Profile Evaluation - Indian Applicant-3.5 yrs WE Oil & Gas

Question

I would be grateful if you can assess my profile.

24 year old Indian Male

Current Job:Working as a Petroleum Engineer(Reservoir Engineer) in a
state-owned Oil and Gas E & P(Exploration and Production) company.(Didn't switch to a bigger company for the vast learning experiences in a small
start-up dept.

760 GMAT (Q51,V41,AWA 5.0)-1st attempt
111 TOEFL iBT - 1st attempt
6.68/10 GPA (3.54/4.00 on US Scale - Converted through World Education Services)-but I only mentioned the 0-10 scale GPA on the Application forms. 
(Also submitting an alternative transcript(99/100 score) from mbamath online course to offset the low Quant Courses GPA)

Undergraduate Degree(Bachelor of Technology) in Petroleum Engineering from ISM
Dhanbad(the only institute apart from IITs to take admission through IIT-JEE.

Work Experience:3.5 years(from June 2009) with an Oil & Gas Exploration and
Production MNC(Public Sector Undertaking Company).

Promotions:On the same post(though had increasing responsibilities) for 3.5 years as
promotions are time-based in Indian Government Companies.(4-5 years)

Job Profile:1)Analysing well data from oil fields,running simulation based on those data and predicting forecasts for oil production and field development.
2)Work on oil rigs(atleast for 1 month per year) during the oil testing phase
3)Department Representative(1 from each dept. in the company) for the Corporate Data Managment System(CDMS).
4)Responsible for techno-economics in Reservoir Team.

Note:-In 2012,for 4 months,(Aug - Dec)due to 2 seniors leaving we had only 2 people(Me + 2 trainees who joined in June 2012) in the department.Due to this,I greatly managed most
of the work of the department (acting HOD-Head of Department) and made changes
to working of a few things.

Accomplishments:-1)Initiated the Well Site Visit of Reservoir Engineers to Offshore Rig during Well
Testing(A new process in a start-up department).
2)Presented SPE(Society of Petroleum Engineers) Paper on "Drilling & Testing
Challenges in HPHT Environment" in OGIC(Oil and Gas International Conference),2012.
Represented the Company at OGIC;1st in-house paper at the company.

Extra-Curriculars:-1)Worked as a Presiding Officer in the Gujarat State Assembly Elections(Social Work/Leadership) in Dec. 2012.
2)Found the College Rock Band 'Blitzkreig'(Played Rhythm Guitar) with a batchmate(also a singer in the band)
3)Was a member of the team which co-ordinated the 2010 ISM(College) local Alumni Meet.

Language Skills:-Hindi (Native),English (Fluent),French (Intermediate - Cleared DELF A2 level),Rajasthani(Native).

Career Goals:-
Short Term-Join a consultancy firm in energy/petroleum sector(Can utilize both my technical and management skills)
Long Term-Start own consultancy firm myself or with colleagues in the same domain area.
In relevance to career goals,I am looking to major in
Consulting/Entrepreneurship/International Business(given the international reach of oil and gas industry)

Schools :Harvard,Stanford,Wharton,Columbia,MIT,Columbia and NYU
(Suggestions welcome regarding adding or dropping any school(s) considering the
majors and career goals)

P.S.(I prefer to study in a big city ;personal choice as well as more opportunities.A campus with more facilities/student attracts my eye-Ex:-Stanford)Please correct me if I am wrong in considering the above 2 factors.

Admissionado · Answer

Well you certainly have some good things going for you. Your GMAT is an obvious one (sweet pull, dude!) and your industry is one of the best to be in these days (jobs galore!). I'm not sure exactly what it means or how much influence/prestige it carries, but working as Presiding Officer for State Assembly elections sounds very nice and political (Schools LOVE that). Regarding your school list, I would have to say that it doesn't make all that much sense in regards to your goals (although it may not matter that much ultimately). What I mean is that the schools you have chosen for the most part send very few people to industry jobs and are not necessarily well-connected in your industry. Now, general prestige is always good (Can't see how getting into Stanford can ever hurt! not Harvard either

, but really I do know (and you probably know this better than me) that your industry can also be very network-based. Now, although your personal preference may be for big city, famously, the oil jobs and industries tend not to be on the coasts. And for Oil and Gas, schools like Austin, Rice, Jones are excellent (although perhaps not globally ranked for what you can make... but it does not necessarily mean that they are better). Haas also famously has an energy program (focused on clean energy), and that is probably the highest-ranked school in your industry, and for sure should be on your list (as well as one or two of the Texan schools, even if it is as your backup school) How's that for starters???

If you have any follow-up questions, comments, whatever, don't hesitate...

harshchamp · Answer

Hi Jon,

I have an issue at hand.

I need your advice regarding an important issue.I converted my GPA through (WES)World Education Services (3.54/4.00).My GPA on a 10.0 scale is 6.68 but since the grading system at my institute(comparable to IIT's - top10)is tough I don't know what the Adcoms will make of my 6.68 GPA.Also,not many people from my college apply to B-schools so I have no idea how adcoms will normalize my scores. I even submitted an alternative transcript from mbamath.com scoring 100/100 marks in 24 quizzes.My GMAT score is Q51,V41.

I didn't know that most of the schools were AccessWES clients,which means that they can see my verified transcripts and converted GPA online only without me having to send any transcripts from WES. I mailed to schools regarding this.

Columbia replied to the mail and added my GPA on a 4.0 scale.
Stanford replied to the mail stating that they won't make any addition to the application.(Frankly,this is not an addition,just my GPA on another scale to help the adcoms normalize my scores)
Wharton replied to the mail stating that they will ask the operations team to look at my WES 4.0 GPA but I don't have nay follow-up whether they have taken my 4.0 GPA into account.
My application data in 2 data forms was not updated in HBS Application form.I sent a mail to HBS on 7th itself(R2 deadline) but didn't get any reply.I again sent a mail on 24th regarding the data in application form and 4.0 GPA issue but have not received any reply. Should I go ahead and phone the admissions office about the issue?They are issuing invites tomorrow so I thought they might be busy and will reply to my mail later.(but 22 days and no reply)

MIT Sloan also didn't replied to the mail.Should I wait for some days before reminding on mail again or should I phone the admissions office rightaway?

My question is :-Is it okay if I call up HBS,Wharton and MIT Sloan's office or is there any different strategy for the 3 schools. I thought it was polite to just write a mail and wait for their response but geting no response at all takes me to the nail-bitting mode

I greatly appreciate your help and time in advance.Solving this issue might help calm my nerves.Really stressed for the past week.

Admissionado · Answer

Very good question, and a tough thing to decide upon.

My feeling is that you should leave things alone. Especially with schools like S/H/W, they don't like to be contacted too much unless it's anything seriously major. And you know, they all have their own methods of evaluating what your GPA may or may not be, regardless of how you present it rom WES or any other manner. And my feeling is that you have already submitted your application, and now it's time to let them make their decision. Had it been something really major and new (like a much higher GMAT, a promotion, a serious error), then I might have advised you to insist, but in your case, you aren't the first Indian candidate to apply, and they pretty much already know how to evaluate your grades without being instructed by you.

Should you apply to any more programs, yes, let them know, as you have, through an email or in an essay, but since you have already let them know, I'd just let things lie, and see what happens.

harshchamp · Answer

Thanks. Anyways,no love from HBS today

. So close to being dinged 2 times from HBS

Anyways there was one very major thing - My bonus info. in app form is $3000 but actually it is $300 . I wrote about this in the same mail on 7th but no reply

Can this be an issue to call for?

Admissionado · Answer

You really want to call them, dont you?

Well, my feeling is as above. You already email them, so they know. Just leave it be. It doesnt help to call.

Profile Evaluation - Indian Applicant-3.5 yrs WE Oil & Gas

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