The mbaMission Blog : Ask mbaMission

mbaMissionJenK · 2013-12-12T09:30:37-08:00

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30 Jul 2016, 07:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: You Need a 750 to Get In!

We often hear MBA applicants ask some form of the following question: “Do I need a 750 to get into a top MBA program?” Although a 750 on the GMAT can only help, it is definitely not a prerequisite. We wanted to dispel this myth and put some who believe it at ease. Here are a few simple reasons why this is just not the case:

The average is lower. Average GMAT scores at the top 15 MBA programs range from approximately 700 to 730. Clearly, if the high end of the GMAT average range is 730, the schools cannot expect applicants to have a 750. That would mean that every applicant would be above average, which is not possible. Still, if a candidate’s score falls below the average, this generally places a greater burden on the other components of the individual’s application—so, for example, maybe his/her work experience would need to be stronger than that of other applicants, or maybe his/her extracurriculars would need to stand out even more. Or maybe we are straying from our main point! The bottom line is that mathematically speaking, many people have a GMAT score below 750.

[*]Too few applicants have a 750 or higher.The top 15 MBA programs accept around 7,000 applicants each application season. Only approximately 3,700–4,600 GMAT test takers earn scores of 750 or higher each year (depending on whether GMAC counts the number of tests taken or individual test takers), and some are earned by people who do not ultimately apply to business school at all, do not apply to any of the leading schools, take the test only to become GMAT instructors, pursue an EMBA or part-time MBA instead, are rejected because other aspects of their profile render them uncompetitive… and the list goes on. Basically, the top 15 MBA programs do not receive applications from enough applicants with 750s to entirely populate their incoming class, as evidenced by the schools’ mid-80% GMAT ranges, which are typically 660–760.[/list]

[*]All schools accept the GRE. Applicants do not really even need to take the GMAT anymore. Of course, if you do take the GMAT, you should strive to achieve the highest score possible. However, if the GMAT is not even required, you obviously would not need to score a 750 to be accepted. (Note: The GMAT is “preferred” at some schools, but the GRE is still accepted.)[/list]
We want to be unequivocal: 750 is a great GMAT score, and anyone who earns that score should be delighted. However, if you do not fare as well on the exam, you should still be quite hopeful and keep a positive mind-set because the admissions process is holistic.

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30 Jul 2016, 12:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: S’well’s Sarah Kauss Shares Her Unique Career Path from CPA to CEO

Sarah Kauss, Founder and CEO of S’well

Today, many aspiring MBAs and MBA graduates want to join start-ups or launch such companies themselves. Is entrepreneurship as exciting as it seems? Is it really for you? mbaMission Founder Jeremy Shinewald has teamed up with Venture for America and CBS Interactive to launch Smart People Should Build Things: The Venture for America Podcast. Each week, Shinewald interviews another entrepreneur so you can hear the gritty stories of their ups and downs on the road to success.

Sarah Kauss, founder and CEO of reusable water bottle company S’well, began her career in an environment that hardly evokes thoughts of environmental awareness: accounting. After working as a CPA for a number of years, Kauss attended Harvard Business School and, in 2010, founded S’well. She sat down with Shinewald to share her story in this podcast episode, touching on these details and more:

How a hike in Arizona with her mother inspired the idea for S’well
Why being the daughter of entrepreneurial parents made her both less and more inclined to start her own company
Why Kauss got excited the first time she saw a purchase from someone whose name she did not recognize

Be among the first to hear the most inspiring entrepreneurial success stories—subscribe to the podcast series today!

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31 Jul 2016, 08:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: GMAT Impact: Studying for and Struggling with the GMAT

With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this blog series, Manhattan Prep’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense.

Have you been studying for the GMAT for a while now but find yourself struggling to lift your score? Perhaps you have some problems of which you are unaware, or you are studying in an inefficient or ineffective way.

This article includes links to a number of additional articles. If you see something that applies to your situation, follow the link!

First, read this short article: In It to Win It.

Time Management

Almost everyone has timing problems; many people think they do not, but they are wrong. If you have been studying for a while but your score does not seem to be changing much, then one of the culprits is probably timing. Another common sign: your practice test scores fluctuate up and down.

Next, analyze your most recent practice test to see whether you have any timing problems and, if so, what they are. Then read this time management article and start doing what it says.

Content

You may also, of course, have content problems—maybe modifiers are driving you crazy, or combinatorics.

Not all content areas have equal value. Some areas are more commonly tested than others, and those areas are obviously worth more of your time and attention. For example, modifiers are very commonly tested, but combinatorics questions are infrequent. If you are struggling with this topic, good news! Forget about it.

How do you know which areas are more or less commonly tested? This changes over time, so ask your instructor or post the question on some GMAT forums. (Not sure how best to use GMAT forums? Read this!)

The test review we discussed in the time management section will also tell you your content strengths and weaknesses. Your next task is to figure out how to study in a more effective way.

How to Study

Many people do huge quantities of problems, but we are not going to memorize all these problems. If that is what you have been doing and you are struggling or taking forever, stop now!

What we want to do instead is use the current practice problems to help us learn how to think our way through future new problems. When doing GMAT-format problems, be aware that roughly 80% of your learning comes after you have finished doing the problem. Your goal here is not to do a million questions but to do a much more modest number of questions and really analyze them to death. Here is how to review GMAT practice problems. You can find additional articles illustrating this process here, in the How to Study section.

Super-High Score Goal

What if you are going for a super-high score (730+) and find that you are stagnating? Maybe you have hit 700 but cannot get past that mark. First, do you really need such a high score? Not many schools will reject a 700-scorer for that reason.

If you are determined to push into the stratosphere, learn the differences between a 700-scorer and a 760-scorer. A super-high scorer has certain skills and habits, and you will need to learn how to develop them. Also, recognize that you might need outside help from a class or tutor to make this leap.

My Score Dropped!

Have you experienced a big score drop (more than 70 points) on a recent practice test or an official exam? I know you are disappointed, but you are not alone. Your task now is to figure out what went wrong, so that you can take steps to get back to the pre-drop level.

Something Else?

Finally, if you just cannot figure out what is holding you back, then you likely need the advice of an expert. You can get free advice on various forums (including the Manhattan Prep forums!). You could also take a class or work with a tutor—this will cost money, of course, but if you have really been banging your head against the wall for a long time, then you might decide the investment is worth it.

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01 Aug 2016, 07:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Ensure Your Goals Are Ambitious but Realistic

When writing about your career, strive to inspire your reader by showing that your goals are ambitious, but not to the point of being implausible. You should work to find a middle ground between goals that are easily achievable and those that are naïve or entirely fantastic. For example, stating your short-term goal is to return to your existing position at your firm would be an example of an unambitious goal and thus an unwise approach. On the other hand, declaring that your short-term goal is to become CEO of the New York Yankees would be shooting unreasonably high, and the goal would therefore be viewed as unrealistic.

Generally, with respect to short-term goals, you should be able to identify a reasonably precise position that you could expect to enter after graduating from your MBA program—or if you intend to start your own firm, you should have a clear understanding of what that firm will be, the direction you will take, and how you will steward the business to achieve its short-term goals. As for the long term, pick a goal that derives from your existing career path or could be considered a logical transition from it and that represents an ideal of sorts. Essentially, we recommend that you write about goals that would be within your grasp if everything were to go according to plan.

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02 Aug 2016, 07:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: Use the MBA Admissions Office

Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.

“Do I need to take the TOEFL if I attended an English-language undergraduate institution outside the United States?”

“Do I need to provide a separate transcript from the institution where I studied abroad for my junior year, even though these grades show up on my ‘home’ university’s transcript?”

“I completed military service before my undergraduate education. Can I still count these years in my ‘full-time work experience since graduation’ total?”

These are just a few examples of the technical questions that can arise as you complete the short-answer portion of your application (depending on the nature of your candidacy). The reason these and many other questions can be so bewildering is that often, no clear answer can be found in the school’s application materials, and tremendous variation exists from one application to the other.

Generally, candidates tend to think of MBA Admissions Offices as impenetrable black boxes, but the truth is that they are open and available to applicants, and admissions representatives indeed want to clarify these kinds of small technical issues that candidates may encounter. Although you should take care to not be a pest and avoid repeatedly calling the Admissions Office, if you have a small question or two with no clear-cut, obvious answers, do not be afraid to reach out. Why not take the guesswork out of the equation and be certain of what the admissions committee expects?

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03 Aug 2016, 07:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Cameron Anderson, Haas School of Business

Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a business school. However, the educational experience you will have is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Each Wednesday, we profile a standout professor as identified by students. Today, we profile Cameron Anderson from the Haas School of Business at the University of California (UC), Berkeley.

Cameron Anderson, who received his PhD from UC Berkeley in 2001, came to Haas from New York University’s Stern School of Business in 2005. His teaching awards include Professor of the Year at Stern in 2005 and the Earl F. Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching at Haas in 2008. He was also named a Bakar Faculty Fellow in 2010.

A second year described Anderson’s “Power and Politics in Organizations” course to mbaMission as “easily one of the most sought-after classes at Haas.” Another second-year student we interviewed said the class “teaches students how to gain power and influence people without formal authority” and added that Anderson “teaches applicable skills based on academic research and case studies of great leaders from history. He uses assignments to force students to uncover their own tools of influence and develop strategies for acquiring power in our immediate careers after Haas. I think his class is popular because it’s academic, directly applicable, and introspective all at once.”

For more information on the defining characteristics of the MBA program at UC Berkeley Haas or one of 15 other top business schools, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

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04 Aug 2016, 07:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: MIT Sloan Student Senate

When you select an MBA program, you are not just choosing your learning environment but are also committing to becoming part of a community. Each Thursday, we offer a window into life “beyond the MBA classroom” at a top business school.

Student activities at MIT Sloan are loosely overseen by the Sloan Student Senate, an elected group of approximately 48 students (24 per class year) that works with Sloan administration to improve the program and the school, in addition to organizing much of the activity on campus. The group is divided into formal subcommittees: Academic, Admissions, Alumni Relations, Clubs, OneMIT, and Sloan Experience. In addition, informal committees usually form within the Sloan Student Senate each year on topics ranging from professional standards to career development, depending on student interest.

For more information on MIT Sloan or 15 other leading MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

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04 Aug 2016, 12:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Diamonds in the Rough: Krannert for STEM Professionals

[img]https://www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Purdue-University’s-Krannert-School-of-Management-300x200.jpg[/img]
Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management

MBA applicants can get carried away with rankings. In this series, we profile amazing programs at business schools that are typically ranked outside the top 15.

As technical knowledge becomes increasingly relevant across diverse industries, many MBA programs seem to be vying to dominate the intersection of science and management education. Supplementing its global focus, Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management has developed a program specifically targeting students with a background in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Krannert launched this one-year, full-time MBA program for STEM professionals in 2014, and it was designed to bring management education to applicants who possess at least four years of work experience in a technical field.

The specialized STEM program reflects, as Bloomberg Businessweek suggests, the growing role of STEM professionals in entrepreneurship, consulting, and managerial positions. The program’s curriculum entails a summer session and four modules that combine a business core and a wide selection of electives with STEM-related case studies and learning projects.

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05 Aug 2016, 07:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Friday Factoid: The Harper Center at Chicago Booth

The Charles M. Harper Center at Chicago Booth

Designed by world-renowned architect Rafael Vinoly and completed in 2004 at a cost of $125M, the Charles M. Harper Center houses Chicago Booth’s full-time MBA program. The Harper Center’s Winter Garden—a towering atrium with six-story, glass Gothic arches—is at the heart of the building and serves as a central place where students can study, socialize, and hold club meetings. With more than 400,000 square feet of space, 12 classrooms (on the downstairs “classroom level”), offices for the entire administration and faculty (on the third, fourth, and fifth floors, known as the “faculty floors”), 31 group study rooms, a 3,500-square-foot student lounge, and a 150-person café, the Harper Center helps shape Chicago Booth’s community and is part of the school’s bold identity.

For more information on the defining characteristics of the MBA program at Chicago Booth or one of 15 other top business schools, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

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05 Aug 2016, 12:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: B-School Chart of the Week: Which Business Schools Received the Most Applications During the 2015–2016 Season?

Although quantifying a school’s profile certainly does not tell you everything, it can sometimes simplify the many differences among the various MBA programs. This week, we bring you a chart to help you decide which of the schools’ strengths speak to you.

Many business schools’ first-round deadlines are only a few months away, and applicants around the world are gearing up for the challenge. Before the 2016–2017 application season kicks off, let’s take a look at the 2015–2016 season—namely, which schools received the most applications. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Harvard Business School (HBS) was the most popular, as nearly 10,000 individuals applied to the school. The Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) came in second with 7,899 applications, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania received 6,590 applications and was third in terms of volume. New York City–based Columbia Business School (CBS) and the New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business were also both popular choices, with 5,829 and 3,696 applications, respectively. Which schools will receive the most applications during the 2016–2017 season? Stay tuned!

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06 Aug 2016, 08:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: I Am a Simple Product!

Many candidates who approach us are concerned that they cannot get their stories out in a single sentence or worried that their personal branding is too muddled. Some candidates feel that they must have a single narrative and continuously speak to it in order to make an impression on the admissions committees. But, of course, you are not a simple product with one or two attributes—a Budweiser beer, for example, which can be represented with a straightforward slogan, “The Great American Lager.” MBA candidates are far more complex than consumer products. So, presenting yourself as one-dimensional (“I am an entrepreneur in everything I do,” “I am a finance guy”) is indeed a mistake that prevents you from revealing your depth of character and experience.

Let us consider a basic example: Jon built a lawn care business from a single truck into ten trucks, and he also coached Little League baseball, becoming a de facto “big brother” to one of the kids on the team. Why should Jon only show his entrepreneurial side and ignore his empathetic and altruistic treatment of this young baseball player? Why would not Jon instead reveal his depth and versatility, telling each story and revealing distinct but complementary strengths?

We at mbaMission encourage candidates to brainstorm thoroughly and consider each of their stories from as many different perspectives as possible. There is no simple formula for presenting yourself to the admissions committee. In fact, it is quite important for you to show that you are a multi-talented and sophisticated person. After all, admissions committees are on the hunt for the next great business leaders, and the true legends of international business cannot be summed up in three or four words.

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07 Aug 2016, 08:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: GMAT Impact: What NOT to Read on Reading Comprehension Passages

With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this blog series, Manhattan Prep’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense.

Ironically, to do a great job on Reading Comprehension (RC) on the GMAT, we actually have to learn what NOT to read. So many people struggle with what and how to read, but a big part of the battle is knowing what you can skim or skip!

I am going to give you a quick overview of what I mean by “what NOT to read,” and then I am going to point you to some resources containing full examples of the technique.

Learn the Process

First, read the introduction entitled How To Read A Reading Comp Passage. (Hint: Take some notes! You are going to be trying this out on a real passage in a few minutes.)

Next, you are going to try a couple of examples; one contains a Manhattan Prep passage and one contains an Official Guide (OG) passage.

When you do the exercises, keep a few things in mind:

(1) Look for language clues that help distinguish between “high level” and “detail.” You want to read the “high level” information and skim or skip the “detail.” The “detail” clues tend to be more obvious: for example, for instance, one type of something, and so on.

(2) The bigger the words get, the more likely we will want to skim. They are going to use technical language, but that language will almost certainly be described in easier words at some other point—ignore the technical stuff and go look for that easier description.

(3) Despite #2, we are still expected to have a decent vocabulary. If you run across an unknown-to-you word that is not otherwise defined, then you are forewarned: learn this vocabulary word before you take the GMAT.

Test It Out!

All right, let us try some examples. I am going to have you do the Manhattan Prep example first. Once you think you have mastered that, then try the OG example.

Also, if you have access to Manhattan Prep’s OG Archer study tool, I have also posted a video discussion of the passage used in the article to which I linked. Try it yourself first (using the article), but you then might want to reinforce the lesson by watching the video.

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07 Aug 2016, 11:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Learn How Proday’s Sarah Kunst Created a Fitness App Featuring Pro Athletes

Sarah Kunst, Founder of Proday

Today, many aspiring MBAs and MBA graduates want to join start-ups or launch such companies themselves. Is entrepreneurship as exciting as it seems? Is it really for you? mbaMission Founder Jeremy Shinewald has teamed up with Venture for America and CBS Interactive to launch Smart People Should Build Things: The Venture for America Podcast. Each week, Shinewald interviews another entrepreneur so you can hear the gritty stories of their ups and downs on the road to success.

Fitness app Proday is the latest brainchild of Sarah Kunst, who has been featured on such lists as “Top Women Under 35” (Marie Claire) and “Most Important Women Under 30 in Tech” (Business Insider). Kunst began her wide-ranging career as a campus representative at Michigan State University, representing such companies as Apple and Red Bull, only a handful of years before launching Proday, a subscription-based app that offers workouts with and by fitness celebrities and professional athletes. Tune in to this podcast episode to hear these and other highlights from Kunst’s success story:

How a love for money—or, more specifically, the things money can buy—drove Kunst from early on
Why she left the venture capital world to pursue entrepreneurship
How professional wrestler/actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson gave Kunst the first spark of inspiration for Proday

Subscribe to the podcast series to be among the first to hear the latest exciting entrepreneurial stories!

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08 Aug 2016, 08:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Be Careful When Writing “Unique”

“The semester I spent in France during high school was a unique experience.”

“I want to attend Columbia Business School because of its unique Entrepreneurial Club.”

“The opportunity to do hands-on consulting at Ross is unique.”

“My finance background and strong interpersonal skills will allow me to make a unique contribution to Cornell’s Investment Management Club.”

One of our consultants recently counted five uses of the word “unique” in a single 600-word essay. Further, not one of the uses actually fulfilled the term’s correct definition: “existing as the only one or as the sole example.” Business school applicants tend to use the word “unique” in an attempt to make themselves stand out to the admissions committee. However, because they use the word imprecisely—and often too frequently—it ends up having the opposite effect instead, and the essay loses its distinctiveness and believability. Another danger of using the term too casually is that you risk exposing your lack of research about the school if you claim something is unique to the school when it really is not.

Here are the same four statements we presented at the beginning of this post, written without the generic “unique.” In each case, the sentence is far more descriptive and therefore much less likely to appear in any other applicant’s essay.

“The semester I spent in France during high school was eye-opening, from the frogs’ legs I was served at dinner to the concept of shopping daily for my food.”

“I want to attend Columbia Business School because its Entrepreneurial Club offers an incredible range of activities that will prepare me to better run my own company.”

“The opportunity to do hands-on consulting at Ross will complement the theoretical background I will gain by taking classes on consulting.”

“My finance background and strong interpersonal skills will ensure that I will effectively coach and mentor classmates new to finance through the mentorship program offered by Cornell’s Investment Management Club.”

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09 Aug 2016, 08:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: What Is Your Tipping Point?

Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.

This scenario may be hard for you to imagine when you are still in the midst of applying to business schools, but every year, we at mbaMission see clients get accepted to an MBA program only to realize it is not a place they actually want to attend after all. Alternatively, we occasionally see applicants who are not accepted to any school and realize they must remain in a job they were more than ready to leave.

So how do some candidates end up in these kinds of situations? In both these scenarios, the applicants chose and applied to schools without first taking an honest look at their candidacy, goals, and alternatives. We encourage all applicants to very thoroughly consider where their true tipping point lies in terms of attending business school. At what point would not going to school be better than going to X school? Some candidates feel that if they do not go to Harvard Business School, they may as well not go to business school at all. Others believe they must attend a school in the top ten. Still others think, “I really hope to go to a top ten program, but I’ll be happy to attend any top-30 school.” Having a frank discussion with yourself (or perhaps with us) on this topic may help you pinpoint where this cutoff point is for you.

Start by researching all the MBA programs at which you believe you would be competitive, and then organize them into three clusters: dream schools, reasonable schools, and safer schools. Next, further investigate the schools you deemed “reasonable” and “safer,” and as you do so, ask yourself, “Would I rather be at this school next year or not be in school at all?” Essentially, we are suggesting that you imagine your worst-case scenario—not getting into any of your dream schools—and decide what you would do in that situation.

Then, in addition to applying to your dream programs, apply only to those reasonable and safer schools for which you felt going would be preferable to not attending any MBA program at all. This way, you can avoid finding yourself in either of the situations we described at the beginning of this post and instead will be well positioned to embrace the choices you ultimately have.

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10 Aug 2016, 08:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Rawi Abdelal, Harvard Business School

Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a business school. However, the educational experience you will have is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Each Wednesday, we profile a standout professor as identified by students. Today, we focus on Rawi Abdelal from Harvard Business School (HBS).

Rawi Abdelal is the Herbert F. Johnson Professor of International Management and the director of Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. In addition to teaching, he serves as a faculty associate for such groups as Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies. His first book, National Purpose in the World Economy: Post-Soviet States in Comparative Perspective (Cornell University Press, 2001), won the 2002 Shulman Prize for outstanding monograph dealing with the international relations, foreign policy, or foreign-policy decision making of any former Soviet Union or Eastern European state. In 2013, he received the Robert F. Greenhill Award, given to outstanding members of the HBS community who are making significant contributions to the school. Moreover, in 2004, he was awarded the Student Association’s Faculty Award for outstanding teaching in the required curriculum.

Abdelal is a student favorite, we were told by those we interviewed, because of his willingness to spend time with students outside the classroom (even those who are not in his section), explaining macroeconomic concepts that can be difficult to grasp. He is also known for incorporating unusual references from literature and popular culture into his class discussions. He has made allusions to Shakespeare, the movie Fight Club, and even rapper Jay-Z’s song “Blue Magic” to help explain complex topics.

For more information about HBS and 15 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

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10 Aug 2016, 12:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: mbaMission Consultant Spotlight: Harshad Mali

At mbaMission, our consultants are more than just graduates of the world’s top MBA programs—we are also expert communicators who possess an unparalleled knowledge of the admissions process. Each week, we highlight one member of our team who has committed his/her professional life to helping you get into business school.

With an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a BE in mechanical engineering from the Government College of Engineering in Aurangabad, India, and an ME in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Harshad Mali has enjoyed a successful career as both an engineer and an entrepreneur. In addition to having worked in design and product development within the automotive industry for the truck manufacturer Navistar, he has traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, and South America to evaluate and create supply chains for critical hardware. After graduating from Chicago Booth, Harshad co-founded a consulting start-up to address the operational and product commercialization challenges faced by small- and medium-sized manufacturing companies. His corporate and entrepreneurial experiences have given him valuable insight into the various career paths MBAs pursue. An avid mentor and coach, Harshad has participated in university career fairs, discussing professional goals and career paths with graduating students, and has also freelanced as an MBA essay consultant.

Quick Facts:
Received MBA from: Chicago Booth

Undergraduate field of study: Engineering

Fields worked in before mbaMission: Engineering, Entrepreneurship, and Consulting

Working style: Direct, friendly, upbeat, and supportive.

Five things you want your clients to know about you:

As an engineer who always strived to endow complex products with an aesthetic charm, I bring the same “creative logic” to my work with clients. I first elicit substance from my clients and then help wrap their stories into beautifully precise applications.
I am Mr. Current Affairs. Despite my busy schedule, I am always on top of existential issues and events in business, finance, international politics, sports, and technology. This helps me to not only understand my clients quickly, but also allows me to simplify their work experiences for their end consumers — the members of b-school admissions committees.
While I work with all clients, I especially enjoy working with engineers, entrepreneurs, consultants, social workers, and other clients from non-traditional backgrounds. Having grown up in India, worked in the US, and traveled the world extensively, I can help convey international perspectives in a comprehensible manner, one that truly resonates with admissions committees.
My direct but upbeat style helps clients understand their strengths clearly and develop a positive perspective on their weaknesses, resulting in an enhanced engagement with the application process.
Story telling is my passion. I am currently writing a novel (in my spare time), so I am constantly updating my inventory of characters, personalities, and traits, by meeting and talking to people. Because of this, I often end up motivating clients to introspect deeper, and they often end up with a crystallized realization of who they really are and what makes them unique.

Testimonials:
“Harshad’s analytical reasoning, friendly and genuine personality is what separated him in the sea of consultants out there!” — MIT Sloan Admit

“Harshad helped me stitch a story I never thought I had. His extreme attention to detail and ability to simplify things meant I could not only plug holes, but also stand out. Hats off to him!” —B-school applicant

“Harshad was phenomenal and very attentive. He seemed to pick up everything in my applicant and I felt like our consultation touched on all aspects of the application process.” —B-school applicant

Want a free consultation with Harshad? Sign up here.

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