Profile Evaluation Please Thanks in advance

Question

I am looking to apply to HBS / GSB /Sloan and was wondering if you could provide some feedback on my profile.

Target Programs:

HBS/ GSB / Sloan full time mba

Demographics :

Male 24 year old Indian
GMAT : 610 Q47 V 27 AWA 4 ( first attempt )

Education:
Chartered Accountant(CA) and Cost and Management Accountant(CMA) from India with All India 1st rank in CMA.( Pass percentage in CA and CMA is below 5%)
Bachelors in commerce from Nagarjuna University with 80% ( First class with distinction)

Full time Work Experience :

NSL TEXTILES LIMITED 
An USD 135 million turnover Integrated Textile Company dealing from cotton to clothing

Assistant Manager: Costing, MIS & Business Analysis from April 2013 to present
 
- Got double promotion within 11 months of service which usually takes 4 years of service in the company.
- Entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the fabric costing activities for domestic and international segments. Also responsible for providing analytical inputs to the top management for making key operational and strategic decisions. 
- Representing MIS team in various meetings such as budget meetings along with Chief Operating Officer of the company and product mix decision meetings 
- Led a cross functional ginning team to prepare a framework for decision making on cotton purchase worth USD 85 million per annum. This framework is used by the Joint Managing Director of the company for deciding on the cash flow and the procurement of cotton. 
- Prepared a standard performance variance analysis module for entire spinning vertical, first of its kind in the spinning industry in India after discussing with different stakeholders within the company and the industry experts.
- Streamlined the costing system by closely coordinating with various departments and instituting a Standard Operating Procedure for “Order to Cash Cycle”.
- Put in place a monitoring system for consumption of the raw material at all the stages of production for different products. Resulted in 2% savings of raw material in the fabric division. 
- A member of interview panel for trainees. Prepared training schedules and guided them in understanding the operations.
- Led the implementation of fabric costing in SAP. Finalized the logic in SAP, designed the test cases, evaluated the outcomes and explained the usage to the end users (marketing department) in a detailed manner.

Executive: MIS & Business Analysis from April 2012 to March 2013
 
- Handled all the analytical works (operational & Financial) and capex proposals of ginning & spinning verticals.
- Analyzed and interpreted the Input- Output data for weaving and processing verticals. 
- Represented MIS team in the stock taking, cross unit operations team meetings and vendor meetings 
- Assessed the cost optimal source of power during the period of power shortage and saved USD 1700 per day. Represented MIS team in the price fixation meetings with third party power providers. Devised model for response time analysis for electrical team which helped them to avoid huge penalties of about USD 7 million.
- Represented the company in the power settlement meetings with the government authorities along with power consultants. Presented to the top management a project report on minimizing the power transmission losses.
- Actively participated in devising uniform systems for HR activities such as accounting for food coupons, attendance system & Incentive system for work force of around 10,000 across all units.

COAL INDIA LIMITED 
A listed Indian Central Government mining company with a market cap of USD 34 billion
 
Senior officer: Finance & Accounts from December 2011 to April 2012

- Coordinated with top banks in India for investing the surplus company’s cash in liquid mutual funds on a weekly basis.
- Streamlined the treasury function of the company by rationalizing the daily cash balance of mining units; thus enabling the company to invest the surplus cash in different financial instruments.
- Played a pivotal role in bringing all the bank accounts of the company online so that funds position of the sub units could be known on real time basis. 
- Was promoted from executive finance officer to senior finance officer within 4 months of joining.

START UP EXPERIENCE:

- Founded first start up at the age of 18 (a restaurant for students) successfully ran it for 2 years while continuing with my studies.
- Founded a trading firm dealing in waste seed from cotton ginning; achieved a turnover of USD 1 million in first year of operation and targeting USD 4.2 million in the current year by entering into synergistic partnerships.\
- Worked on an idea related to a mobile app to capture the massive messaging market in the world. Held discussions with software developers and a company in US. Waiting for the correct technical support for implementing this idea.
- Worked with a colleague on power management solution consisting of software that gives exception reports and a device that gives real time power consumption. Eventually dropped the idea as software is already in the market from SAP.
- Working on a start up that provides facility to book priest services online. Brought an ISB & IIT KGP alumnus into the team. Have a vision to grow this start up into an event management company leveraging the power of technology and social networking.
- Working with a group of friends in embedded technology industry on home automation start up.

Extra Curricular/ Additional Information:

- Led the SFRS team in fund raising events attended by foreign delegates and IAS officers successfully. Convinced the SFRS top management to advertise their services in rural India in an open discussion.
- As a School Pupil Leader continuously for 3 years, encouraged students to take active part and organize all the events conducted for orphanage (HEAL) and old age home run by our school. Initiated toy collection drive and old text books collection drive for HEAL and NANDANA (a rural free school run for child labour) 
- Volunteer in VFBAI (Volunteer for Better Andhra Initiative) run by AOL (Art of Living).Active participant in voter registration program in India .Advocated the importance of voting in the voter awareness campaigns conducted in Hyderabad and persuaded people to apply for voter id through our NGO. About 10,000 people got registered through our program. 
- Ran a campaign in change.org successfully against “Freebies promised by Political parties during elections”.
- Mentoring rural students who are interested in pursuing CA & CMA courses.
- Got selected twice for Jagrithi yatra, an ambitious 15 day train journey of 8000 kms travelling the length and breadth of the country, with 450 young minds from India & abroad. It gives me an opportunity to meet individuals and enterprises who are developing unique solutions to India’s challenges and to lead the young team in solving problems of rural India. Selection rate is 2%.

Post MBA Goals:

The story of each of my startups is different. My first startup came into existence due to pressing financial condition of my family. My latest startup is based on clear identification of people’s needs and demand for a service which is not cyclic. But I have a bigger picture in my mind .I want to start ventures which can touch millions of lives. At the same time, I realize that resources such as network of like minded people from diverse backgrounds and international exposure are essential to realize this dream. I honestly believe that doing a MBA from HBS/GSB/Sloan will fill this gap and let me move towards my goal in a structured way

Cliffs version:

- Male/India/24 yr/gmat 610/All India 1st ranker 
- involved in 5 startups since age of 18.Currently working actively in two startups for which an ISB and IIT graduate joined my team
- Good amount of Extra curricular activities
- full time work experience of 2 years and part time work experience of 3.5 years as a part of internship in CA curriculum
- current role in job has lots of exposure to MIS, business analysis and costing 
-Want to start innovative ventures by converting my ideas into successful ventures leveraging the resources at B school and gaining links with venture capital industry

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

mbaMissionJenK · Answer

Hi, Thanks for your detailed post, and also the 'cliffs version' highlights at the end...

In truth those are helpful not only to me, but also in that it demonstrates you've thought through who you are, in a nutshell, and what exactly you aim to present to the admissions committee which is an important step in this process and something that some applicants struggle with. Let's talk about your strengths and weaknesses. Strengths: -As you mention, all of your vast start-up and entrepreneurial experiences -Throughout these experiences, you have demonstrated determination, drive, creativity, initiative, vision, analysis, and follow-through -Promotions, team lead experiences, analysis, project management skills -evidence of going 'above and beyond' in your role -volunteering and extracurricular involvements Weaknesses: -first and foremost, your GMAT score! I know you mentioned this is your 1st attempt so assuming you are planning to re-take. I definitely advise you take a preparation course and aim to maximize this score...currently I don't see acceptance at top 10 schools being likely with this GMAT score and your profile. -Small potential risk that your path/profile/experience could sound 'scattered' or unclear. Just means you need to carefully craft your resume and essays and story to explain your path to the reader, including why you made the choices you did, what you gained from your experiences, how those brought you to where you are today, why you want the MBA, and how you'll bring it all together in your post-MBA career goals.

-Slightly fewer than average years of full time experience, though you somewhat 'make up for it' with all of your extensive part time and start up experience Unknowns: -essays/recommendations/interview -more about your post-MBA goals... be sure they are specific in order to compete in this admissions process As you may know, right now the 3 schools you mentioned are quite a stretch. In addition, Stanford in particular is the most selective program out there... not only with the highest average GMAT, but also a smaller than average class size, so TONS of very competitive applicants are turned away each year. Some will depend on your GMAT and what you are capable of scoring, but I would advise that you change your target schools list, looking instead at schools that are slightly less challenging to get in, and closer to your (final) GMAT score. You can always apply to 1-2 'reach' schools if you really have your heart set on them, and the start-up experience helps there. But otherwise your profile is not vastly different from other similar applicants, so keep working on what makes YOU unique, as well as your school list. Let us know how else we can help. Good luck on the process!

sunilkumarch · Answer

Thanks for the evaluation and prompt reply

I am an ALL INDIA FIRST RANK holder in my Cost and Management Accountancy exam along with All India Tenth Rank holder in Chartered Accountancy exams(equivalent to American CPA). Both the courses have a pass percentage of less than 5% in India( Keeping in mind the level of competition and population in India,I guess its clear how tough the courses are ) and are regarded as the toughest courses.Moreover I always stood first in studies since schooling till graduation.First and the only graduate from the entire family.Despite having a very successful academic track record through out my academic life,you still feel Gmat plays a much higher role in admissions.As I was very much busy in activities of latest start up related to providing priest services through online booking which is first of its kind in India, I could not dedicate much time for Gmat preparation.I was successful in convincing the priest community and could get support from almost 1000 top class priests.I was also successful in getting an ISB MBA Graduate into my team.I also have strong extracurriculars.

Regarding the restaurant start up I am referring to, I had converted beggars into marketing executives.Regarding the trading start up I am referring to, I entered a heavily crowded market in which big players are operating since centuries - disrupted the business model and finally now earning respect equal to big players.Regarding the priest start up I am referring to, the whole community which is operating in unorganized groups with lot of internal problems causing hatred among the community is now getting united and supporting my venture.This is first of its kind in whole of India.I made them offers which they cant reject.It took me about 6 months to convince them. A lot has been done to first let them be open in communicating with us and earning trust.Apart from the financial aspect I am looking more at the human aspect which would unite the whole community who are responsible for acting as a bridge between god and human beings.

Regarding the Post MBA goals , I clearly have target sectors and mentioned my start up plans for those sectors broadly in essays.I desire to take forward my existing start ups and start new ones leveraging the resources at B School.I mentioned clearly all the experiences I had and how they helped me to be the person who I am now.

I believe that Gmat weighs about 20% of the whole application.Kindly correct me if I was wrong.

Thanks,
Sunil

mbaMissionJenK · Answer

Hi again,

Thanks for emphasizing all that you have accomplished and achieved. That will all certainly benefit your application.

To come back to the GMAT however... is it possible to apply with a 610 and add some statements in the 'optional essay' about why you weren't able to devote sufficient time to it, and/or why that does not reflect your actual ability to handle business school, and get accepted at top programs?? Sure, it is POSSIBLE. However the chances are very slim.

Both HBS & GSB have a middle 80% GMAT range that STARTS at 680 (and Sloan, at 670). So that means that only 20% of their admitted class had scores below 680.... they do not post more detail than that, but you can imagine the % with a 610 or less is very small. Do they accept them? A few, yes..... but they accept a LOT of people who score 680, 700, 720, etc...... so one way to look at it is, there are a LOT more places or better chances with higher scores!! If you score very low, you are competing for maybe a couple of rare spots that they will accept someone at that score level, and everything else on the application must be OUTSTANDING compared to all other applicants (and these schools get amazingly qualified applicants!).

Stanford GSB in particular has a much smaller class size!! So those numbers are even SMALLER..... less than half the class size of HBS! Good to keep in mind. They truly are the most competitive and selective program out there, given the # of spots, the # of applications, and the average GMAT scores.

Schools make admissions decisions by looking at your entire profile and making a decision. There is no 'weight' or percentage to any component, including GMAT. BUT-- the GMAT is designed to be a 'predictor of your academic success' in business school.... therefore, schools use it to confirm that you CAN handle the academic rigor of the program. If you do well on the GMAT, it does NOT guarantee you'll get in, but you could think of it as 'checking the box' that you CAN handle b-school, and then the admissions officers will look at the rest of your application to assess who you are, what you'll bring to the program, what you'll do with their MBA, etc. However with a score much much LOWER than their average.... that can be reason enough for them to reject you, compared with so many other strong candidates. So you don't want the GMAT to be the thing that keeps you out!!

Schools take the highest score, and it is very common to take it more than once. I have heard several admissions officers state that they would rather someone try again if needed, then 'give up' on one low score...

Final interesting tidbit, a Kaplan study from 2011 surveyed 265 admissions officers and asked 'what is the biggest application killer?', and 58% said GMAT scores.... again doesn't mean a high GMAT is SUFFICIENT to get in, but it can more easily be sufficient to keep you out so to speak.

ALL THAT SAID... if someone has an outstanding application, and they have taken the test more than once and not done as they'd hoped and/or are not able to re-take, ideally for specific reasons (family/personal challenges; they are working overseas in an undeveloped country where they can't get to a test-center, other specific reasons), I have counseled clients to explain this in the optional essay and still apply just in case. Even in this scenario, it is more likely to schools outside the top 8-10 though, for example Duke, Darden, Ross, etc, for better odds.

Lots to think about, good luck to you!

sunilkumarch · Answer

Thanks a ton for the deep insights..

Can you please tell me which schools ( both ivys and others ) give more weightage to start up experience. Thanks in advance, Sunil

mbaMissionJenK · Answer

Hi Sunil,

There's no specific 'weight' given to any aspect of your application, in that the admissions decisions truly are made holistically. Start-up experience can be a plus at ANY business school if presented in the right way, and you can demonstrated what you learned from it, what you achieved, how it has affected your future goals/career plans, etc. Certainly if entrepreneurship is your primary goal, it can help to discuss what you gained from that past experience, and some schools are particularly known for strength in entrepreneurship, such as Babson, HBS, Stanford, Haas, Sloan, Wharton, Ross, Marshall, etc, but entrepreneurship is an important component of all top b-schools.

sunilkumarch · Answer

Thanks for the Feedback. Cheers, Sunil :-D

mbaMissionJenK · Answer

You're more than welcome!

Profile Evaluation Please Thanks in advance

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