Profile Review| 31F Indian | CS and LLB

Question

Hi everyone,

My profile - 31F, 10th - 78%, 12th - 79%, BBA undergrad 60% from Calcutta University

I have done CS (ICSI - 57%) and LLb (Calcutta University - 70%)

Have 6+ years of M&A tax and legal experience and have worked in 15+ M&A assignments at Big6s organisations in India.

I am looking to transition from M&A tax to M&A consulting and eventually into Corporate Development or corporate strategy roles and hence looking at MBA.

I understand my acads are average and hence not sure if I should even put in efforts to prepare for GMATs.

Do I even stand chance of getting into a decent college.

Can I realistically target MBA programs at ISB, PGPX at IIM A,B,C,L,I,K or XLRI PGDM (GM), SPJIMR PGPM or MDI (PGDM BM).

While I only intent to target Indian bschools, but if that is completely impossible are there any international bschools that I can target?

Also, what gmat score should I target? I sat for mock gmat with 7 days of prep and could only score 550 (gmat classic), so don't think I can realistically score anything more than 700, if at all.

Need help!

Krunaal · Answer

Hi, most schools will evaluate your academic readiness based on your undergrad, and standardized test scores. So the grades other than on your BBA don't really matter much, instead the other pursuits (CS and LLB) only work positively - reinforcing your commitment to academics. That said, you need to have a GMAT score that is above schools median GMAT to be a competitive candidate for that particular school.

So a high GMAT + leadership in and outside work would make you a competitive candidate, the score that I would recommend targeting is 675+ for ISB and IIM A/B/C, for the others I think anything around 645 should be good. There are people who have improved from lower 500s to 700s, it requires dedicated preparation of 3 to 6 months.

Yes, there are international schools you can target and you would need to decide on which geography you see yourself working in in your post-MBA role (US, EU, Middle East, South East?) all these regions have good bschools, but since your primary intent is Indian bschools, I would first encourage you to focus on the GMAT, and achieve a good score which will be ultimately required in your case for a good bschool, irrespective of geography.

officiaullam · Answer

Thanks for the response Krunnal.
Completely understand that I should focus on GMAT.

Can you also recommend target bschools, if I am also open to work in Dubai, Singapore in future?

Krunaal · Answer

INSEAD, HEC Paris, LBS, NUS, NTU, and SMU come on top of my mind that have a good recruiting pipeline in that region, I guess NYU Stern too has a campus in middle east now. I would highly recommend you to signup for the virtual events these schools conduct through their website, and also have a look at their employment reports. Once you feel confident on some of them, then try to connect with their alumni and current students through LinkedIn to understand their firsthand experience.

officiaullam · Answer

INSEAD, LBS, HEC are clearly out of my reach.
But will definitely check out NUS, SMU, NTU and NYU AD

Profile Review| 31F Indian | CS and LLB

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