Profile Evaluation! Please Help!

Question

Indian Male, Age- 26

Work Experience- 5+ Years in total. 
1 year in the financial services industry as a Financial Analyst and 4+ years as a Senior Manager- Business Development & Strategy at a diversified firm with interests in Textiles, Power and Higher education (most recent job). Also Co-Founded an internet venture in 2006 which I later sold off to the other partners making a decent profit on investment.

GMAT- 720

College- Cardiff University, Business School. Degree- BSc in Accounting & Finance Result- Upper 2.1 Degree. Topped year 1 and scored a first class in both year 1 and 2 but because of death in the family had issues with my final year grades and hence the upper 2:1. Graduated in 2008.

Treasurer of the Indian society at the B-school. Developed the Corporate social responsibility charter for my current firm with focus on education and sanitation. Working with the biggest environmental NGO in India on part time basis.

Target Schools- ISB, Darden, Cambridge, IMD, INSEAD, LBS, NUS and Nanyang (Singapore)

Planning to apply for R2 2014

Post MBA goal is to move into Strategy Consulting. Plan to gain some experience in the consulting field through a job/internship before the start of my MBA.

Thanks

Regards

essaysnark · Answer

Hey ramalo - What specific questions do you have? All you did was post data.

For the record - we kinda hate these static "profile evaluations" since we honestly can't say what your chances are or whatever. There's so much that goes into this beyond just the data. We can sit here and say "you're qualified" but that doesn't have any bearing on whether you'll actually GET IN. It's the essays that matter, and the rest of the application, and all the stuff you've done with your life that can never be conveyed in a simple post on a discussion board.

But whatever. This is apparently what's expected of us here, so...

Your profile looks quite strong, even with the slight glitch in the academics - Upper Second is fine and likely equivalent to just below the average 3.5 / 4.0 for many American schools. We don't typically suggest the optional essay when the grades are decent but you have a situation that the adcoms may want to know about, particularly since the grades dipped in your final year.

You're targeting some very good schools and it's a little hard to see the logic in this particular list. You're qualified for any of them. Strategy consulting is incredibly common these days and it can be hard to stand out from the crowd though you have a slightly differentiated career history compared to the stereotypical Indian profile, so that will be an advantage.

But truly, at almost every school, it comes down to the essays.

We should just tattoo that on our foreheads... :-D

EssaySnark

PS: Sorry to go off on you a little bit dude, but c'mon, you cross-posted the same exact thing to a whole bunch of consultants without even including a greeting of any sort or acknowledgement that you were like asking for help, and you didn't include any questions at all, and you must KNOW that you're qualified for these schools, so... but please don't take it personally, we're this way with everybody. Anyone else reading this? We respond much better to personalized questions that show that you know who in heck we are ("DYKWIA?" lol) and give us a shot at actually providing some value along the way.

EssaySnark PS: Sorry to go off on you a little bit dude, but c'mon, you cross-posted the same exact thing to a whole bunch of consultants without even including a greeting of any sort or acknowledgement that you were like asking for help, and you didn't include any questions at all, and you must KNOW that you're qualified for these schools, so... but please don't take it personally, we're this way with everybody. Anyone else reading this? We respond much better to personalized questions that show that you know who in heck we are ("DYKWIA?" lol) and give us a shot at actually providing some value along the way.

ramalo · Answer

Hey EssayShark

Honestly I really appreciate the critique. I'm the first to admit whenever I'm wrong and in this case I am. So I apologize.

The reason I've posted the same thing on different consultant profiles is because I am just a little flustered at the moment. Deadlines are fast approaching and I dont have an exact game plan. I dont have too many people around me who are applying for an MBA. I was hoping that a couple of consultants would reply so just to increase my odds I posted everywhere. Anyway, I'm a little desperate for information. Most profiles I've read are pretty similar- Good academics, working for a well known firm, etc etc. I don't exactly have the similar profile. My academics are not fantastic and I work for a firm with revenues in the tune of $100m (so not as big as most firms whose name I've seen being thrown around)

I come from a non-traditional background but I think working in a smaller firm has enabled me to take up greater responsibilities at a much earlier stage in life. Seeing how expensive applications are I am trying to narrow down my list so that I only apply to schools that I have a "reasonable" chance of getting in and thats exactly where I'm hoping you guys could help out.

My dream school would be any of INSEAD, LBS, Kellogg 1y and Booth. I know there's a lot more to an application than what little infor I've provided but based on this how do I stack up at these schools?

Other schools such as ISB, Cambridge, NUS and NTU I think I have a decent idea as far as my candidature would go.

Finally, sorry for my earlier post and thanks for the help.

Hoping for a reply

Thanks and Regards

essaysnark · Answer

Hey ramalo - understood re: feeling desperate - there's something about the march of the calendar towards those deadlines that will do that to a person, eh?

A couple comments:

1. Your background is not "nontraditional" - it looks like it's differentiated in certain respects which is good but you're coming from the standard feeder industries. A "nontraditional" candidate is usually like military, elementary school teacher, former priest (yes we have seen one!). Your prior startup experience adds some value for you (congrats on the successful exit).

2.  Here's how to look at your grades  and  here's another one about "low GPA"  - we don't think your GPA is "low" and also, those posts were written from the perspective of the American 4.0 system. You should NOT convert your grades when applying. Still, your Upper Second should be equivalent to > 3.0. How much > we don't know; academics are evaluated in the full context of what school/what subject so there's lots of moving parts there that factor in to how the adcom will view them.

3.  Working at a smaller firm is completely irrelevant and meaningless , no impact on your apps.

4. You look to be well qualified for Kellogg 1Y so that is a match just based on essential profile data. However, making a career jump is not so easy without the summer internship; not impossible but not easy. Not sure how you intend to do a pre-MBA internship, aren't you currently working? If not then  the whole thing gets a little more complicated .

Unfortunately our original snarky comment still stands: You're qualified for any of these schools but that doesn't mean you'll get in. There's stuff in the profile that shows you should have some decent stories to pull into the essays - and you reacted with maturity when we pushed back at you, so there's evidence of some EQ, which totally helps - but there's a gazillion guys like you applying every year, and we keep doing  Post-Mortem Reviews  of those who were also qualified and couldn't convert it. All the schools you've named want to see compelling stories of how you're ready for a specific future career path. You seem like you have all the raw material, but writing those "compelling stories"... that's where the rubber meets the road.

Pardon the obvious upsell but our  Indian's Guide to Getting In  may be useful.

Hope there was something useful in all of that for you...! And also hope we didn't discourage you - you definitely have stuff to pull on - this is just about being realistic, that it's going to take significant effort in putting together a strong pitch, and you're right, there's reason to feel stressed out given how much (little) time there is before Round 1 (Round 1 *always* recommended for Indian candidates).

EssaySnark

ramalo · Answer

Thanks for all the advice essayshark really appreciate it.

Profile Evaluation! Please Help!

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