Profile Evaluation for Fall'23 Application

Question

Hi all,

I need assistance with evaluation of my profile for the schools that I am targetting and any suggestions that you all can provide.

A healthcare analytics and consultant professional with 4+ years of experience.

Demographics -

Indian, Male, 25

Acads -
GRE - 324 (Q166, V158)
UG - SRM University - 8.9/10
12th - 89%
10th - 10/10 CGPA

Work Ex -
Novartis - 2019-Present
Worked on commercial excellence, Omni channel engagement, digital excellence and operational enhancement projects with global stakeholders. Promoted from analyst to senior analyst in 2021. Part of Novartis Top Talent Retention Program (top 5% in department)

ZS associates - 2018-2019
Worked on commercial excellence and data visualization initiatives for a US based multinational pharmaceutical company. Served as mentor for newly onboarded tesm members.

Extracurricular - 
 • Participated, won and presided as judge in 20 Model UN conferences
 • Organizer of college fest event
 • Runner up at National Paper Presentation competition
 • Corporate Photography Challenge honorary mention - organised by Sony inc. participated on behalf of Novartis
 • Around 10 star impact awards in past 3 years - highest individual contributor award
 • Volunteer at Save The Children AMR Study for children in Africa as a part of Novartis CSR initiative
 • volunteer teacher at eVidyaloka 
 • volunteer for short term assignment for few US based non-profits to assist them with digital adaptation in post-COVID times

Post-MBA Goals -

I want to continue in the Pharma industry. The goal is to move into either a strategy based role such as Patient Support Strategy or Patient Access Strategy or medical product management role such as patient support application management

Target Schools -

ISB, IIMs, Simon, Kelley, Darden, UNC-KF, Owen, Tepper

Thanks in advance!

Posted from my mobile device

MG4MBACrystalBall · Answer

Kharevabs ,

A few thoughts on your profile evaluation and plans.

Your academic arc is decent given the SRM pedigree and the healthy GPA helps. The GRE score will be a modest in that regard. A higher score can help you aim much higher in terms of school choices too - not thinking of a retake? 
  The professional profile shows promise since ZS and Novartis are both solid brands! It will be good to bring out the work achievements well to showcase differentiation. Pharma is not a big recruiter of international MBA grads though - something to think about as you evolve your post-MBA goals pitch. Definitely works for ISB though.  
  The   ECs sound promising  ; make sure to leverage those well with quantified impact.  
  For reasons mentioned  here , we don't speculate on school selection or chances. That being said, as noted earlier, a higher score can definitely help you better achieve the potential your profile has. Not a deal breaker but a very good to have.

Hope this helps. Do feel free to reach out directly for more.

Cheers,

Kharevabs · Answer

MG4MBACrystalBall

Thank you for sharing your evaluation.

While I understand a higher score will open more doors, I do not plan on retaking GRE/GMAT again. I am planning to apply with the same score.

For the post-MBA goals, I am open to exploring strategy consulting in healthcare space in boutique consulting or mainstream consulting firms too so that i can build upon the learnings from these firms before eventually pivoting to mainstream healthcare companies.

Posted from my mobile device

MG4MBACrystalBall · Answer

Kharevabs , fair enough if you are done with GRE, so be it.

Boutique firms can be harder still. Tread carefully. If ok with life/career in India, ISB/IIMs will provide solid RoI of course.

All the best with your application journey.

ExpertsGlobal · Answer

Hello  Kharevabs ,

Professionally, your profile looks strong with both Novartis and ZS Associates. Good to see the promotion as well. However, your career goals appear to be way too specific and you will, therefore, need to consider them from the viewpoint of feasibility.

We would say that a compelling set of essays will give you a decent chance at some of the schools you are considering. However, if you are aiming for schools such as Darden and Kenan Flagler, we would definitely want to see a higher test score (considering expectations from you as an Indian male applicant are always going to be higher). Further, if you are looking at the one year Executive programs at the IIM's, you will need to check your eligibility keeping in mind your years of experience.

All the best!

Kharevabs · Answer

ExpertsGlobal

Thank you for your evaluation. I've actually taken GRE twice and seen a minute increase of 2 points. So don't think another attempt before August end will be helpful.

YoE for IIM exec programs is 4 and I'll have 5 years of experience so that should work fine.

Posted from my mobile device

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