Profile Analysis and School Shortlisting

Question

Hi all,

I hope to get some advice on which B-schools to apply, based on my profile here. Thanks a lot in advance.

Age - 26 (Sep 1991 Born)
Graduation - IIT Madras - B. Tech in Biotech (2009-2013)

Work Ex - 2013-2019 (By the time I join a B-school) - 05 years

• Assistant Central Intelligence Officer, Intelligence Bureau (IB), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
o District Post In-charge, Border Intelligence Post, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
o Have been issued the Annual Commendation Certificate - 2017, a Letter of Appreciation signed by the Joint Director (Bihar), and have received 04 cash rewards from the Indian Government for my work in these 02 years.
o Classified clandestine activities of secretive nature. (May 2016 – Continued)

• Co-Founder, IAS-Baba Educational Services for Civil Services Examinations (Start Up) (Jan 2015 – Mar 2016)
o Broke even within 3 months of launch; Achieved a turn-over of 1.5 million INR within 12 months of operation.
o Content Generation, Management of Offline Classes and Marketing Head.

• Studied for and attempted the Government of India’s Civil Services Examination, conducted by the Indian Union Public Service Commission.
(Dec 2013 – Dec 2014)
• Product Specialist, Delivery Group, SABRE Holdings Pvt Ltd., ITPL, Bangalore (July 2013 – Oct 2013)
o Worked for three-months on improving the US-Based SABRE Airlines Ticketing System.

• Marketing Head (Chennai Region), College Mart (Student Start Up) (Jan 2012- May 2012)
o An online free platform to buy and sell within one’s college. (www.collegemart.in)
o Undertook new marketing measures by which top colleges from Chennai have started using the website.

POSITIONS OF RESPONSIB ILITY
• Core, Events, BioFest 2012 – IIT Madras Biotechnology Department’s FIRST festival. (2012)
o Organized and structured the first edition of Biofest which attracted over 500 participants.
o Headed a team of 35 students to organize 12 Events for the first time.
o Conceptualized 5 new Biotech-based events which were not implemented before in any college fest.
o Impressed with the quality of the events, sponsors offered to support for an additional two years.

• Core Committee Member, Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition 2011, IIT Madras. (2011)
o Headed a team of five coordinators to conduct this international event at IIT Madras.
o Increased the sponsorship amount from 50,000 INR in the previous edition to 350,000 INR.
o Doubled the participation by implementing new publicity strategies, as a result had foreign participation for the first time from Dhaka University, Bangladesh.

• Coordinator, National Services Scheme – Environmentally Conscious Group, IIT Madras. (2011)
o Headed a team of 20 students and organized humanitarian activities throughout the year.
o Includes a beach clean-up & teaching in flood-affected schools for 5 days in rural parts of Andhra Pradesh.
• Counselor, Narmada Hostel Freshers, Guidance and Counseling Unit (GCU), IIT Madras. (2011, 12)
o Mentored 6 freshmen by conducting personal guidance sessions to ensure a smooth transition to college life.

HOBBIES, SKILLS AND INTERESTS
• Quora Top Writer – 2017. Followed by over 50,000 users and have over 08 million views on my content in the popular Q & A website, Quora.
• Motorcycle Riding – Rode over 1000km across the mountainous Himalayan roads, in my Royal Enfield Classic 350.
• Cycling – Chennai to Mahabalipuram – 100km in one day cycling. Chennai to Kovalam beach - 60km in one day.
• Secured All India Rank 225 in National Cyber Olympiad held by the Indian National Science Foundation.

GMAT Score - 690 Q48, V35

But, Ill be taking the test again - https://gmatclub.com/forum/horrifying-g ... 61187.html

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

Little bit more info would be helpful here. What are your career goals? Location preferences? Any GPA info?

munchkin123 · Answer

Oh yes, forgot to include those.

Graduation CGPA - 7.55/10 
12th - CBSE - 92.4% (2009)
10th - CBSE - 92.6% (2007)

While I studied for the Indian Civil Services Examination, I had to study history, geography, politics, international relations, science, economics and everything else under the sun. I had become a jack of all trades, trying to understand a bit of everything. And then when I started the company that teaches syllabus for Civil Services Examination, I became better at analyzing any issue of any topic on any subject.

Then, when I joined the Government of India, I quickly rose to become a head of the entire post in a district. I had to handle the issues of the district with my staff. So, leadership skills were also imbibed, alongwith application of real-time solutions to real-time cases, of a variety of topics.

But, as of now, I am stuck in middle management of the Government and raising through the ranks in a Government sector takes years, if not decades. I have potential to manage issues at a much larger scale, and I have received recognition and awards within a very short span of time. But, promotions are seniority based and the pay is uniform. So, I shall get promoted only after 5-6 years minimum and for almost negligible pay rise. So, I thought an MBA at this stage would be logical, where I have stagnated a bit career-wise, but where I still have potential to take more responsibility for a faster rise on the career ladder.

Because I have had a history of understanding a lot of topics on a lot of subjects, and since I have applied solutions on a variety of cases as a District Head, I thought a career in Consulting would do me good. Where the entire job is to find the most optimal solutions for a variety of case studies. And the best way for a career switch from a Government job as a District Incharge (Which doesn't give much responsibility, cannot get faster promotions based on merit, nor can offer a raise in performance based pay), would be pursuing an MBA.

That way, I can switch careers to Consulting or General Management.

I am not interested in Finance, nor in Sales nor Marketing or such. I want to sit and solve real life issues, cases and provide out of the box solutions. So, yeah, Consulting or General Management.

I am focusing on schools in and around Boston / New York area. (My fiance is studying in Boston University)

So, can you provide me a list of schools near Boston to apply to, which are good at post-MBA career in Consulting and GM. And that has a good network, and that where an Indian can get a job easily post-MBA. (That is without much of H1B hassles)

So, where do you think I would fit? Thanks! I am new to all this. I just know what I want to do. But, dont know how to proceed or where to apply.

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

For most consulting roles and even some GM roles you will need to break 700 on the GMAT and if you are unable to this especially as an Indian applicant, MBA programs will not have confidence in your placement opportunities which will affect your admissions chances. So you will need to bump up your GMAT to improve your chances in your desired career path. Schools like BC may provide an opportunity to you currently but will probably limit your consulting chances but GM will still be in place. If you want to take a chance at some of the more prominent programs in New England like Yale or Dartmouth you will need to be +730 up. Depends on how high you are shooting, but with your profile the more regional programs will be in play

munchkin123 · Answer

Thanks a lot for the insights.

I shall retake the GMAT and further see how it goes. The deadline for the Round 01 applications are 05 months away anyways. Till then will work on getting a better score and polishing my essays. You deserve a kudos for helping me with such a detailed analysis. Thanks!

NisthaT · Answer

First of all, it is a wonderful diverse profile, congrats

Your projects sound interesting and can be used to show a lot of leadership exposure which will help you. Yes, you would want to cross 720 in GMAT so that score doesnt become an issue for you. If you are targeting big 4 consulting firms, then you need to get into top 10-15 B schools which are super super competitive but not impossible. I understand you want to be near Boston and MIT, Harvard, Babson etc are obvious choices but I would encourage you to not limit yourself too much. Its 2 years, you can manage. So, if there is a good fit school for you away from Boston, dont shy from that. Good luck!

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

Thank you for such a detailed post. I should connect you with someone else from last year who was in a similar role in India. I have to say your professional background is more unique which will help you a lot. The leadership roles you have will be important at HBS and Sloan and something we can certainly highlight throughout the process. I am sorry about the GMAT experience! The test can certainly be frustrating, especially when applicants retake it many times to maximize their scores. As mentioned above, we do want to pass 700 ideally but I would focus mostly on quant. You would have some slack based on your role but the average IIT applicant has a 50 or 51 in quant. Please reach out for further guidance. Check out a recent blog on MBA rankings. https://www.personalmbacoach.com/blog Best, Scott

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