Request for Profile Evaluation for M7 Schools

Question

Hello,

Hope you are doing well and staying safe!

I would request you to please evaluate my profile based on details below. Please let me know in case I have missed some basic details.

31 years old | Male | Indian 
Target Schools: M7 (dream school - Stanford GSB) school + Yale & Berkeley-Haas

ACADEMICS: 
10th - 85%
12th - 81.4%
Graduation (BE - Mechanical Engineering) | 7.2/10 CGPA | Top 10 private institutions in India | I won 6 b-plan competitions across India in college, was a Club President
GRE - 328/340 (V-158, Q-170, AWA - 4)

WORK EXPERIENCE 
9.5 years (as of June-end 2020)

Failed Education Entrepreneur (8+ years ) 
I became an education entrepreneur in 2011. During this time, we had highly recognised programs with over 140k paying customers, 40k+ in the final year. We raised USD 275k+ from Indian & US VCs/angels. Won multiple accolades in India, USA. Speaker at TEDx and global platforms. Enterprise failed due to financial and profitability struggles.

Senior & Early Team Member @ Entrepreneurship Non-profit (1+ years) 
Post shutting my startup in 2019, I joined a non-profit focused on enabling entrepreneurship in Senior Mgmt & one of the early employees (founders are known, respected globally). I lead org's efforts in seeding entrepreneurial ecosystems across two states in close partnership with Govts and others, and co-authored entrepreneurship strategy for one state. I also lead smaller projects around mentorship, etc. I also led a multi-million dollar fundraise from an international philanthropy org.

Other pro bono work: 
I mentor/advise startup entrepreneurs during weekends, many programs by Indian & multilateral orgs for youth, micro-entrepreneurs.

POST MBA GOALS: 
My long term goal is to go be an entrepreneur again but in the short run I believe roles in and around startups (leadership roles in mature startups, impact/early stage VC, etc.) would be most ideal.

yashikaaggarwal · Answer

Buddy, you have the chance to evaluate your profile by the consultants in the upcoming Profile Q&A session of MBA spotlight starting at 7:45 AM US Pacific Time. Its a great opportunity, if you have registered for the MBA Spotlight Fair.
Though A specific request from my side will be to use specific B-School name in your Profile, That will give consultants a more Clear image regarding Which College You are Particularly targeting, So that they can Give you Suggestion Regarding Your Profile. Good Luck.

applicant0506 · Answer

Thank you very much for letting me know. I have registered for the Spotlight and will ask my question there as well  yashikaaggarwal

mbaMissionNishaT · Answer

Hi, and thanks for writing! A couple of notes here:

At over 9.5 years of work experience, you are well above the average for full-time MBA programs - Stanford GSB especially skews a bit younger, so I think it would be quite difficult (also, if your undergrad was 3 years, they'll prefer that you have a master's degree as well) . You'd have to make it very clear in your application why NOW is the right time for an MBA. Additionally, you'll want to explain why you need an MBA to enter a startup again since you have startup experience already. Regarding VC - it's very tough to get into (especially post-MBA) and they generally require finance experience (Banking, PE, etc.).

GRE - your quant score is awesome, but I do recommend retaking to bump up the Verbal side to the low 160s.

Since this is expected to be a very competitive year and you're applying from a particularly competitive demographic, I strongly recommend expanding your list of schools outside the U.S. top 10-15.

Hope that helps a bit!

Request for Profile Evaluation for M7 Schools

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