USC Marshall Profile Eval Thread: Post all Profile Eval Requests Here!

Hi All, I am looking for a profile evaluation, below is a little bit about me. Please note that I do not plan on applying to an MBA program for a couple of years (2-3).

Background/Demographic: 22 year old male from US
GMAT: 700 (47-Q & 40-V)
Undergrad: Indiana University - Kelley School of Business. Major: Economic Consulting, GPA: 3.84
Experience: Just started working at Deloitte Consulting in project controller practice. Previously was a volunteer at the commodities futures trading commission
Extracurriculars: member of Phi Chi Theta Business Fraternity during undergrad, main community involvement has been with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Also, my main hobby is Jiu Jitsu. I have won a few local tournaments in Chicago, and help teach classes twice a week.
Other: International experience includes studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark
MBA goals: I aspire to start my own business, and hope that an MBA program will broaden my network as well as develop my leadership skill set.

Thanks!
Johnny

Hello jomregan

Kudos to planning ahead, it is always recommended to do so as you can spend the next 3 years really building your profile and improve your chances of admission significantly.
Your GPA is good, however, since you have time, I would suggest if you can retake the GMAT to get a higher score of 730+.
Will not comment much on the work ex front, as you have just begun. Focus on not just your technical responsibilities, but also the real business impact that your work has.
University extracurricular look good- show long term commitment and how have you gained transferable skills that make you a better person/professional.
Post MBA goals however, look a bit unpolished and yu should be more specific what sort of venture, why is an MBA an absolute necessity.
To conclude- improve your GMAT + work your ass off and show career progression/achievements + show impact of extracurricular on your life in the next few years.
You could read more on how to spend the next 2-3 years here or Plan your MBA early as it takes 12-18 months of work before an admission result.

Best
Varun Sharma
Free Profile Review
MBAkarma.com
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info@mbakarma.com

Background and nationality 31/M/White (US - NY, NY)

Undergrad Information: US Top 30 US News & World Report - Econ/Drama (3.8 GPA - Phi Beta Kappa)

GMAT: 700 44Q/41V/7IR (currently studying for a retake - goal of 720+ with 48+ Q)

Work experience and leadership: Currently working in the finance department for America's oldest professional theatre company. We also own a plurality of the Broadway theaters. Specifically, I work in the division that handles group and business-to-business discount ticket sales.

My current title is junior accountant. Primary responsibilities include:
-Own the entire aging process for ~50 b2b AR clients, totaling ~$1.1 million in monthly sales
-Manage and resolve any discrepancies related to commission income (~$150K/week) for all Broadway/off-Broadway ticket sales
-Reconcile internal reports against 3rd party ticketing system and advise accounting department regarding coding for ~$650K in weekly sales
-Coordinated with the operations manager to redesign the entire reconciliation process, reducing the time taken to get reports to accounting by two full business days.

Additionally, my recommenders will be able to speak to the stability I brought to my current position, including establishing new reconciliation schedules and checks and balances procedures. The department was being restructured during my hiring, and I had 4 supervisors over the span of ~2 years.


Community and others:
Various service projects with NYC alumni group
Independently learning python for data science (put on hold due to GMAT retake)
Improv student
Beginner rock climber & active member of local recreational sports league
Won an acting award for my performance in a friend's submission to a playwriting festival
Academic interests in behavioral psychology/behavioral economics

Post MBA goals:
Insights/Analytics, ideally in the media/entertainment or tech industries. I want to blend my interests in behavior and decision sciences with my skills in storytelling to help guide businesses to better meet consumers needs.

Posted from my mobile device

Intake Year: 2019

Pre-MBA Career: Public Relations and Communications
Post-MBA Career: Consumer Goods (Marketing and Brand Management)
GMAT: 710
GPA: 3.3
Years of Work Experience: 2

Notes: My GMAT score breakdown is: (710- Q: 49 and V: 38).

A brief on my background: I have worked for two years in a top-notch international PR and Communications agency (post my under-grad) in Mumbai and served a plethora of MNCs and large scale conglomerates across corporate and consumer verticals in those two years. I was among the youngest people at the agency and was promoted within a year of working there. I have also actively helped in crisis and reputation management for one of the largest corporate crisis in India during my stint at the agency, and truly believe that my quality of work experience has been great over the past two years.

I specialised in PR during my undergrad and carried out five internships successfully during the same time. Three at non-profit organizations and two at industry-specific agencies. Through school, college and work, I have always taken up roles of responsibility and leadership, actively looked out for and asked for opportunities and always showcased the urge to learn.

Additionally, I have always actively participated in extra-curriculars at school and college and performed extremely well academically. I would like to do an MBA with a major in marketing, from a top B-school in the US specifically, so as to add to my experience of PR and communications and achieve concentric growth around my core competencies. Furthermore, coming from a advertising and PR background, I have a fair understanding of the changing communication landscape and would like to deep dive into understanding brand management, disruptive marketing and ways to break through the current clutter to create an impact or spearhead behavioural change.

That aside, in the long run I would like to join the C-suite of an MNC, lead from the forefront and create a lasting impact on the society using my position. However, to get there, I do believe that it is important for me to venture out into relatively new territories for me, i.e. finance, accounting, sustainability, micro-economics and macroeconomics among the others. Hence the MBA.

Furthermore, why the MBA now? Well, because I want to make the switch from the agency side to the corporate side now, and no better way to bridge the gap than do an MBA that would provide me with a holistic understanding of the other side, before I step into it.

Starting today, I have about 50 days till the round 2 deadline to get my essays in place. Does USC Marshall seem like a good option and what are my chances basis my profile?

Note: By matriculation, it would be about 2 years and 7/8 months of work experience

Would request you to please evaluate my profile. Planning to apply for the R2 deadline in January 2019.

Nationality: Indian Male, Commerce graduate, Bachelor of Business Adminstration. Will be 32 years old at time of matriculaiton.

Undergrad percentage: 61% from University of Mumbai

Post graduate diploma in Management: 4.3/7

Gmat score: 700 (planning to retake the test by December '18 end)

Work experience total 7 years, will be 8 by matriculation: 2 years in KPO, 5 years in Banking operations. I started as management trainee and later was the Senior Analyst for Trade operations in corporate banking. After that I moved into commercial banking as a team leader and eventually became Assistant Manager managing a team of 8 for credit card payments, financial instruments clearing and doorstep banking activities. I've also been instrumental in the development of an online tracking system for banking deliverables to customers.

Extra curriculars: Organising and leading CSR and other corporate events at my workplaces. Have also volunteered at an NGO for mentoring underpriveleged children

Post MBA goals: Transition from banking to management consulting providing operational consulting for financial institutions.

Hi Experts!

I'd like to kindly request you for your feedback on my profile. Here goes.

Background:
Indian Male
Age 27
GMAT 720
Industry: Consulting (Front end consulting role in one of the largest HR Consulting organizations in the world, typically held by Tier-1 MBA professionals)

Education:
Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from IIT Delhi (CGPA – 7.0)

Work Experience: Total 4+ years (in india)
Worked for over 2 years in a social sector consulting startup and 1 year in an election campaign strategy firm (a SuperPAC). Working in the strategic HR consulting for last 1 year.

Extra curriculars – Won international competitions and worked on two international projects in Europe. Worked as Coordinator in various campus festivals and a student association club.

Post MBA Goal – Work in MBB strategy consulting firms

Posted from my mobile device

Dear all,

Please evaluate my profile for 2020 intake

Personal profile: 25 years, female, Indian

Academic background:
Msc.(Hons.) Mathematics and B.E. Hons(Mechanical) from BITS PILANI PILANI CAMPUS (Tier -1 college which ranks at par with IIT's)
10th from CBSE: 92.7%
12th from CBSE: 91.4%
GMAT: Total score : 710 (Q50 V35 AWA 4.5 and IR 8)

Professional background:
Quant Analyst in financial services risk mananagement in one of the big four accounting firms.
Worked as a consultant to major US banks for developing their internal models as per latest FRTB regulations.
Performed annual model review for credit, market models as per SR11-7 regulations.

Extracurriculars :Organized cultural events of a regional association as the secretary , conducted several events during cultural fests as the joint coordinator of a club.


Total Work experience: 22 months (as on May 2019)

Hey Guys, could you please give me some feedback for my profile.


Background- 2 years at family company
Then started a new company in manufacturing. Built business from scratch

nationality--Indian


Undergrad Information-- mechanical engineering, Bangalore (non iit) GPA-7.8
GMAT: GRE-322 (159V,163Q)


Work experience and leadership-
Started company from scratch. Set up processes and grew business to $1,000,000


Community and others- some wildlife activities

Post MBA goals- General management position to gain business experience in large organisations

Anything else?

Posted from my mobile device

Hi zolu,

I realized that this thread wasn't touched by anyone for a very long time. I am curious to find out if you already applied or you are going to apply for the next intake?
Looking forward to learning about the changes/development in your profile since December 2019, so that I can evaluate your profile better.

Cheers!
Kashish Garg
Community Manager, MBA and Beyond

On behalf of
Shantanu Sharma,
Founder and Admissions Consultant, MBA and Beyond
Schedule a free session
Email: shantanu@mbaandbeyond.com

I'll give this a go. Applying in Round 2.

Age: 27
Nationality: American
Identity: White Transgender
Undergraduate education: University of Maryland GC
Undergraduate Degree: East Asian Studies
GMAT Score – 740 (Q 49, V 42, IR 8, AWA 5)

Work experience:
Currently working for a top defense contractor in Maryland since Feb 2019. I am the senior analyst of an 11-person team, and I oversee all US Army counterintelligence (CI) operations west of Chicago. I have been promoted and given raises twice. I was selected to lead the first on-site integration of our team directly with our customer and input real-time CI consult during an international conference, and also delivered a brief to 450+ attendees at a national defense conference.

Prior to my current position, I was enlisted Air Force. I was a Chinese linguist, learned the language at the Defense Language Institute, and worked primarily in Hawaii. I was promoted several times and attained a Mission Manager position where I oversaw a 50+ member team, leading operations support, training, feedback, and service-mission integration efforts.

Successes:
Reporting delivered during Presidential brief
Reporting directly to the SecDef
Coined by my commander
Honor graduate of basic military training and my Chinese course
Maintained Deans list every semester/magna cum laude
Letter of rec written by my current supervisor; received monetary bonus
Selected for Taiwan immersion course at Tamkang University during Chinese course

Recs include a retired Chief Warrant 5 who I work for now, who honestly will write me a glowing recommendation. The other is my previous supervisor from my enlisted stint, who I can confidently say will write the same type of rec.

Extra-curricular activities:
I have several real estate investments and manage a few properties in my off-time.
I am a drag performer across the Baltimore-DC area and have performed at notable venues.
I have coached high school wrestling in three different states.
I completed a Make A Wish business internship in Hawaii, managing 250+ volunteers and aiding two wishes.
I was selected for the National Air Force wrestling team and competed at the 2017 Armed Forces Wrestling competition.

Post-MBA Career Goals:
In the short term, I want to work in either strategic or government consulting. Based on my professional experience, this seems like both a natural progression and a career change.
Long term goals vary across two paths; I either want to continue rising in the consulting world/create a consulting firm among my network, or I want to increase my East Asian studies, utilize that knowledge and an MBA and perform in an ambassador/embassy role. (I don't usually include that in my apps)

I was admitted to Georgetown last year and ultimately deferred.
Round 1 applications only include USC, where I have already interviewed.
Round 2 apps include HBS, Yale, Booth, LBS, and UCLA.

Very interested in your thoughts as your perspective is much, much greater than mine in terms of competition. Thank you for your time!

Hi I'm looking for a profile evaluation for the full-time 2 year MBA at Marshall starting next year (2022)
Below are details of my profile

Demographic
Indian | Male | Age 25

GMAT
710 (Q49 V39 | IR 6 | AWA 6)

Academics
Under-Graduation: 75.74% (First Division) | Bachelors in Commerce (Honours), Delhi University
12th Grade: 96.75% | Commerce Stream
10th Grade: 9.6 CGPA

Post MBA Goals
Short Term: Marketing & Communication Impact Consulting
Long Term: Set-up my own design and communication consulting organisation

Target Recruiters
IDEO, Dalberg, Bridgespan Group, Ogilvy, Dentsu, Unilever, Frog Design (other similar recruiters, open to your recommendations as well)

Work Experience
Function: Marketing
Tenure: 3.5 years
Industries: Hospitality, Consumer Products & Services, Social Impact
Specialisations: Advertising, Strategy | Additional Exposure: Business Development, General Management

Tenure Details:
July'21 | Tentative Engagement with Malaria No More, India (This is yet to be finalised, but in the pipeline; I'm in the last phase of recruitement and have received a somewhat positive response)
/ Digital Marketing and Communication on their Nation-wide Malaria prevention awareness, treatment, and management Social Behaviour Change Communciation Campaign

December'20-Present | Self-Employed
/ Co-founded social media and website based e-commerce fashion brand 'aurai by dt' (hair accessories) - engaged with an NGO building livelihood of impoverished women through skill building in stiching and tailoring
/ Freelance digital advertising, content strategy, and design solutions consultant to small scale consumer product & service brands

April'20-October'20 | Vihara Innovation Network
/ Marketing and Business Development Associate

June'19-March'20 | Vizara Technologies Pvt. Ltd
November'19-February'20 | Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi
/ Project Associate - International Heritage Symposium and Exhibition 2020

March'18-May'19 | Templatolio Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
/ Client Servicing Associate
/ Client Servicing Analyst

Co-curricular Development
Social Development:
June'20-Present | Rotary International
/ Member of Rotary Club of Delhi South Metropolitan. Taken active participation in monthly virtual meetings and assisted with operational and design solutions for those meetings

January'21-April'21 | Sofia Smart Centre
/ Engaged with this skill development NGO that enables impoverished women through skillbuilding to generate livelihood (for my hair accessories venture)

June'11 | Music Basti
/ Volunteered at the NGO focused on the holistic development of underprivileged children to bolster their personalities through the medium of music

Cultural Development:
September'14-May'17 | Music Society Member, Under-Graduation
/ Performed as member of the society at college annual fest

July'15 | Summer School, London School Of Economics (LSE)
/ Attended Summer School from London School of Economics (LSE) inManagerial Accounting and received 'A' Grade in the assessment examination

April'09-March'14 | Lead Guitarist-School Band, High-School
/ Participated in and won a few music competitions where I represented my school with my band
/ Performed on the opening day of the International PASH (Partners forthe future) German Leaders' youth camp; organised by the DPS Society in association with the Goethe Institute at Max Meuller Bhavan

February'09-January'12 | Rockschool Guitar Examinations
/ Cleared up till grade 4 guitar examinations with distinction; certified by Trinity School of Music, London

July'10-August'10 | Artek - The International Children's Festival, Ukraine
/ Represented India at this UN initiative, held in Ukraine. The festival encouraged cultural interaction and mutual dialogue betweenchildren from a vast variety of countries

Curricular Accomplishments
May'17 | Under-Graduation
/ Passed my undergraduate degree with First-Division

May'14 | Secondary Education
/ Ranked 10th in my high school, in a batch of approximately 1500 people, in the 12th grade CBSE Board Examination
/ Received a Gold Medal and Certificate of Merit for 7 consecutive years (2006–2014) of academic excellence - from my high school, D.P.S. R.K. Puram

Hobbies/Leisure
Watching sports-Cricket, F1, Tennis, Baseball / Electronic Music Production / YouTube Learning / Streaming Platforms / Traveling /Reading

Thanks for your help

Hi there!

Planning to apply R1.

Applicant profile request:

My background and demographic:
[Male/Southeast Asian] I was born and raised in Utah. Mom is a Cambodian refugee who fled the Killing Fields in the 1980s. Father is a white and from Utah. Neither parent has college degree.

Academics:
[*]BS Finance from BYU (private, religious school, US News ranks them around 80. Solid business undergrad and MBA, though). 3.67 GPA.
[*]No real leadership experience while in school (kicking myself for this...should have done more ), but was involved in a service society and some Finance clubs.

Work Experience:
[*]First job post-undergrad was in risk consulting at KPMG. 18 months. Heavy client facing work which I really enjoyed, but decided to leverage that experience to break into the world of fintech.
[*]Current title is Program Manager (promo after 1.2 years as Program Analyst) at a fintech bank called Celtic. Not a household name, but I manage some really cool partnerships with some of Silicon Valley's brightest fintechs including Affirm, Square, and Stripe (most valuable fintech in the world -Forbes). I facilitate $billions in originations monthly through these partnerships. I oversee model risk governance, information security, vendor management, etc. for all of the Celtic's strategic partnerships. Heavy client facing role as well and tons of exposure to C-level individuals internally and externally.
[*]One career highlight: assisted in building bank's Paycheck Protection Program with Square that distributed over $800MM in COVID relief funds to 76k small businesses.

GMAT:
[*]July 2021
[*]740 (97th %ile)
[*]Q47 (59th %ile... sad)
[*]V47 (99th %ile)
[*]IR 8
[*]AWA 4 (idk what happened here... I think my essays weren't long enough)

Recommenders:
[*]Decently strong, I would say. One is former supervisor (from 4 months ago) with whom I have a strong relationship. Advocated for me to be promoted to Manager. Other is colleague with whom I have worked extensively in my current role.

Short Term Goal Post-MBA:
[*]Product or Program Manager for big name, Silicon Beach company such as Google. I'd like to switch over to a role more involved in building and growing programs rather than oversight/risk

Long Term Goal:
[*]Director of large teams in tech, ownership and expansion of products that create revenue

Why Marshall:
[*]Strong brand, Huge Trojan Family network, LA is my favorite city in the world, strong access to tech in SC and NC

ECs:
[*]Competitive Pickleball
[*]Podcasts on astrophysics, space travel
[*]Musical performance- 10 years of Violin training including travelling performance in CA, NY, HI. Guitar/vocals for weddings.

Service:
[*]Two-year voluntary church mission in Phnom Penh, Cambodia after high school. Selected to lead entire mission of 130 volunteers for 6 months (role given to >10% of missionaries). Learned Cambodian language fluently (including reading, writing). Taught English, principles of faith, and financial wellness. Other impromptu service such as harvesting rice, building homes, etc.
[*]Grocery Rescue Volunteer

Also applying to Anderson, McCombs, Foster, Yale

Any tips or questions would be very much appreciated!

Hi snakewater - I see that no one has responded to your profile review request, so am happy to provide my thoughts now in case they are still useful to you.

Overall I think you will make a very compelling candidate for USC and your other target schools. I like your work experience and the impact that you mention, and that you can show a promotion.

As I'm sure you know, your GMAT and GPA are higher than average for your target schools. Out of curiosity, would you consider also applying to any schools that might be more of stretch for you?

USC will not accept any letters of recommendation. For your other schools, we advise against using a colleague as a recommender unless the person serves as a mentor to you or there is a dotted-line reporting relationship. Schools usually like to see someone "above" you in some way. Is there a reason you are not using your current boss? Schools that require recommendations often want to see your current manager as one of the recommenders unless there is a good reason. If there is a good reason, you can explain it briefly in your optional essay.

It looks like your church mission volunteer role is a great example of leadership. Ideally schools want to see current examples of EC leadership as well, so that stood out to me when looking at your profile.

Your goals seem clear and reasonable. Some of these schools will want you to explain why their program in particular is best suited to help you reach those goals.

Again, overall I think you have a great profile for these schools -- best of luck to you!!

Hi StratusSoterios,

Thanks for your input- definitely still helpful as I am now in the thick of R1 apps. Your advice is well taken.

Re: your question of reach schools- I guess I had seen USC and UCLA as reaches due a variety of factors:

GMAT and GPA are high, but quant score is only 59th %ile
No direct reports
No current EC leadership
Not from an underrepresented demo

It's possible that I am underselling myself, but I figured schools in the t16-25 range would be solid targets. I added Yale as a longshot reach, but decided against applying to more t10-15 schools due to high application fees and (my perceived) low chance of admission. In your opinion, should I reconsider? Would love NYU and Columbia but not sure of my chances...

Hi again snakewater - We tend to divide schools into three categories: Stretch, Target, and Likely. I think the schools on your list other than Yale are great Target schools for you (I think some might even veer towards Likely, but for the reasons you list, I think "Target" is a safer assumption). I think Yale, NYU, and CBS would be Stretch schools for you. I do think you have a chance, depending on how well you can paint a compelling picture that connects the dots in your life, including the impact you want to have someday and why, and how each program will best help you get there. These schools get more well qualified candidates each season than they can accept, and strive to put together as diverse a cohort as they can based not only on demographics, but also work experience and future aspirations/industries. Being a first gen college student distinguishes you, for example. Ultimately your chances will depend on who else is applying. I realize there's an expense to apply, and also a big time commitment for you and your recommenders. But if one or both of these are really dream schools for you, I'd urge you to apply, since otherwise you might always wonder whether you would have been accepted.

Hello, I've submitted my application and would like to know my chances. Could someone evaluate my profile?

-Geography: India
-Gender- Female; Age: 24
-CGPA 9.77/10.0 (IBS Hyderabad, BBA)
-Work Exp: 38 Months, Financial Planning & Analysis for Dell Technologies and United Technologies
(Lead Process specialist (Team lead) and Finance Specialist)
-Extra curriculars: AIESEC, Toastmasters and MAD
-GMAT (to be taken this month/consider a waiver)
-Round 2-MBA|Fall application
-Post MBA goal- to join as a Finance consultant
Also, please enlighten me on scholarships as well?

Appreciate your help.

Hi guys!
I'm preparing to apply for a MBA in the US. With one month to go, I was wondering if it's advisable to hire a consultant. Also, would it be a good idea to apply to Marshall?
FYI :
Nationality : Indian
College CGPA : 8.33
My GRE Score : 324
TOEFL : 112
Undergraduate degree : BE in CS from VTU
Internship experience : 2 months
Data scientist at TechieAid
Work experience : 2.5 years
iOS developer at HSBC Technology
Volunteer Work : Been a community volunteer for Youth For Seva for the past 6 months, currently a teaching volunteer at a Govt school
Extracurricular activities : I have acted in theatre productions and short films
Post MBA Goal : To work as a Project manager in a leading tech company or make a transition into consulting.

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