Profile evaluation request - chances at the top 10 bschools

Question

Hello,

I'm a prospective applicant for a 2-year MBA starting Fall 2011. I was hoping to get your inputs on what my chances are at the top 10 bschools and which schools can i target with my profile. (ambitious/within reach/safe)

I'm looking at a career in Strategy Consulting in the Technology domain post my MBA, and in time move into Private Equity/Venture Capital in the Cleantech and Emerging technologies domain.

24/M Indian, currently have 2 years work-ex (3 years at matriculation) as a Jr analyst in the IB arm of a top tier Investment Bank (bulge bracket), and have basically handled projects dealing with financial advisory on M&A and capital raising opportunities for clients in the financial institutions sector. I was one of the 5 engineers from a batch of 400 to have been selected in the IB division... and part of the 1st batch of engineering recruits in the firm - post which the dept has actively gone ahead and recruited more engineers from my college (volunteered in the recruitment drive as well). In my two years so far, I have had diverse experience having worked with colleagues in New York (remotely + a stint in NY) handling M&A and equity raising projects for the US banking sector and with colleagues in HK/Singapore (remotely) working on projects pertaining to the Asian debt capital markets. Further have actively taken part in various department-wide initiatives (Speaker sessions, Sports, Quiz, etc), and also unofficially led a team of 4 members when pitching a multi-million dollar revenue generating idea to senior management at the Investment bank as a part of another dept initiative, youngest employee in the dept to do so

Education:

Bachelor in Engineering (Electronics), graduated from a Top tier University in India in 2008 with highest honours (First Class with Distinction, 70.2%) (equivalent GPA of about 3.5) 
GMAT - 760 (Q51, V41, AWA 5.5) 
Additional courses - CFA Level 1 cleared with highest grades in all subjects

In terms of my co-curricular and extra-curricular activities,

- I have a 4-year association with National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), a nonprofit organization that helps budding entrepreneurs launch their businesses and mentors the youth on entrepreneurship. Currently, I'm a part of the Leadership council of NEN E-club Mumbai Chapter.

- Additionally, I'm associated with a local NGO supporting underprivileged children and have taken initiative in mentoring the children 
- Am also a part of the local chapter of Lions Club International. (Although both these activities have been recent in 2010)

- Was very active in college co-curricular activities and held several leaderhip positions in different student bodies (not sure how relevant that will be though)

I would greatly appreciate your inputs on this and your assessment would go a long way in helping me decide which schools to target with my profile.

Thanks and Regards, 
Ankur

PaulLanzillotti · Answer

the good news is that you have all of your components aligned for a compelling candidacy at a top 10 business school.when I say top 10 business school I mean the top 10 programs in the United States. With only two years of work experience you are really not going to want to apply to the top European programs. The schools are looking for approximately 5 years of work experience.

When I would encourage you to do is to apply to Stanford, MIT, Chicago, Wharton, Columbia, Haas and use Anderson, Stern and possibly Duke as backups.

I would pay particular attention to Stanford, Wharton and MIT. These are the schools that are going to have a strong emphasis in entrepreneurial finance and it will particularly value your international experience.

In your case I would not really worry about the stereotypes associated with some Indian applicant's. While you do have a technical background, you have done and evolved beyond that into a finance oriented and leadership role.

I hope this helps, please let me know if you have any other questions.

Respectfully,

Paul Lanzillotti

chaoticsilence · Answer

Thanks a lot Paul, for your insights.

I am keen on Stanford, MIT and even Berkeley for their strong focus on technology and entrepreneurship, and they seemed to be pretty well balanced or even tilted towards strategy consulting... my only concern is, how do i put forth my story of having obtained a bachelors in electronics engineering, having worked in investment banking (in the banks sector) and now wanting to move into consulting with a tech focus... i guess my plan is to talk about how as an analyst in an investment bank I have gained skillsets that are very much transferable into the consulting domain, and plus my experience in IB will bode well if im looking to enter the PE/VC domain in the longer run...

Does this theme make sense to you? I'm still trying to work on it... would love to hear your suggestions on how i can better structure my theme.

Thanks,
Ankur

PaulLanzillotti · Answer

Ankur: This is the million dollar question; now isn't it? :shock:

What you laid out, with respect to transferable skills, tells me that you are on the right path. Let me see if I can help you out a little more. Explaining the jump from electronics engineering to investment banking is not really going to be a big issue. Why? Because you have already successfully made that jump. So there is really no debate at this point on whether or not that's reasonable or if you could accomplish that. What you need to focus on is explaining how your decisioning framework will still be valid in the future, when you seek out a new direction in your career -- consulting. I would start looking at something like this -- moving into the consulting role so that you can use your analytical skills to help client firms indentify a technology strategy that they can use as a strategic differentiator. I know that is a mouth full, but you and I have been around technology projects long enough to know that they are more "oh ****" than "stitch in time saves nine". That is, they are usually an after-the-fact Band-Aid then something that is proactive in nature. Usually client companies have to be spanked on the buttocks by a regulatory agency or impending legislation before they will use technology to do anything strategic in nature. I used to see this all the time as a management consultant on IT projects. Getting back to my main point, think you should start forming your message around the fact that you understand from an engineering perspective, you understand the financial implications of employing and now through your MBA training, as well as your future work experience, you will be an asset to any strategy firm. Hope this helps. If you would like to speak on the phone about the above, I more than welcome this opportunity. I'll be honest, you have some pretty good work experience. This is meaningful differentiation; the type of differentiation that will get you into a top program. Please let me know if you would like to talk on the phone for an hour or so. We can hash out more the strategic issues on that call. I have availability over the next week I look forward to the possibility. Respectfully, Paul Lanzillotti

chaoticsilence · Answer

Thanks a ton Paul.

This really does give me confidence. Would definitely like to have an opportunity to speak to you in greater depth regarding this. Do let me know what day and time suit you best (earlier the better for me

), and we can schedule a call accordingly. Look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards,
Ankur

), and we can schedule a call accordingly. Look forward to hearing from you. Best Regards, Ankur

Profile evaluation request - chances at the top 10 bschools

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