Haas Profile Evaluation - Tools for B-School Profile Evaluation

Great profile, but why did you beat those poor 2500 students!

Hi Mon16,

Thank you for your post. Your academic credentials, forward trajectory in your career, management experience (quite quickly in your career), and community leadership all provide a great foundation for you. Beyond "application execution" -- which is critical for all applicants, and includes things like articulating the specificity of your career goals, your motivations behind them, how who you are plus the MBA enables those goals, how each school uniquely enables you to fill necessary gaps toward your goals, how you'd uniquely contribute to each program, great essays, recommendations, and interviews, etc. -- my biggest focus right now would be on your GMAT score (if you're targeting the T20).

For context, Indian applicants with a 700 GMAT score have approximately a 2% acceptance rate across the entirety of the U.S. T20, and that figure is naturally going to be even lower toward the top of the school curve, including at Haas, which has the 4th lowest acceptance rate (in part due to its small size). These figures are dragged down by the much more crowded pool of Indian male applicants, so the data is not perfectly applicable, but it still provides an informative backdrop to how competitive the admissions landscape is (and you are in the crowded software developer bucket).

With all of that in mind, I would say that from your current position, the high end of your range (assuming exemplary application execution) would lie more in the T17 to T25 range, and then you can build down from there (T25 to 35, etc.) to further diversity your strategy. You are naturally welcome to chase a couple of T16 schools, but they will be extremely difficult, and whether you do so and how many you include should be considered in context of your broader school strategy and how many schools you apply to overall. As noted above, there is a lot to like about your profile and experiences, but at present, my recommendation would be to try to raise your GMAT score (or re-calibrate your school strategy).

If you would like to continue this conversation, please feel free to email me at greg@avantiprep.com or sign up for a Free Consultation at your convenience: https://www.avantiprep.com/free-consultation.html

Best Regards,
Greg
Founder, Avanti Prep / Haas Alumnus


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Hi ratesman,

Thank you for your post. Boosting that GMAT score will definitely be valuable if you're targeting the likes of Haas, Booth, Kellogg, etc (and even others in the next tranche of schools). When are you retaking the exam?

With respect to the GPA, where did you rank in your graduating class? Like were you in the top 20%, around average, below average, etc.? That information is more important than the number itself, particularly when admissions committees are evaluating international GPAs. For example, a 3.1 GPA in the U.S. is usually fairly low these days (given rampant grade inflation), but if your university had a fixed grading curve, or a 3.1 signified high or good performance, then that context is critical. I am not super worried about your GPA, but I'd love to know those details.

Beyond the stats, key elements for you are going to be unpacking and communicating the value of your experiences; detailing the specifics of your goals, how an MBA is an essential next step toward them (what knowledge, skills, and experiences are you missing and need to acquire via the MBA?), and what the deeper motivations are behind these goals (what drives you? what are you trying to solve?); conveying how exactly Haas or any other program helps you fill these necessary gaps and propels you forward; articulating what unique contributions you can make to the program and how exactly you plan to do so; and sharing who you are, what makes you you, your passions, purpose, authentic self, etc. Please feel free to take a look at this blog post for more detail: https://www.avantiprep.com/blog/the-mos ... on-process

That might sound like a whole bunch of business school cliches, and I know you can't capture everything in a simple post like this, but (beyond boosting your GMAT score, which you seem pretty confident you'll be able to do), the way you've positioned your experiences and goals feels fairly black and white, even fairly conventional. I don't quite see the person, the purpose, or the differentiated "pop" to your story -- or, more specific to Haas, how you've questioned the status quo, for example. I'm sure these things are there behind the scenes, and the good news is that it's within your control to introspect, brainstorm, break down your life and experiences, and weave it all back together in a way that accomplishes all of the things that I've highlighted above. As you do so, consider how these experiences and themes align with the culture of the schools to which you're applying, and in what ways they create mutual "fit" (e.g., with Haas's Four Defining Principles).

I realize some of these concepts might feel a bit abstract in a static post like this, so please feel free to shoot me a note (greg@avantiprep.com) or sign up for a Free Consultation, and we can have a more fruitful, back-and-forth conversation. (As noted above, I am also curious to hear when you plan to retake the GMAT and learn more details and context about your GPA.)

Best Regards,
Greg
Founder, Avanti Prep / Haas Alumnus


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All,

Thanks for viewing my post! I just took a GMAT test and got a score of 680 (Q:49-74 Percentile, V:31-61 Percentile, IR 4). This is my first trial and I could improve it to 700+. Since my work experience is relatively "thin", I am not sure if this score is enough to get me in. My profile is as follows:

Education:
-PhD in Computer Science at a top 20 private school, GPA: 3.8
-Master in Computer Engineering at a public school (ranking: 50+), GPA: 3.6
-Undergrad in Electrical Engineering, GPA: 3.5

Work:
-1.5 years of full time experience in a top semiconductor company, winning a highly selective employee award
-0.5 years of full time experience in a consulting firm specialized in retail industry
-3 internships in semiconductor, computer industry
-Incoming AI research scientist for a top internet company
-Several publications in big data, health informatics

Personal:
-31 years old Asian male
-Data-driven
-Super passionate about entrepreneurship, have been leaders of related societies in schools, no extracurricular currently unfortunately.

Questions:
Should I retake the GMAT? I heard that applicants with a similar background as I have are tremendous. So I am not sure if a relatively low GMAT could hurt my application. Thanks in advance!

Questions:
Why MBA and why now?
What are your short term and long term goals?
What are your target programs?

1.5 years is too low for an EWMBA program. Internships, unfortunately, don’t count towards work experience. Research experience and publications don’t matter either.

Posted from my mobile device

Appreciate you taking time out to provide me with such detailed inputs. I believe it's most beneficial for me to just focus on raising my GMAT for now.

Thanks again and I will reach out to you once I have a satisfactory GMAT score!

Thank you, Mon16. My pleasure. Best of luck with your GMAT preparation!

Please feel free to reach out any time. I'm also happy to chat in advance of the exam if that would be helpful (some folks find it beneficial to begin to think through timing, planning, story, school and score scenarios, etc.), that way they can hit the ground running immediately following the exam (especially if they are considering Round 1). Totally at your convenience and whenever is good for you!

Kind Regards,
Greg


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Background and nationality: 27F Asian Indian from USA

Undergrad Information:
Public university, Chemical Engineering
GPA: 2.97 -- Ouch, I know. No real excuse, was super involved on campus (I wanted to do everything, especially my passion for outreach/education but I was still learning how to time manage. Maturity and experience has made me better about that now) and I really, REALLY struggled with organic chemistry (we had to take all the pre-med classes in our curriculum, it sucked)

GMAT: 750 (50Q, 41V)

Work experience:
- (Current) 2 yrs (will be almost 3 years by matriculation) Product Manager at a mid-size (~1000 employees) software company with a promotion after 1 year, leading a team of ~10 engineers (no direct reports). Presented at company conference to launch new features.
- Before that, my first job out of undergrad, ~3.5 yrs in tech consulting at a wall street bank (pick one JPM/GS/MS) with 1 promotion (rigid promotion cycle based on # of years)

Extracurriculars:
In college
- Worked all 4 years in the Engineering school's office of student outreach to help increase under-represented minorities in STEM careers (planning visits to inner-city HS, helped launch a summer program for SAT/college prep, helped students find and apply to scholarships)
- VP and Charity lead for a religious club that I was part of all 4 years (planned an annual charity dinner, local volunteering events at place of worship)
After college
- Participating in diversity networks at first company (wall street bank), helping with Girls Who Code events, campus recruiting, and helping to plan a consulting skills training week at HQ
- Founder and president of the diversity network at my current company. Launched the network within 3 months of joining, after meeting with HR and company founders for sponsorship. Since then, we have held several networking events, from social (happy hour) to educational (book talk/speakers). Personally developed the first official employee in-person training on discussing diversity at work, reaching ~100 employees in the first year. Currently have a network of ~150 members and allies.

Post MBA goals
Transition from product management to strategy

Hey all,

Can you please help in evaluating my profile for Haas?

My details are all follows
1) CBSE class 10 - 97%
2) CBSE class 12 - 95.4%
3) BE from top State University (Jadavpur University) CGPA - 9.1/10
4) Work Ex currently - 2+
5) Working as Cyber Security Analyst in Goldman Sachs
6) Certification - SANS GCIH
7) GMAT Yet to take but mock score of 720

So I want to definitely do an MBA. My parents want me to do well in CAT and get into IIM but I want to do in the US but only from top 20 colleges if possible.
Since less than 3 months are left for CAT, I want to understand whether I will be eligible for Haas andsimilar colleges and thus focus more of a better gmat and application , OR focus on Cat as US mba is not possible as of now for me.

Thanks a lot to all those reading and please help because time is running away more in the dilemma for me

Posted from my mobile device

Please find my profile below. I appreciate any feedback.

Background and nationality: Czech Republic, white male, 26 years
Educational Background:
- Lived for 2years in UK, where I finished my high school diploma - not sure if relevant but adds more international experience.
- Undergrad: Empire State College with double major in Business administration and International Economic Relations; GPA 3.93 (top 3%)
- CFA level 3 candidate 2020
- ACCA Diploma in Accounting and Business (first three exams)
GMAT: taking GMAT in 3 weeks, mock score of 650, expecting 700
Work experience and leadership:
- 4 years full time experience (by fall 2020, not considering internships mentioned below,)
- Currently: Senior Mergers&Acquisitions and Strategy Consultant at Big 4 (I work in two teams), responsible for 2-3 consultants/interns
- Previously: 0.5y full-time finance internship at IGO in Belgium, 0.5y internship at local investment bank, 0.5y internship at US embassy commercial section, 1y Data Administrator at Moody's Analytics
Community involvement: Volunteering at CFA local society
Post MBA goals: I plan to transition to investment associate role leveraging my current B4 experience and CFA.
Target schools: INSEAD, Haas, MIT

Hey there,

Can you please help evaluate my profile?

I am a female from India.

Here is my details :
1) Class 10 CBSE - 97%
2) Class 12 CBSE - 95.4%
3) Bachelor in electronics engineering with CGPA - 9.11
4) Did summer internship in IIM Calcutta on building a Social Startup for underprivileged children
5) Did a research assistant internship in IIM Calcutta on the base of the pyramid evolution
6) Currently working in Goldman Sachs as a Cyber Security Analyst (2+ years)
7) Have shown a few leadership initiatives in office however no promotion.
8) Age 25
9) GMAT mock Score - 730

It would be very helpful if you could please evaluate my profile.

I want to get placed and settled in US after college.

Thanks a lot in advance

Posted from my mobile device

T Adamietz,
I actually think the cannabis focused RE goals could potentially work depending on the details of WHY this is your passion. It's definitely a unique path and cannabis is exploding as an industry so there's definitely growth potentially there. And Haas is in the Bay Area after all, where people are totally used to marijuana being legal at this point. You want to be very careful in how you tell your story though - I'd take the medical marijuana path (have you witnessed someone close to you really benefitting, etc) -- talking about recreational marijuana has the potential to completely backfire. You will have to really think hard about how you're going to tell this story, but if you tell it well it could work.

I think the real challenge will be convincing them that you have the business foundation necessary to be up for the rigors of b-school -- and to allow you to make a well informed plan for your post-MBA career path. Architecture is a non-traditional background for a b-school applicant & you need to be able to show that you've had the chance to use transferrable business skills & ideally drive business impact. That will be critical to convincing them that you'll be able to make meaningful contributions to class discussion and that you've got what it takes to succeed at Haas.

If you'd like help thinking through your strategy & how to tell this story definitely reach out to us. If you email Claudia at claudia@admissionado.com she can set you up with a free consultation with one our MBA consultants who can take a look at your resume & give you some more detailed thoughts!

Appreciate any feedback, thanks in advance.

Bio: 1997, Australian, Engineer, Male

GMAT: 780 (Q 51 / V 46)

Intend to apply R1 for 2021 intake.

Education: Top 250 in the world uni, but nothing glamorous. Course Weighted Average 80% (Approx GPA is somewhere from 3.4-3.7 depending on what you convert with but there's no official GPA used, and Australian marks don't convert easily) Mechatronics Engineering

Full time work Ex - (at time of applying Sep 2021)
1. 1.2 years Technology Strategy and Automation Capability Development for same company as below. Global role looking at multiple initiatives within the business ranging from Machine Automation to Data Analytics, Machine Learning and Decision Automation.
2. 0.7 years as a Graduate Engineer based at a mine for one of the world largest miners and had the chance to work on multiple major initiatives with multi-million dollar impacts.

Part time/Intern ex:
1. 0.25 years full time as an engineering intern at a large mining company in reliabilty engineering.
2. 0.5 years part time internship as an engineering intern at a joint venture between a major networks company, major oil and gas company and govenrnment data authority.


Extra curricular:
School
1. Accumulated 100+ hours of volunteering with many large organisations including Meals on Wheels and Salvation Army.

Undergrad
1. University Leadership Program. Lead organisation of event between 5 people to raise 3.8k through a charity evening for Opportunity International.
The following year, I mentored incoming students to guide their journey in establishing plastic bottle recycling in Western Australia.
2. Volunteered in program addressing Higher Education Access Disadvantage, encouraging students from lower socio-economic areas to consider university or other tertiary education.
3. Volunteer Ambassador for University, helping create a connection for prospective students and enable to discover the right fit for themselves.
4. Volunteered as Treasurer for the university club for my degree, as well as committee member for a cultural club.

After undergrad
1. Ambassador for alumni association of college and created the social media presence - generating 20K+ engagement in 6 months.
2. Participated in education related CSR activities at Big 4 firm

Target Schools: Stanford/Sloan/Berkeley/Wharton

Post MBA Goal - Deciding between Management at a Technology firm vs Pursuing my own Start Up Venture in Automation related areas.

The questions I have are -


1. What do I need to build on in the next 12 months to get to those target schools?
2. Coming from the mining industry, does it impact the MBA application? I can say i've not seen many from that industry at all on these forums.
3. What sort of areas will help build the extracurricular area for a school like Stanford?
4. What else can I do to improve my profile?
5. Is there someone I've overlooked when it comes to Business Schools well suited to technology? Stanford's my #1, and i'd say Sloan/Berkeley are pretty level 2nd.

Hi,

You have a to-die-for GMAT score. I wouldn't think about the GPA much with that score, and B-schools don't want you to convert to any other standard from the original, so you should just submit your original transcripts.

To answer your questions:

Being among the few representing an industry such as mining can give you the advantage of bringing a unique perspective of your industry which the class will benefit from. Therefore you should view your profile favorably and draw upon your strengths. Mining has been a constantly evolving industry facing operational challenges, regulations and compliance issues and market volatility. You definitely have a lot to offer to business schools in terms of knowledge about the industry, specifically about the Australian mining sector ( Australia being the 4th largest mining country in the world). add to that, the increasing technological advancements in the industry, which is where your work experience lies. Working amidst the changing industry landscape provides valuable insights.

A global role that allows you to showcase your international exposure and all the qualities that come with it, will further add to your profile.

You've done a lot of extracurricular activities, which is a good thing. Going forward, I will ask you to focus on activities: 1. that most align with your passions and past experiences; 2. where you have the chance of not just doing something for your pleasure (which is a hobby), but also making an impact on other people.

it would be hard to say how you can build your profile without knowing more about it. Continue doing great work, take initiatives at work, and make big impact through these. The same goes for your extracurricular activities. We could help you with a more detailed profile evaluation and provide actionable recommendations for improvement via our Application strategy roadmap service. Reach out if you are interested.

Background and nationality: Indian Female

Undergrad Information: B.Tech (computer science) from a not-so-well-known college (IP University,Delhi), GPA 3.7 (80%age)

GMAT: 750 (Q50 V42)

Work experience and leadership: 4 yrs experience in top tech company (good brand-name), Software engineer role throughout (some good accomplishments) - involved in entire life-cycle of software development
No management experience at work
Was General secretary of CSI(Computer society of India) branch in the college, organized tech fest and events
Also was the Associate Creative Head for some time

Community and others: Nothing major, some volunteer work at office
Hobbies: Drawing/doodling/Art, Zumba

Post MBA goals: Product Management in a Tech company

Would love to have a profile evaluation for Haas, considering it is a very selective program (owing to the class size) and only 3-5 indians making it to the class. Does it make sense for me to apply?

Hi,

Please, if you can, evaluate my profile as an international applicant for the MBA program

Nationality: Indian
Age: 29
Undergraduate Qualification: Bachelor in technology with specialisation in computer science engineering.
GMAT: not taken yet
Work experience: 6+ years
About me - An engineer turned entrepreneur, started a textiles manufacturing and trading business, while studying, with my father (as his prior experience and willingness to work in the same industry he's ever been). Completed my engineering side-by-side. Then left for job, but kept involved in business somehow of the location benefits as my manufacturing process used to take place in the same city I got a job in. Then moved back for business, leaving my job. Since then, been in business and have turned quite a lot of things around for us, and for the market in a good way.
key achievements --
Turned everything from credit to cash.
Took things online,
and added a customer-centric approach.

All these things and ideas were new for the market and my customers, but now productivity has increased for both.
I think entrepreneurship is a good idea for my MBA, but not sure if it’s a good idea in case I want to experience something different like a job maybe for some time. Also, I am so much involved into everything I do, I don't want myself to not make use of my 2 years at an MBA program, so I am a little cautious of schools where I may not find the right mindset of people whom I can be with.

Why MBA?
I have some ideas related to my field which I think can really help and change the way things are done. I want to incorporate tech into small scale manufacturing, and I don't mean just computers. I am looking for a school where I can get some tech exposure along with my MBA, as I may need to take 1-2 tech courses along with an MBA.

Extracurriculars: I am an active sports guy. I play tennis, have coaching experience of swimming (summers only :P) have formed 2 groups in my city -- running and cycling, started with 2 people now each group has around 500+ participants, 60% of them are moderately active, 80% are somewhat active.
I trek a lot and have taken most treks closer to my place, as I work 7 days so it's hard to take an off as treks need a lot of days, but I manage that somehow by minimizing risk.
I am a cyclist, too. you'll find me cycling in the hills, if not trekking.
I have taken part in brevet, 200 km one.
I am a part of the national cycling group and I represent my city for the group.
Also, I am a participant of a blood donation group, we provide blood to blood banks and the ones in need, in person, too. we don't charge for it, it's a free community service for anyone in need. we are presently handling 3 states and the group has around 5000 members, most of them are active. It's run by the people for the people, but then there are too many things to do.

References: From clients to these groups, I can ask anyone to recommend me, but I think it makes more sense if I ask my clients or business people.

shall I apply?

Hey there,

You have a really great GMAT score and good work experience, especially if you work at a well-known tech company. However, you're coming from a pretty competitive international pool (India) where a lot of people who went to top-tier schools in India will apply to Haas. Also, your extracurricular experience is on the light side.

Because Haas is a competitive school and the pros and cons in your profile kind of balance each other out currently, the things you can control at this point to increase your chances at Haas are 1) have very compelling essays as to why you want an MBA from Haas specifically, 2) glowing recommendations and 3) get involved with 1-2 more extracurricular activities before you apply. If you're able to do these things, Haas would become less of a reach.

Haas has gotten more competitive over the years and is especially popular with Indians in tech from India who want to transition to work in tech in the US. Therefore, it's worth a try for you to apply to Haas. But if you're really looking to get into a school in the US, I would suggest casting a wider net to improve your overall chances at getting into a school. Hope that helps and good luck!

Requesting Profile Evaluation, I will be applying this week to Round 2

Personal: Caucasian Male, 27yo,

Education: 3.39 GPA at UConn undergraduate, Manufacturing Engineering and Business major
GMAT: 720 43 Q, 45 V, 6.0 AW, 7 IR

Work: 4.75 year work experience. First as operations leadership dev program for 3 years, promoted to a plant manager in metal fabrication shop for the last 2 years (7 salaried reports and 80 hourly employees). My story highlights success driving culture-change, dramatically improved safety performance, mentoring and coaching my team with 80 years of experience here, and significant productivity improvements in my current role. Definitely Challenge the Status Quo by completely changing the course of the ship here, and Beyond Yourself because everything I do here is for the good of my employees and they have felt that benefit

Extra C's:
Undergrad: Captain of University's rugby team for 2.5 years, volunteer tutor at local middle schools, logistics manager for the school sponsored Special Olympics event
Work: Assigned mentor to 2 individuals in different areas, employee engagement committee, community outreach committee, coach for Women at Work group, co-run Adopt-A-Family program on holidays
External: Recreational volleyball or soccer 2 nights a week, local area's young professionals board member, philanthropy committee member of town chamber of commerce, avid skier
OK Spanish speaker, I spent 14 months working in Tijauna managing the opening of a manufacturing facility there

Why MBA: I've worked in manufacturing since college and am at an inflection point, my next career move could be to manage a larger plant and stay in manufacturing...but instead I am seeking to use the MBA to pivot industries and work towards general management. My passion is around the natural world and I ultimately would like to work for a company in greentech, smart farming, or actively contributing to help protect the environment

I realize my weaknesses could be a lower then ideal GPA in undergrad (engineering coursework combined with immaturity of accepting "good enough"), and my low quant on the GMAT (much lower then I was anticipating, does not reflect my reputation at work for skill with analytics and budget). I am working to address this in my optional essay

Hoping to highlight my successes with management experience and delivering dramatic metric improvements so far in my career.

I appreciate any feedback anyone could offer!

Hi there! I'd appreciate any feedback on my profile and how i can improve my chances at Haas!

Personal Info: 27 (28 in 2020) Male; Canadian-Chinese

Education: University of Waterloo - Undergrad: Accounting/Finance; Master: Accounting

Designations: CPA, CFA


UNDERGRADUATE GPA: 3.6
POSTGRADUATE GPA: 3.3
GMAT: targeting 750+

Work Exp:
Deloitte Consulting 1.5 years
Analyst, Asset Management (Strategy/Ops/M&A) at Small Cap Renewable Energy Company ~2 years
Senior Analyst, Investments in Infrastructure Private Equity (can I swing this as promotion within same industry considering my last company was also in 'infrastructure'?) ~1 year now

EC: Not a whole lot due to busy work schedules...VP of Chinese Student Association in uni, team leader of a rec league billiards team lol, lived in 3 cities since I was born (HK 10 years (worked as intern for a summer here); Toronto 16 years; Calgary 2 years)

Languages: Cantonese (fluent), English (fluent), Mandarin (intermediate)

Goals: To break into Clean Tech VC/Growth Equity/Start-up/Impact Investing; I am tired of working in Finance where everyone is simply there for the money and chasing returns. What got me interested in the renewables to begin with was the impact these assets bring to the world. In a capitalist society, there is a strong disconnect between public interest and the capital markets. I want to dedicate my career to bridging this gap and funneling more capital towards impactful technologies. I want to establish a global network and gain management skills to manage CleanTech companies towards a bright future.