Profile Evaluation

Question

Hi

I belong to the Indian IT male category. I took my GMAT in may 2016 and scored 690(V40,Q44). This was my 3rd and best attempt at GMAT.

My profile is as follows:
1) Total work experience of 5 years with a product based Japanese company in Bangalore as Senior Software Engineer. Got 3 promotions in 5 years.
2) Got 9 months of international experience as I worked onsite in Japan. I worked in strategy based role in Japan and my work was to negotiate with Japanese clients on release dates of my 
 product and features to be accomodated. I also used to work on risk management . I also had to negotiate with Australian clients for coordination. Also, I got my first official managerial 
 experience during my stay in Japan as I had to manage my offshore team of 13 members and check the progress of work. I also had to coordinate between onsite and offshore members.
3) Studied in top 25 engineering colleges in India and got GPA 7.5
4) Got 86% in 10th standard and 84% in 12th standard

Extra curriculars:
1) Played cricket tournaments for company.
2) I made a lot of contributions in Japan by promoting game of cricket. I used to represent Shizouka prefecture(Tokai area) in cricket and played in Japan Cup(national level cricket tournament in 
 Japan) too. I used to play in a diverse team with players from Australia, Japan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka along with Indians. We also encouraged Japanese people to get involved in 
 cricket. At start, there was only one Japanese who used to play for us. By the end of my term in Japan, we had almost four Japanese people playing for us.
3) I, along with my teammates, also made contributions to Japanese society by setting up our cricket club in Japan. We also raised funds of approximately 1,000,000 yen with the help of 
 Japanese government(local City Halls) to purchase cricket equipment for our team and setup cricket grounds. Also, with the help of Japanese government, we were able to setup two cricket 
 grounds in Japan where our club can practice cricket and the game can be promoted among locals too. We were handed over the possession of one of the grounds last year and the work of 
 the second ground is still in progress.
4) Learnt N5 level Japanese. I am able to read, write and understand basic Japanese.
5) Worked for approx 2 years for different NGO's.
6) Represent my team in office while discussing issues faced by team infront of higher management.

What are my chances in ISB, IIM's in india?
Please suggest some colleges inside/outside India with this profile and GMAT score?

VantagePointMBA · Answer

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! It sounds like you've had a very interesting experience working in Japan. That said, we unfortunately don't advise on Indian MBA programs so I'm afraid I can't be of much help with your questions. In terms of non-Indian MBA programs, I would suggest thinking through your post-MBA professional goals and then researching schools that will align with your industry and/or functional area of interest. MBA programs typically publish their class profile stats every year (available on the schools' websites) so you can check those out and determine how you stack up in terms of GMAT score, years of work experience, etc.

Best of luck to you!

Kindly,
Melody

powarparamveer · Answer

Hi Melody

Thanks a lot for reply.
I am looking to do my MBA in Product Management. 
Can you please suggest B-schools outside india that would be within reach for me with the kind of profile I have?
I went through class profile of various schools but I guess as an Indian IT Male, I need more than average GMAT score for that class.
That is why I was looking for experts to help me narrow out options with the kind of score and profile I have.
I am open to all geography and not concentrating on any particular region.

Regards
Paramveer

VantagePointMBA · Answer

Hi Paramveer,

I understand. However, your competitiveness at different MBA programs depends on more than just a few stats and bullet points - your story, your essays, your goals, etc. are just as, if not more, important. For that reason, I suggest you do your research first on programs that interest you, align with your goals, and that offer the recruiting opportunities you're looking for. As you start moving below the top ~25 schools in the US at least, recruiting tends to be more regional in focus so think about what companies you might want to work for as well.

Here's a good framework to help you further in school selection:  How To Decide Where To Apply

Best of luck!

Kindly,
Melody

Heisenberg12 · Answer

Name: Hitarth Parmar Nationality - Indian. GMAT: 710 (Q48, Q39); IR - 8; AWA - 5.0. 10th: 89.7% 12th: 86.2% Graduation: B.E. Electrical with 7.64/10 CGPA. Work Experience: 59 months at a Public-sector Oil & Gas industry in India. I worked for 53 months in Operations & Maintenance department as an Officer, and was responsible for managing the Routine Maintenance Schedules, Breakdown maintenance with Root Cause Analysis and Report Generation; was responsible for a critical design change which was universalised in the company. Recently, I have been promoted to Sr. Officer (kind of a big-deal in my organisation

) and transferred to Projects department since 6 months and have been looking after Project Scheduling, Planning, review and approval of procedures, materials, managing and co-ordinating with other agencies (Consultant, contractor, inspection agencies). Extra-curriculars: Have won a team event at a national level sports fest in the game of Table Tennis; was associated for 1 year with an NGO. Post-MBA Goals: Long term: Strategic consulting Short term: Project/Portfolio Management Why MBA? I am currently looking after management of time and resources while liaising with concerned agencies. I have seen that I do have an ability to positively influence people. However, currently, my reach/authority is limited. A formal education in management would provide me quantitative and qualitative techniques, and effectively a better reach towards positively influencing people. Leadership is latent in people, but there needs to be something to spark it and I think an education in MBA is the required ignition. Which are the best schools to target for Operations and which are the best schools for General Management? Should I re-take GMAT, considering I have been consistently getting 750-770 in practice tests? Thanks in advance.

VantagePointMBA · Answer

Hi Hitarth,

Thanks for reaching out and sharing the details of your profile! We are no longer providing straight profile evaluations on this forum (as we believe that your competitiveness for MBA programs depends on more that a few stats and bullet points) but I'll be happy to dive into the questions you asked.

Re: your question about the best MBA programs for Operations or General Management, I would actually encourage you to approach school selection differently. An MBA is not designed to be a specialized degree but is instead meant to provide a comprehensive business/management education that covers all practice areas of business since in reality, everything is inter-twined. As a result, the strength of a program's operations or management curriculum is often going to be determined by the overall strength of the MBA program. So I would encourage to look at what MBA programs are going to be a good fit for you overall and then take a closer look at the specific concentrations that interest you. For example, MIT Sloan has what is broadly considered to be the top-ranked operations specialization but that's also due to the school's overall rank and competitiveness.

Re: the GMAT, yes, I would encourage you to re-take it if you've been scoring considerably better on practice tests. You're part of a very competitive demographic in the MBA applicant pool and if you're aiming for the top programs, you'll need to put your best foot forward in every way, including the GMAT. Best of luck!

Kindly,
Melody

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