Profile evaluation for MBA from ISB 2020/2021

Question

Hello,

I am planning to apply for a 1 year MBA program in a few colleges for the admittance between April 2020 to April 2021. 
I would really appreciate if somebody could evaluate my profile:

GMAT: 690 (Q48, V36)
Work Experience: 8 years at the time of application as an IT Release Manager in India having worked for 2 different MNC's. (Appearing for Prince2 certification later this year)
Education: BTech Information Technology from West Bengal University of Technology
GPA: 7.0/10 in BTech

To summarize my current role, I work as the IT Release Manager for a major Insurance firm based in the USA as a lead which manages the software feature Releases across the year for clients. Our clients include KraftHeinz, Bank of America, Fidelity Investments and many more diverse companies across different verticals. 
It involves a lot of inter-disciplinary coordination and stakeholder (including clients, Product & senior technical management) interaction on a daily basis. 
I worked as a Senior Engineer role for 5 years in my previous company IT MNC. 
I have also been involved with QA/QC checks during this period.
I was previously involved in volunteering hours as a member of the Corporate Social Responsibility team & was a diversity scholarship recipient in college from a national pool of students.

My career goal after graduation is to transition into a Consulting role for Technology Vertical. 
My target colleges include:
IIM Calcutta
IIM Bangalore
ISB
Nanyang Technical University
Copenhagen Business School

A major apprehension I am having is that I am above the average age limit of most colleges in my shortlist, which may act against my profile

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Fahad

GyanOne · Answer

Hi  Fahad222 
- You have good project management and client management experience, although you are coming in from the IT pool, which is always super-competitive. A GMAT of 690 in that pool, with 9+ years of experience, may not be enough to set you apart. If you can, would suggest a retake with a target of 710+ and of course higher the better.
- Your ECA (apart from CSR) work is not mentioned, so please provide more details on that. 
- While the average age/experience of all programs you are applying to will be lower than yours, this does not make you ineligible. The only school among these that might consider you a bit too experienced for the full-time MBA would be NTU. At your current score, though, IIMB (and to a lesser extent, ISB) will be challenging to get into. 
- At this point, focus only on raising your score (you do have time) and then make sure you do not delay applying beyond this year. If your score does not improve, you can still apply to the others, except maybe NTU and IIMB, with your current score. 
- Also go through  this series of articles  as they will help you.

Hope this helps. Feel free to come back with more queries as needed.

ExpertsGlobal · Answer

Hello  Fahad222

Your age will be above the average age at almost any full-time MBA program that you apply to. What you really need to focus on is to put forth a case that helps differentiate your case from a whole lot of other applicants. While your career progression, international experience, and client-handling abilities will help add some valuable talking points, it is the GMAT score you need to work on (look for an improvement of 30 points at least).

A higher GMAT score, together with a set of essays, which appropriately address your need for an MBA and put forth a set of logical career goals, will help you have a good shot at your target school.

All the best!

AdmitLane1 · Answer

Hey Fahad, great work experience and I believe with the depth of your work experience, it will help in creating great essays!
But, you do lie in the IT/Engineer profile that's overly represented in most of the above business schools you have listed. There are only two ways you can increase your chances:

1) Go for another GMAT (if you have time and patience to go for it again) and aim for a 710+
2) Else, Re-do your school selection to have ambitious and safe schools both (in case you're sure of applying with a 690)

abhi9Singh · Answer

Hi, I am interested in the course, I wanted to know the approx GMAT score I should target with my profile.

10th - 82.6%
12th - 69.6%
B.Tech 75.6%

IT experience - 3years and 8 months

Left job started my own agro processing unit- 2 years experience

Started and operate a stud farm.

NCC B certificate cadet

Was member of college cricket and volleyball teams

Posted from my mobile device

muggergammy · Answer

Hey,

Please evaluate my profile for ISB application in 2021:

Age: 25.5 yr (the age when I will be applying for the application)

GMAT Score: Yet to give in April 2021- targetting 710

Educational Qualifications:
Graduation: B.Tech in Computer Science from Symbiosis Institute of Technology (Symbiosis International University) in 2017 (Batch: 2013-2017) with 88.75% (3.55 CGPA).
H.S.C: secured 86.41% from Science stream from Andhra Pradesh Board of Intermediate Education in 2013.
S.S.C: secured 80% from Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in 2011 (8.4 CGPA).
The reason for the low score in SSC is I had an accident 2 months before the exams where I was admitted to the hospital for 1.5 months.

Work Experience:
Consulting and Data Analytics Firm (04/19-Present): Working as a Business Technology Analyst, responsible for end to end leading, planning, designing and development of Business Intelligence solutions on the pharmaceutical domain, also act as a consultant to provide general opinion on newly onboarded BI projects in my client space as I have the highest experience on the BI tool we are using in the client space. I have 3 associates working under me.
IT Firm (07/17-04/19): Working as a Software Engineering Associate, responsible for designing and development of BUsiness Intelligence solutions, also got an opportunity for presenting team portfolio's during client visits multiple times, giving a demo on various new POC projects to the on-site management, training, and delegation of newly onboarded members.

Suggestion Needed:
I have been denied promotion in my current organization as I have not completed 2.5 years in the firm (this was the reason provided by my manager), however, a person who had started their professional career as a fresher from my current firm usually gets promoted in 2-2.5 years, due to this I am planning change my job as my juniors are getting promoted and I am withheld as I have not reached the benchmark of a number of years spent in the firm. I already have an offer to work from one of the most reputed companies starting from Feb-21, will changing the job have any negative impact on the application or on LOR. The new role I got involves similar work that I have been doing along with complex data analytics, the role is for a senior associate but the designation doesn't have the word "Senior".

Leadership Skills:
1. In my current firm, I am the acting lead for ensuring end-to-end delivery of BI project where I am responsible for planning, estimating timelines, etc. of the tasks along with delegating them to the fellow associates.
2. In my previous firm, I was responsible for training some of the newly onboarded team members and deligating a couple of tasks to them.

Professional Achievements:
1. In my current firm, I belong to a specialization team that has various experts on various BI tools who are loaned out to different client teams.
2. In my current firm, I am responsible for conducting Technical Round interviews for the new applicants despite designation not being a senior associate (Company policy is that only senior associate and above can take interviews, however, my manager has requested an exception for me)
3. In my previous firm, Nominated for the "We are one team and we play to win together award" for successful collaboration on various teams

Extra-Curricular:
1. Participated in a robotics workshop during my Graduation and secured 1st position got an opportunity to take part in the finals conducted by IIT Delhi, but couldn't attend as some of the team members were not willing to travel.
2. Conducted a Cloud Computing workshop as a member of Google Club. (Do not have a certificate for that)
3. Attend a telecom conference in 2013 where different telco leaders presented their insights on net neutrality and the rise of the 4G.
4. During my 8th Grade, I was in scouts and guides and we were assigned a task for cleaning up the playground as part of the scout's activity.
5. During my 8th Grade, I was selected to play a synthesizer in front of the entire school as part of a band during the annual event.
6. Conducted the induction session for the first years during my final year in graduation

International Exposure:
I did get an opportunity to travel but was canceled due to budget issues, but in my current firm I have traveled to domestic offices as I was working on a few projects with the other office team

Post MBA goals:
Want to join a consulting or an investment banking firm.

Please share your feedback

bb · Answer

Profile evaluation for MBA from ISB 2020/2021

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