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May 0301:00 PM IST
-02:00 PM IST
Looking to secure a coveted spot at a top business school? Our team of seasoned MBA admissions consultants, including top B schools alumni and industry leaders, is here to help turn your dreams into reality. Let’s kick-start your journey to success!
May 0507:00 PM EDT
-08:00 PM EDT
In this live 60-minute masterclass, How to Get Ahead of MBA Recruiting Now, we’ll walk through the four biggest mistakes incoming MBAs make and how to avoid them so you’re not scrambling to catch up once recruiting begins.
May 0710:00 AM EDT
-10:30 AM EDT
Sia Admissions Founder Susan Berishaj is covering this live on YouTube, May 7: how admissions committees actually evaluate goals statements, who is in the room, and why the goals statement most applicants submit wouldn't survive that conversation.
14 Apr 2015, 16:08
Kudos
Bookmarks
Background: White male, Canadian.
Work experience:
~4+ years total at a financial software company which sells to both T1-T2 banks (e.g. have worked with Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Jefferies & Co.) Without getting into detailed accomplishments, I have delivered several large tech projects successfully for front-office technology. Currently work in a major financial centre and have done projects in most of the major financial centres of the world. One thing that may not come across in my description is that although I am on tech side, I’ve learned a ton of finance to the point where I know the finance side of trading pretty much as well as most middle-office people with 3-8 years of experience.
1 Year - Software development and support analyst: basically build and fix trading software (quite technical, solving lots of difficult tech issues, some customer interaction)
3 Years - Implementation consultant: install/upgrade software at client sites, communicate requirements, train users, recommend how to set up solutions (somewhat technical, plenty of finance knowledge required, lots of customer interaction providing training, doing interviews, etc.)
Recent promotion - Technical lead & Project Manager (leading 3 people at client site, oversee technical aspects, build the project plan and direct work, keep all stakeholders updated on progress, and basically in charge of keeping on top of things internally and externally to ensure the project goes smoothly)
GMAT
740 (Q49, V41, IR8, AWA6)
College info
Top Canadian university undergrad double major electrical engineering & mathematics, GPA 3.4 overall, 3.7 last two years
Top UK university, Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics, grade 69 (70+ is distinction; there were external extenuating circumstances for the exam that brought my average down)
Extra-curricular activities
Lots of involvement in alumni groups, with leadership positions (handling communications, helping plan some events)
Involvement in educational improvement initiatives for underprivileged students. Recently took on a leadership position to improve and build a new program in my community, but have been involved in these types of things since high school (mostly doing tutoring).
Target programs.
Tuck, Darden, Tepper, Ross, maybe Duke, or maybe Ivey (which means going back to Canada)
Plan to apply
R1 2015-16 (note: will be 30 at matriculation in 2016)
Post-MBA goal.
Prefer to end up in Northeastern US. Goal is to end up in MC, and I’m particularly interested in these areas of technology: strategic planning, operational reengineering, outsourcing planning. The leaders in this area appear to be McKinsey and Deloitte (my problem with Accenture is that they do too much delivery, not enough analysis/recommendation)
Question (if this is the right place to ask): for the services that Vertias offers, how many of the consultants have worked on admissions comittees?
Work experience:
~4+ years total at a financial software company which sells to both T1-T2 banks (e.g. have worked with Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Jefferies & Co.) Without getting into detailed accomplishments, I have delivered several large tech projects successfully for front-office technology. Currently work in a major financial centre and have done projects in most of the major financial centres of the world. One thing that may not come across in my description is that although I am on tech side, I’ve learned a ton of finance to the point where I know the finance side of trading pretty much as well as most middle-office people with 3-8 years of experience.
1 Year - Software development and support analyst: basically build and fix trading software (quite technical, solving lots of difficult tech issues, some customer interaction)
3 Years - Implementation consultant: install/upgrade software at client sites, communicate requirements, train users, recommend how to set up solutions (somewhat technical, plenty of finance knowledge required, lots of customer interaction providing training, doing interviews, etc.)
Recent promotion - Technical lead & Project Manager (leading 3 people at client site, oversee technical aspects, build the project plan and direct work, keep all stakeholders updated on progress, and basically in charge of keeping on top of things internally and externally to ensure the project goes smoothly)
GMAT
740 (Q49, V41, IR8, AWA6)
College info
Top Canadian university undergrad double major electrical engineering & mathematics, GPA 3.4 overall, 3.7 last two years
Top UK university, Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics, grade 69 (70+ is distinction; there were external extenuating circumstances for the exam that brought my average down)
Extra-curricular activities
Lots of involvement in alumni groups, with leadership positions (handling communications, helping plan some events)
Involvement in educational improvement initiatives for underprivileged students. Recently took on a leadership position to improve and build a new program in my community, but have been involved in these types of things since high school (mostly doing tutoring).
Target programs.
Tuck, Darden, Tepper, Ross, maybe Duke, or maybe Ivey (which means going back to Canada)
Plan to apply
R1 2015-16 (note: will be 30 at matriculation in 2016)
Post-MBA goal.
Prefer to end up in Northeastern US. Goal is to end up in MC, and I’m particularly interested in these areas of technology: strategic planning, operational reengineering, outsourcing planning. The leaders in this area appear to be McKinsey and Deloitte (my problem with Accenture is that they do too much delivery, not enough analysis/recommendation)
Question (if this is the right place to ask): for the services that Vertias offers, how many of the consultants have worked on admissions comittees?
15 Apr 2015, 19:31
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi and thanks for all the detail in your profile as well as your questions. I'll address the last one first. All head consultants at Veritas have worked on an admissions committee somewhere--it's a requirement of the job. We also have school specialists who may not necessarily have worked on an adcom. Generally, how the process works is you are paired with a head consultant and then end up also getting some school-specific advice from specialists as well. Hope this answers your question.
As for your profile, I view it as quite strong. Sounds like you bring a lot to the table from your experience and will be perceived as unique by knowing about technology as well as finance. B-schools love engineers and you have a good academic pedigree including having been through two countries' educational systems. Your GMAT would put you in contention at any school, but your age likely limits your approach at probably HBS and Stanford, two top schools who tend to favor younger candidates. I see neither are on your list, so that shouldn't matter. Most schools will not hold your age against you, unless it comes with a commensurate lack of progression in the workplace--doesn't seem to be the case with you. You also offer some cultural and international diversity by coming from Canada. With all the good schools in Canada (clearly Ivey is one on your list), there are fewer Canadians applying in the US, so you have less competition. Ross, Tepper and Tuck get more Canadian applicants than the other schools on your list simply by fault of geography. You will likely get attention from Duke and Darden, for example simply based on your being Canadian and having a killer GPA and GMAT. Duke in particular does not hold age against you, and in fact, tends to like more experienced applicants. The fact you have your post MBA vision fairly well nailed down will be a plus since they will expect that of an older candidate. l don't really see any reason why you would not find success in one or more of your target schools. Make sure you visit in the fall and sit in on classes. SChools like Tuck, Darden and Duke will give you brownie points for that because they are not easy schools to get to, so showing up indicates you are serious. Let us know if we can be helpful when you begin the process.
As for your profile, I view it as quite strong. Sounds like you bring a lot to the table from your experience and will be perceived as unique by knowing about technology as well as finance. B-schools love engineers and you have a good academic pedigree including having been through two countries' educational systems. Your GMAT would put you in contention at any school, but your age likely limits your approach at probably HBS and Stanford, two top schools who tend to favor younger candidates. I see neither are on your list, so that shouldn't matter. Most schools will not hold your age against you, unless it comes with a commensurate lack of progression in the workplace--doesn't seem to be the case with you. You also offer some cultural and international diversity by coming from Canada. With all the good schools in Canada (clearly Ivey is one on your list), there are fewer Canadians applying in the US, so you have less competition. Ross, Tepper and Tuck get more Canadian applicants than the other schools on your list simply by fault of geography. You will likely get attention from Duke and Darden, for example simply based on your being Canadian and having a killer GPA and GMAT. Duke in particular does not hold age against you, and in fact, tends to like more experienced applicants. The fact you have your post MBA vision fairly well nailed down will be a plus since they will expect that of an older candidate. l don't really see any reason why you would not find success in one or more of your target schools. Make sure you visit in the fall and sit in on classes. SChools like Tuck, Darden and Duke will give you brownie points for that because they are not easy schools to get to, so showing up indicates you are serious. Let us know if we can be helpful when you begin the process.
