Profile Evaluation Requested

Question

Hi, I took my GMAT FE on May 27, 2024 and scored a 645 (89th percentile).

I need to understand how I gauge against my peers with respect to securing an admit from a top B school. I am targetting to get into ISB, NUS, or a top tier European B-school.

Background :

I’m a law graduate from National Law University, Delhi, a premier law school in India. I have a consistent academic record - scored 96.8% in 10th, 93% in 12th, and 6.52 out of 7.0 in graduation (amongst top 15% of my class). I had also secured an all India rank of 2 in the All India Law Entrance Test in 2017.

Work experience :

I have 22 months of work experience at a tier one law firm in India. I have primarily worked here as a financing lawyer and capital markets lawyer. My job involves dealing with some of the biggest companies globally, engaging in multi jurisdiction negotiations and discussions, and frequently engaging with the biggest PE/VC investors and financial institutions globally.

Prior to joining my present role at the law firm immediately after my graduation, I worked for 8 months as a full time consultant (legal and risk) at a legal-tech start-up in India, where I also led the legal team and product structuring team.

I also started my own fin-tech venture last year along with my co-founders, which had commenced operations. However, we had to take an exit from the venture due to change in regulatory regime in India.

Nationality and gender : Indian male

Extra curriculars :

1. I was the convenor of the mess committee at my law school. The mess was a student cooperative structure, which implies an entirely student run operation of the mess. The mess committee oversaw the staffing, procurement of raw materials, fee structure for the mess and collections, supplier negotiations, and financials of the mess. I had an opportunity to lead my team in all these functions.

2. I was engaged as a teaching volunteer at Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access (IDIA), which provides access to legal education to underprivileged students. I had the opportunity to teach a student with total visual impairment, and fortunately, the said student secured admission the following year at the same law school as us.

3. I have recently taken up to running. I have run half marathons. I have also played competitive cricket for some time.

Post MBA goals :

I’m passionate about start-ups and would like to join a venture capital firm post my MBA, to learn more closely about how VC funding works globally and stay abreast and gather nuanced insights from major start up companies globally.

MBA college preference :

While I would prefer to work in India post my MBA, I’m not married to that idea. I’m open to exploring other relevant opportunities.

My college preference for MBA is primarily dependent upon the course being relatively shorter and full-time.

While I’m hoping to get into ISB, NUS or a tier one European B-school, I need some help with my short listing colleges which fall in place with my career objectives at the moment, as I’m having difficulty in streamlining the application process.

I also understand that my GMAT score is average, so that becomes a consideration while short listing relevant colleges. So, I’m also a little apprehensive about my chances at top B schools.

MBAGuide · Answer

niteshmishra0910 I am quite impressed with your profile. There is potential. The diversity in terms of roles as a corporate lawyer, legal consultant in a tech startup, and founder of your own venture stand out the most to me. However, you should understand that diversity in roles is one aspect, but the top MBA programs will also look closely at the scale of responsibilities you have managed. For example, your most recent stint as an entrepreneur will hold value for your applications if you can convincingly demonstrate some key takeoff points for your idea in the initial days, even if you were restricted from fully scaling it due to eventual regulatory changes. Dwelling on the learnings from each role is extremely important. What will be even more important is telling the admissions committee why your kind of skills are so crucial for the organizations you will target post-MBA. A thorough research on goals makes all the difference. Law to VC is a 180-degree switch. What would you want to do in a VC company. Do you have the right skills? Only engaging with PE/VC stakeholders in a corporate job is weak reasoning for showcasing to adcoms how "easy" it is for you to make that switch. Your goals pitch must have support in the actions of the past. There is much room to improve your goals narrative or even reconsider the goal entirely. I am somewhat disappointed in your GMAT score. I have my own doubts around how the top schools actually perceive a 645 vs. the conversion data published by GMAC. I would recommend retaking it as that can help you get into better schools and secure higher scholarships Here are my recommendations for schools, but please note the list will change depending on your goals. INDIA- ISB (higher GMAT recommended), IIM A PGPX , IIM B SGP- NUS EU- HEC Paris, IESE (Higher GMAT recommended) UK- Oxbridge Feel free to speak should you want professional advice Best wishes Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD MBA alum, former INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer) Founder, MBAGuideConsulting LinkedIn |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/ | Message(WA): +91 9971200927| email- mbaguideconsulting@gmail.com

GeneralEducation · Answer

Hello niteshmishra0910,

Though your work experience is on the lower side, it looks like you have a diverse work culture in your 22 months of a full-time career in the law firm. Schools look at your start-up experience and see it positively since you have put in all efforts to build the company apart from working full time. It will be an added advantage to show the B-schools how committed you are towards your goals, and that you will do anything that it takes to achieve your dream.
Education – You have got a good CGPA. It would be helpful to mention your standing in your batch.
Make sure that you bring out your hobbies, voluntary work, and achievements outside work in the essays.
Regarding GMAT FE 645 is not a bad score, also applying for a top B-school would be competitive but not impossible.

Considering your profile and the given information below are the schools you can still target with full confidence.
1. IE Spain
2. IMD
3. Rotterdam
4. ISB

You can also talk to Alumni/Admission experts to Analyse your chance chances for the above-listed B-schools.

admitStreet · Answer

@niteshmishra0910 - interesting profile. Some thoughts: 1. Your academic arc is good, but the GMAT score could use some improvement. Latest (Classic) averages of top B-schools are here FYI. Being part of the competitive Indian Male cohort, it would be ideal to target 20+ points above the average of your target schools. 2. Your work ex is interesting, given the law, legal/ risk consulting and entrepreneurship angles, and the potential transferable skills for roles like consulting (if it interests you). Would like to understand your roles/ achievements better to assess the strength of the professional arc. 3. The post-MBA goal of VC needs stress-testing. VC's are typically hard to break into for internationals immediately post-MBA, especially without prior exposure to business consulting/ IB and the geography. The prioritization of schools would then depend on several factors including your profile (GMAT, work-ex), career goals, etc. This article could help streamline some thoughts. 4. Extracurricular's sound alright, but recency and consistency are key here. It's better to have 2-3 recent and consistent activities (which can ideally be used in/ post MBA) than outdated ones. Hope this helps some. Feel free to reach out through the links below if you'd like to have a deeper chat. Regards, Arvind Founder, admitStreet | HEC Paris MBA Alum & Former Admissions Interviewer W: https://admitstreet.com | E: consultingteam@admitstreet.com | LinkedIn | Schedule a free chat

MBADecoder · Answer

Hi Nitesh,

A few points:

Your academics look alright and FYI, your school marks will not be considered in b-schools outside India (and possibly NUS). Although adcoms do understand the grading at international colleges, along with the grades, it will help to give the context of your undergrad marks (top 15%) in your application/resume - as lawyers are not a frequent pool in MBA admissions.

The work experience sounds impressive. Other than the technical parts of the work experience, which would lead to $$ achievements (and must be included in your resume), you should highlight your leadership aspects - good communication skills, negotiation skills, client management, adaptability to global teams, and one often missed trait in lawyer MBA applications- empathy and understanding in creating win-win situations for stakeholders. This goes about your current work experience. Moving to the stint at the legal tech startup- the space itself is interesting, but more importantly, you got some neat leadership experience right at the start of your career. This can be used to glean useful insights about your trials, tribulations, failures and successes that helped in your personal and professional growth. The fin tech venture sounds like a good start but it will be difficult to comment without knowing how far into the venture did you go before having to shut it down.

Both the ECAs you have mentioned sound relevant for a b-school application. It will be great if you can top up on these as they are somewhat outdated now. As a lawyer, you can get involved in several initiatives where you use your core skills to help people in need for them - think of areas that interest you and pick up an activity or two. Altruism helps!

A caution about your career goals- VC jobs are very rare to find from business schools, and you may have to rely on your own network to find something. You should rethink your career goals, not just because of the difficulty in finding these jobs, because also because your reason for VC is not that compelling. A post MBA goal is a vehicle to make a large impact on business/ society through your work, so you will need to think deeper about the passion goals that guides your goals to make that big impact.

Location of b-school- If you plan to work in India post MBA, perhaps getting an MBA from India (or other Asian b-schools) will make most sense. That way, you won't pile up a crazy amount of debt/ financial burden, while still build a professional network that will help you, and you would need a regional one if you were to eventually get into the VC space sometime down the line. If you are open to loving abroad for a few years after MBA, then Europe/ UK/ US will also make sense.

Now, let me address the elephant - it will help to retake the GMAT. As lawyers dont have much of a quantitatively strong, academic or professional background, a GMAT score with higher Q section can help build that.

Reach out if you'd like to discuss further.

Namita Garg,
Founder, MBA Decoder
Email: [email protected]
Reach out to us for a Profile Evaluation
Helping applicants achieve their MBA dreams since 2011

TheRedPen · Answer

Hi @niteshmishra0910,

You have an overall interesting profile.

When I break it into 2 segments: your GMAT FE scores and work experience - The business schools are looking at an average of 3-5 years of work experience at the time of application. About your GMAT FE scores, there is a scope for improvement.

We would recommend connecting with you in person and discussing your profile and goals in detail so we can chalk out a plan of action for you. Our MBA consultants come with varied experiences in helping applicants not only submit successful applications but also secure great scholarships.

You can book your free slot to speak with the consultants  here .
You can also contact the team via call at +91 7780769732

AugustAcademy · Answer

Hi Nitesh,

You have a good profile - across work and extracurriculars. The entrepreneurial experience will be valuable too.

As you recognize, the GMAT score is average.

When you put all this together - ISB is on-par. NUS - worth an application, but may be a bit on the stretch side. You may or may not be competitive for a EU top 5 or a US top 20 (depends on work accomplishments.  If they are exceptional then a couple EU top 5's may be ok, and a US 15+ may be ok.).  you should have par applications outside of this.

Feel free to reach out i fyou want to chat more:  https://bit.ly/GM_AugAcd_Profile_Evaluation

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