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Which schools should I target?

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rasithaw
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Which schools should I target? [#permalink] New post   09 Apr 2019, 11:05
Age: 30
Work Ex: 54 months
Industry: Software (Capital markets - 3.5 Years, Camping and Recreation- 1 year)
Function: IT Consultant
Education: B.Sc Electronics Engineering, Master in Management
GMAT: 730 (Q:50, V:39)
Geographies: Sri Lanka, Singapore, France, Canada
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Languages: Sinhala, English, French

Description: Worked in Sri Lanka and was in Singapore for the client site in the capital markets domain. Went to France for a master in management. Currently in Canada working in Camping and rec software.
Want to go into consulting post-MBA with an eventual goal of going back to SL for starting my own consulting company.

Extra Curricular: Started a speech club in France, Led a CSR project while in Sri Lankan company, Consult and invested in several Sri Lankan businesses,
Interests: Travelled around the world, Climbed a Himalayan mountain as the first Sri Lankan group to reach the peak, love to learn new things (Guitar, Making cocktails, CPR safety, Programming)

I would love to work in consulting either in North America. I'm not sure which schools I would be good enough for but still will give me access to consulting.
I'm thinking the University of Toronto but would it make sense to also apply for some American schools such as Harvard, Chicago, Kellog?

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.
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SiaAdmissions
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Re: Which schools should I target? [#permalink] New post   09 Apr 2019, 12:33
Expert Reply
rasithaw wrote:
Age: 30
Work Ex: 54 months
Industry: Software (Capital markets - 3.5 Years, Camping and Recreation- 1 year)
Function: IT Consultant
Education: B.Sc Electronics Engineering, Master in Management
GMAT: 730 (Q:50, V:39)
Geographies: Sri Lanka, Singapore, France, Canada
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Languages: Sinhala, English, French

Description: Worked in Sri Lanka and was in Singapore for the client site in the capital markets domain. Went to France for a master in management. Currently in Canada working in Camping and rec software.
Want to go into consulting post-MBA with an eventual goal of going back to SL for starting my own consulting company.

Extra Curricular: Started a speech club in France, Led a CSR project while in Sri Lankan company, Consult and invested in several Sri Lankan businesses,
Interests: Travelled around the world, Climbed a Himalayan mountain as the first Sri Lankan group to reach the peak, love to learn new things (Guitar, Making cocktails, CPR safety, Programming)

I would love to work in consulting either in North America. I'm not sure which schools I would be good enough for but still will give me access to consulting.
I'm thinking the University of Toronto but would it make sense to also apply for some American schools such as Harvard, Chicago, Kellog?

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.


Hi rasithaw,

I really like your story, especially the diversity of experiences you've had. Your work experience, geographic exposure, extracurricular make for a very compelling profile and I would encourage you to apply to US b-schools as well. If you have it in you, I would also encourage you retake the GMAT and try and increase your verbal score.

Two areas I would like to know more about: (i) Can you speak to your academic GPA? Also, (ii) can you give more detail about your post-MBA goals? I am happy to schedule a call and discuss, so we can help you further identify the types of schools you should be targetting. If interested, please reach out.

Thank you for posting your profile, and good luck with the MBA applications!
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rasithaw
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Joined: 12 Sep 2016
Posts: 17
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GRE 1: Q168 V162
GPA: 3.55
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Re: Which schools should I target? [#permalink] New post   09 Apr 2019, 13:40
SiaAdmissions wrote:
rasithaw wrote:
Age: 30
Work Ex: 54 months
Industry: Software (Capital markets - 3.5 Years, Camping and Recreation- 1 year)
Function: IT Consultant
Education: B.Sc Electronics Engineering, Master in Management
GMAT: 730 (Q:50, V:39)
Geographies: Sri Lanka, Singapore, France, Canada
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Languages: Sinhala, English, French

Description: Worked in Sri Lanka and was in Singapore for the client site in the capital markets domain. Went to France for a master in management. Currently in Canada working in Camping and rec software.
Want to go into consulting post-MBA with an eventual goal of going back to SL for starting my own consulting company.

Extra Curricular: Started a speech club in France, Led a CSR project while in Sri Lankan company, Consult and invested in several Sri Lankan businesses,
Interests: Travelled around the world, Climbed a Himalayan mountain as the first Sri Lankan group to reach the peak, love to learn new things (Guitar, Making cocktails, CPR safety, Programming)

I would love to work in consulting either in North America. I'm not sure which schools I would be good enough for but still will give me access to consulting.
I'm thinking the University of Toronto but would it make sense to also apply for some American schools such as Harvard, Chicago, Kellog?

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.


Hi rasithaw,

I really like your story, especially the diversity of experiences you've had. Your work experience, geographic exposure, extracurricular make for a very compelling profile and I would encourage you to apply to US b-schools as well. If you have it in you, I would also encourage you retake the GMAT and try and increase your verbal score.

Two areas I would like to know more about: (i) Can you speak to your academic GPA? Also, (ii) can you give more detail about your post-MBA goals? I am happy to schedule a call and discuss, so we can help you further identify the types of schools you should be targetting. If interested, please reach out.

Thank you for posting your profile, and good luck with the MBA applications!


Hi Thanks for the reply,
I did the GMAT without any real preparation because I couldn't really find the time to prepare. So I could possibly increase it but I read that 730 is good enough.
I had a 3.74/4.2 which is about 3.5 in 4gpa scale.

Post MBA: I'd love to work for MBB, or any other top mgt consulting company. I want to gain a wide exposure to different industries (which is kind of why I like mgt consulting the best)
After say 5 years or so, I'd love to take the contacts I built in my career and go back to Sri lanka to help Sri lankan businesses gain from my experience.

Do you have a general idea about what kind of US schools I would have a chance for? Would you say I should go for the top ones or more top 10-20?
Is there no point in applying to Harvard for example?
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Re: Which schools should I target? [#permalink] New post   09 Apr 2019, 17:18
Expert Reply
rasithaw wrote:
Age: 30
Work Ex: 54 months
Industry: Software (Capital markets - 3.5 Years, Camping and Recreation- 1 year)
Function: IT Consultant
Education: B.Sc Electronics Engineering, Master in Management
GMAT: 730 (Q:50, V:39)
Geographies: Sri Lanka, Singapore, France, Canada
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Languages: Sinhala, English, French

Description: Worked in Sri Lanka and was in Singapore for the client site in the capital markets domain. Went to France for a master in management. Currently in Canada working in Camping and rec software.
Want to go into consulting post-MBA with an eventual goal of going back to SL for starting my own consulting company.

Extra Curricular: Started a speech club in France, Led a CSR project while in Sri Lankan company, Consult and invested in several Sri Lankan businesses,
Interests: Travelled around the world, Climbed a Himalayan mountain as the first Sri Lankan group to reach the peak, love to learn new things (Guitar, Making cocktails, CPR safety, Programming)

I would love to work in consulting either in North America. I'm not sure which schools I would be good enough for but still will give me access to consulting.
I'm thinking the University of Toronto but would it make sense to also apply for some American schools such as Harvard, Chicago, Kellog?

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.


Hi rasithaw!

If your goal is MBB consulting, then any of the top 12-15 schools will get you where you need to go. Now, some schools (like the ones you have listed) send a ton of people to these three firms in the most desirable locations and others send far fewer to satellite offices in less desirable cities. Do you have a preference on where in the United States you would like to work? Are you more attracted to a big city or do you prefer a smaller, more regional location?

With your current profile and international experience, I can see you being a very competitive candidate at the top-12 schools. What you should do is pull out the most recent U.S. News rankings and go school by school and see which fit you from an academic, career, and cultural standpoint.

Feel free to reach out at scott@personalmbacoach.com to discuss your candidacy and a plan of action! I think you've got a great shot to be successful in this process.

Regards,
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SiaAdmissions
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Re: Which schools should I target? [#permalink] New post   09 Apr 2019, 18:51
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Hi rasithaw,

Thank you for the color. I do recommend you look at the top 15 MBA programs. As these are top b-schools, you do want to apply to multiple programs and start your process early to ensure that you have time to prepare and submit your best application (in the first two rounds). I do recommend you have a target list in hand, so spend some time researching each of the schools and identify key factors that may provide the best opportunities and the most meaningful experiences. You can use this article to help put together your best target b-school list.


I am happy to speak further about your goals and ambitions and discuss a strategy that may work for you. You do have a well-rounded profile, and a compelling story for Harvard, so do include it on your target list.

Best of luck!
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MG4MBACrystalBall
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Re: Which schools should I target? [#permalink] New post   09 Apr 2019, 22:59
A few more reflections on your profile rasithaw:
  1. The academic contours hint at being ok or above average. The latter and beyond will depend on two things. One, the brand of your MiM college - was it one of the top ones? Also, how is the brand of your undergrad college locally/globally? Two, the GMAT score bump. Currently, you are about at the average for the 3 programs you mention and many top ones. While that can be 'good enough', it may not be sufficient to pull you up, in case you don't have the brand pedigree and others stuff. So if you think you can boost the score, definitely worth the pain/effort.
  2. The work profile is decent. It is not clear as to the change in profile you've managed post the MiM - have you managed to move to the business side of IT or still in progress? It would be important to distinguish between the two, understand the brand of your employers and why, after MiM, you still feel the need for MBA (and it can't be just as a ticket to an MBB).
  3. The ECs sound pretty interesting though quite eclectic too. This can go either ways; the primary determinant being what kind of impact/continuity have you had. So think of consolidation there.
  4. For reasons mentioned here, we don't speculate on school selection. But it might be worth expanding from say the top 3 to top 15 to ensure you spread your risks.

Hope this help some.

Cheers,
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rasithaw
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GRE 1: Q168 V162
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Re: Which schools should I target? [#permalink] New post   10 Apr 2019, 07:47
MG4MBACrystalBall wrote:
A few more reflections on your profile rasithaw:
  1. The academic contours hint at being ok or above average. The latter and beyond will depend on two things. One, the brand of your MiM college - was it one of the top ones? Also, how is the brand of your undergrad college locally/globally? Two, the GMAT score bump. Currently, you are about at the average for the 3 programs you mention and many top ones. While that can be 'good enough', it may not be sufficient to pull you up, in case you don't have the brand pedigree and others stuff. So if you think you can boost the score, definitely worth the pain/effort.
  2. The work profile is decent. It is not clear as to the change in profile you've managed post the MiM - have you managed to move to the business side of IT or still in progress? It would be important to distinguish between the two, understand the brand of your employers and why, after MiM, you still feel the need for MBA (and it can't be just as a ticket to an MBB).
  3. The ECs sound pretty interesting though quite eclectic too. This can go either ways; the primary determinant being what kind of impact/continuity have you had. So think of consolidation there.
  4. For reasons mentioned here, we don't speculate on school selection. But it might be worth expanding from say the top 3 to top 15 to ensure you spread your risks.

Hope this help some.

Cheers,


Thanks, It's always good to get diverse opinions. I also presented my story here in the most positive light, once I get into the weeds it becomes less compelling. The MiM is one the top in France, but it's not well known outside of France. The undergrad is the top engineering school in Sri Lanka but well, it's Sri Lanka so nobody else would know about it.

I did not really change my function after the MiM. But it definitely helped me land the job in Canada as they saw me as more interesting and capable than someone coming from a random third world country.

I'm leaning towards Duke, Kellog, Tuck, Harvard, UofT.
Harvard being the obvious reach school
UofT being the safe one.

Thanks again for everyone who gave me their opinions. I will do more research on schools and how to improve my profile.
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Re: Which schools should I target? [#permalink]
10 Apr 2019, 07:47

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