help a lot in boosting your prospects to top schools. The current score won't be a deal breaker to top European schools though.
  2. The professional profile is intriguing since adcoms love entrepreneurs. But they are also equally skeptical due to the lack of scale/brand/credibility - areas to explicitly focus on through your applications. If the startup has been running since 2016, the break will be only a year. One is better than two. The break will however pull down your chances overall. In that context, if you have tried ISB, the 3 IIM one year programs would be worth considering too.
  3. The post-MBA plan needs to be thought through well. Consulting may not be as natural a fit as say Product Management - of course, depending on your specific role at the startup and details therein. Placement stats are easily available on school websites.
  4. For reasons mentioned here, we don't speculate on school selection or chances. Doing so for scholarships is tougher. In general though, lower you target, better are the prospects for it.
  5. Top schools value solid extracurricular/volunteer efforts. Anything on this front?

Hope this helps some. Do reach out on mcb (at) mbacrystalball (dot) com for further discussion.

Cheers,
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Shortlisting colleges 06 Oct 2023, 00:21
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MG4MBACrystalBall
Kggmat, a few thoughts on your profile evaluation and plans
  1. The academic arc is good given the BITS pedigree and a healthy GPA. A 740+ score can indeed help a lot in boosting your prospects to top schools. The current score won't be a deal breaker to top European schools though.
  2. The professional profile is intriguing since adcoms love entrepreneurs. But they are also equally skeptical due to the lack of scale/brand/credibility - areas to explicitly focus on through your applications. If the startup has been running since 2016, the break will be only a year. One is better than two. The break will however pull down your chances overall. In that context, if you have tried ISB, the 3 IIM one year programs would be worth considering too.
  3. The post-MBA plan needs to be thought through well. Consulting may not be as natural a fit as say Product Management - of course, depending on your specific role at the startup and details therein. Placement stats are easily available on school websites.
  4. For reasons mentioned here, we don't speculate on school selection or chances. Doing so for scholarships is tougher. In general though, lower you target, better are the prospects for it.
  5. Top schools value solid extracurricular/volunteer efforts. Anything on this front?

Hope this helps some. Do reach out on mcb (at) mbacrystalball (dot) com for further discussion.

Cheers,
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Hi mbacrystalball,

I was a bronze medallist in skating in cbse western zone U-16 championship, I have also participated in kayaking nationals and was a NCC cadet during my schooling years.

Others include my teaching gig at the tribal school wherein I was able to make significant differences.

Apart from the above, I am also part of a trust that works in many areas including education. As part of it, I have provided our learning platform to schools that it supports.

Posted from my mobile device
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MG4MBACrystalBall
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Shortlisting colleges 06 Oct 2023, 00:24
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Kggmat

Hi mbacrystalball,

I was a bronze medallist in skating in cbse western zone U-16 championship, I have also participated in kayaking nationals and was a NCC cadet during my schooling years.

Others include my teaching gig at the tribal school wherein I was able to make significant differences.

Apart from the above, I am also part of a trust that works in many areas including education. As part of it, I have provided our learning platform to schools that it supports.

Show more


Kggmat, the teaching gig helps - will eventually depend a lot on scale/impact/continuity/consistency elements. The trust bit is another promising entry.

School level achievements (academic or otherwise) tend to be largely passed on. May form part of your essays and motivation, but unlikely to move much otherwise. So, use accordingly.
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Kggmat
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Shortlisting colleges 06 Oct 2023, 00:31
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Kggmat

Hi mbacrystalball,

I was a bronze medallist in skating in cbse western zone U-16 championship, I have also participated in kayaking nationals and was a NCC cadet during my schooling years.

Others include my teaching gig at the tribal school wherein I was able to make significant differences.

Apart from the above, I am also part of a trust that works in many areas including education. As part of it, I have provided our learning platform to schools that it supports.



Kggmat, the teaching gig helps - will eventually depend a lot on scale/impact/continuity/consistency elements. The trust bit is another promising entry.

School level achievements (academic or otherwise) tend to be largely passed on. May form part of your essays and motivation, but unlikely to move much otherwise. So, use accordingly.
Show more

Based on my profile, do you think I have relative chances for schools such as HEC Paris and Insead?

Also, if I am able to get a higher GMAT score, what would my chances be with schools such as Chicago Booth?

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Shortlisting colleges 06 Oct 2023, 00:34
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Kggmat


Based on my profile, do you think I have relative chances for schools such as HEC Paris and Insead?

Also, if I am able to get a higher GMAT score, what would my chances be with schools such as Chicago Booth?

Show more


Kggmat, not sure if you got a chance to read the blog I shared on why we don't speculate on school selection or chances? That'll explain the fallacy of doing so with barely any information about you and your profile.

For HEC/INSEAD, international experience matters.