Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

mcbMcK wrote:

Rockstaaa wrote:
well doing following are the reasons why i did my economics :
1. cover up low gpa
2. only jobs available with a b.com(a and f) was accounting jobs
3. I was always intrested in economics
4. there was this guy whom i used to look up to while i was in mck . he had done his masters in economics and then did his mba .
5. i could have done a pgdm at that time , but i didnt want to do a pgdm from "just" another university in the city or in india .
6. and i had financial issues at home .

Basically these were the reasons . do u think it would have been better if i could have just gone for a job and not for a masters in economics ? is that the reason which screwed up my profile ? (cause i have a younger sister and even she is planning to do the same ).

Asking and Requesting,

Fudge

Dear Rockstaaa,
I wouldnt say the profile is screwed up or you did something right/wrong. The point is to present this in the most logical manner so that your decisions are not misconstrued by the adcom. For instance, 2, 3 and 6 above are perfectly valid reasons.
The only thing I am pointing to is, think of how the various dots in your profile connect, to make what you are today - assuming all of those dots were made by you in the first place, consciously and with a certain rational motive.

Helps?

Ah, This kinda cleared the doubt which I was having . And , yes it has helped me alot in understanding how an application should be presented . it looks like it should be like a story , everything in a flow .

Ok, this is my final question . Would you suggest that my profile is strong enough for ISB R2 ?
Or is there anything more I can do to improve my profile ? willing to take one more year to improve it if i can make it stronger .


Thanking and Requesting ,


Rockstaaa

Rockstaaa wrote:
<<snip>>

Ok, this is my final question . Would you suggest that my profile is strong enough for ISB R2 ?
Or is there anything more I can do to improve my profile ? willing to take one more year to improve it if i can make it stronger .

Thanking and Requesting ,

Rockstaaa

If you think you can improve that GMAT score, it should help your chances at ISB. Other than that, by all means, go ahead.

mcbMcK wrote:

Rockstaaa wrote:
<<snip>>

Ok, this is my final question . Would you suggest that my profile is strong enough for ISB R2 ?
Or is there anything more I can do to improve my profile ? willing to take one more year to improve it if i can make it stronger .

Thanking and Requesting ,

Rockstaaa

If you think you can improve that GMAT score, it should help your chances at ISB. Other than that, by all means, go ahead.

Oh ! thanks for helping out mcbMcK .
i'm seriously considering taking the Gmat again , as that seems to be an obstical .
Will update if I take the gmat .

Thanking ,

Rockstaaa

Hi Sameer,

Can you please comment on my profile?

Indian Female Entrepreneur working in a family firm.
Age: 25

ACADEMICS:
1. GMAT - 650 (after 3 tries) - Q46, V34
2. Graduated Undergrad with First Class (Distinction) and a GPA of 80/100 (Computer Science Engineering)
3. School GPA - 87% both in 10th and 12th CBSE

WORK EXPERIENCE:
1. Worked for 1 year in Software Development.
2. Switched into a family firm in real estate consulting, for a total work ex of 4+ years currently. Will have 5+ at matriculation next year.
3. Family business environment, leadership experience and initiatives on marketing projects, with digital marketing expertise.
4. Short term goal: Pursue a Digital marketing manager position in a technology/e-commerce company, or a Marketing Consultant role.
5. Long term goal: Set up a Digital Marketing consultancy focused on helping small businesses succeed online with their growth strategies.

EXTRACURRICULAR AND OTHER INTERESTS:
1. Was active in Sports during school and college, interested even now. Enjoy Strength training at the gym and very involved in fitness.
2. Deeply passionate about Baking as a hobby, and part of a women's entrepreneur bakers group and regularly get involved in organizing bake sales.
3. Pursuing some Internet Marketing certifications.

I have applied to ISB, and I want to also target Kenan Flagler (EA Round 1), Indiana Kelley(R2), NUS (R1) and also one other school strong in Marketing (R2).

Please advise on which schools to target?
Thanks!

hifunda wrote:Hi Sameer,

Can you please comment on my profile?

Indian Female Entrepreneur working in a family firm.
Age: 25

ACADEMICS:
1. GMAT - 650 (after 3 tries) - Q46, V34
2. Graduated Undergrad with First Class (Distinction) and a GPA of 80/100 (Computer Science Engineering)
3. School GPA - 87% both in 10th and 12th CBSE

<<snip>>

I have applied to ISB, and I want to also target Kenan Flagler (EA Round 1), Indiana Kelley(R2), NUS (R1) and also one other school strong in Marketing (R2).

Please advise on which schools to target?
Thanks!

Dear hifunda,

Without going into too much details since you have a pointed question, my advise would be to refer the top marketing programs. But do bear in mind that areas that may pull down your chances such as the GMAT score and a lack of experience in your post-MBA goal - not sure if you have done so much digital marketing at your family business for instance? The UNC deadline is pretty soon, so if you havent already, you should put single minded focus on that for now

School selection and application strategy are pretty evolved subjects and we refrain from making gut based recommendations. But if you have a dilemma between 2-3 schools, we may be able to share general opinion on those.

Cheers,

mcbMcK wrote:

hifunda wrote:Hi Sameer,

Can you please comment on my profile?

Indian Female Entrepreneur working in a family firm.
Age: 25

ACADEMICS:
1. GMAT - 650 (after 3 tries) - Q46, V34
2. Graduated Undergrad with First Class (Distinction) and a GPA of 80/100 (Computer Science Engineering)
3. School GPA - 87% both in 10th and 12th CBSE

<<snip>>

I have applied to ISB, and I want to also target Kenan Flagler (EA Round 1), Indiana Kelley(R2), NUS (R1) and also one other school strong in Marketing (R2).

Please advise on which schools to target?
Thanks!

Dear hifunda,

Without going into too much details since you have a pointed question, my advise would be to refer the top marketing programs. But do bear in mind that areas that may pull down your chances such as the GMAT score and a lack of experience in your post-MBA goal - not sure if you have done so much digital marketing at your family business for instance? The UNC deadline is pretty soon, so if you havent already, you should put single minded focus on that for now

School selection and application strategy are pretty evolved subjects and we refrain from making gut based recommendations. But if you have a dilemma between 2-3 schools, we may be able to share general opinion on those.

Cheers,

Hi MG,

Thanks a lot for your reply. I understand some points were very brief, so to clarify:

1. My current role is purely into Digital Marketing. To elaborate, I concentrate purely on online activities, instead of the entire gamut of marketing that usually includes traditional offline channels of advertising as well. Don't know how that didn't come across. So, my goals are actually pretty clear from my current role to where I want to go and it's safe to say I have a lot of entrepreneurial and marketing experience for an MBA. Your thoughts?

2. Yes I know the Kenan Flagler deadline is coming up and I'm working hard on their app, just wanted to let you know what schools I have already decided on, and I want one more school suggestion based on the info I have given. All the schools I am applying to have strong Marketing programs, but I am now stuck between evaluating Marshall, Texas Austin or Goizueta in Round 2.. Please advise.

3. And, do point out some strengths I can leverage from the above info, and possible weaknesses (except GMAT) that I may try to mitigate.

Thanks!!

hifunda wrote: Hi MG,

Thanks a lot for your reply. I understand some points were very brief, so to clarify:

1. My current role is purely into Digital Marketing. To elaborate, I concentrate purely on online activities, instead of the entire gamut of marketing that usually includes traditional offline channels of advertising as well. Don't know how that didn't come across. So, my goals are actually pretty clear from my current role to where I want to go and it's safe to say I have a lot of entrepreneurial and marketing experience for an MBA. Your thoughts?

2. Yes I know the Kenan Flagler deadline is coming up and I'm working hard on their app, just wanted to let you know what schools I have already decided on, and I want one more school suggestion based on the info I have given. All the schools I am applying to have strong Marketing programs, but I am now stuck between evaluating Marshall, Texas Austin or Goizueta in Round 2.. Please advise.

3. And, do point out some strengths I can leverage from the above info, and possible weaknesses (except GMAT) that I may try to mitigate.

Thanks!!

Dear hifunda,

Response to your queries:

1. Sure, then it would make sense in terms of the overall story and motivation for the MBA
2. For reasons mentioned on this forum a lot of times, and here, I would not hazard a guess on this
3. I think the strong part of your application is your entrepreneurship experience. If you are clear on how your pre-MBA connects to your post-MBA goals, this could be a pretty compelling story to paint. The aspect to be aware of would be to explain the rationale for quitting a job in an year - that is tricky and can should you as fickle minded. Blind spot to be aware of!

Cheers,

Hi,

Request your help in evaluating my profile:

1) 73 Months of Full time Work-ex in by August 2014
- 24 months in Financial Services,India(IT Support)
- 17 Months in Real Estate Information Services as part of Texas A&M University,USA (Part Time)
- 9 Months in an IT Consultancy services firm
- 21 Months in Deloitte Forensics(Financial Advisory) as part Data Analytics team
- 12 Months in TCS as a Data Analytics professional(Present)

2) GMAT Score: 660 (Q50 V29, AWA- 5.5, IR-1)
3) Education:
Undergraduate:
College : Mumbai University, Mumbai, India
GPA: 3.5/4.0
Major: Computer Science
Year of graduation: June 2006

Graduate:
College: Mays Business School, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
GPA: 3.33/4.0
Major: Management Information Systems(MIS)
Year of graduation: May 2010

4) Achievements/Honors & Awards:

"¢ Winner, CMIS Case Study Competition, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University, October 2008.
"¢ Recipient, CMIS (October 2008), REAL ESTATE CENTER (August 2009).

5) Not that significant as it's technical. Certification: Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) for Microsoft Business Intelligence Developer 2005
6) Target Programs:
- UNC Kenan Flagler Full Time MBA
- McCombs, UT Austin Full Time MBA
- Kelley Full Time MBA
- Mendoza Full Time
- Georgetown (McDonough) Full Time MBA
- Emory Full Time MBA
- Schulich Full Time MBA

Please suggest any good schools if my profile suits those schools. I would like to apply and avail of any possible scholarship opportunities as well.

7)Goals: Short-term: Work for a Strategy Consulting firm for at most 5 years. Long Term: Set up my own venture in Strategy consulting

Thanks.

abhijeet_g wrote:Hi,

Request your help in evaluating my profile:

<<snip>>

6) Target Programs:
- UNC Kenan Flagler Full Time MBA
- McCombs, UT Austin Full Time MBA
- Kelley Full Time MBA
- Mendoza Full Time
- Georgetown (McDonough) Full Time MBA
- Emory Full Time MBA
- Schulich Full Time MBA

Please suggest any good schools if my profile suits those schools. I would like to apply and avail of any possible scholarship opportunities as well.

7)Goals: Short-term: Work for a Strategy Consulting firm for at most 5 years. Long Term: Set up my own venture in Strategy consulting

Thanks.

Dear Abhijeet,

Following thoughts come to mind as one reads through your profile details:

1. It is not clear which part of the work you did before and which after your MIS program. But the nature of work does not seem to be consistent through the years. So you will have to explain the changes and connect the dots well
2. Your school list is fairly balanced one. On school suggestion though, you may want to read this. Another factor to be aware of would be the fact that the GMAT score will put you at a bit of disadvantage.
3. The short term goal may be defendable given your analytics work. But there doesnt seem to be any evidence or rationale for your long term goal. If it is just a wish, then you would do better to think a little deeper.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Hi ,

Kindly evaluate my profile and provide your valuable inputs on B-schools i should be aiming for.

Indian Female working in F&S domain in Accenture
Location: Bloomington,IL,USA
Age: 25

GMAT:
GMAT - 690 - Q46, V39 ,IR-7

Education Qualification: Bachelor of Engineering - Electronics and Communication 71.01% First Division:2008
 10th Standard: CBSE: 88.8% school topper :2002
 12th Standard : CBSE: 78.2% 2004

Summer trainings and Internship:

DRDO: Defense research and Development organisation
Research assistant for Solid state physics LASER. Was actively involved in:
"¢ Creation/Assembly of Solid state laser
"¢ Analysis on the research papers presented on Solid state results

ERTL: Electronics regional testing lab
"¢ Study of State-of-the-art Anaechoic Chamber
"¢ Study of the process of CE certification of digital instruments(Surge and Burst test)

WORK EXPERIENCE:
Currently working as a Test lead for a leading auto insurance client in USA.
The responsibilities include:
"¢ Test plan,Test strategy and other tesing deliverables
"¢ Testing coordination
"¢ Requirements Analysis
"¢ Creating detailed design
"¢ Creation and Execution of System test cases
"¢ Defect Tracking in TRAC "¢
Involved in Peer Review
"¢ System Testing


Extra curricular actvities
Accenture
*GCP (Global career program)onboarding team:
Aimed at:
1)Helping new joiners at onsite during their initial stay.
2)Assisting them in documentation and paperwork

*GCP Scheduling team:
Interviewing Subcontarctors for accenture and aligning them as per job openings.

*GCP LKM team:
Planning and coordinating:
1)Rewards &recognition programs
2)Mentoring Lunches
3)Know your leads initiative
4)Cultural diversity programs

*GCP Corporate citizenship:
Helping homeless and needy(Food,clothing and monetary help)

*Akshaya Patra Initiative (For providing food to the needy)
* Technical paper presentation on : Impact of driver less cars in Auto insurance
* Participated in Bloomington -Normal Half Marathon.


College Level:"¢ Founding member of Orator's club
"¢ Founding Member's of spiritual Club.
"¢ Active member of Electronics group :The digitals
"¢ Organised Technical fest for ECE dept.
"¢ Was active contributor for College Fest

School level:
"¢ Got many awards and accolades for debates ,declamation ,group song and Poem recitation.
"¢ Won Poem reciation competition for regional level for Kendriya Vidyalaya
"¢ Won drawing competition organised by Bal Bhawan
"¢ Was House captain and participated and won many prizes in Kendriya Vidyalaya

Hobbies/Interests:
"¢ Jogging/Long Distance Running
"¢ Hiking/Canoeing
"¢ Cooking (Indian/International cuisine) Desserts &Baking in particular
"¢ Music
"¢ Watching Historical movies &Documentaries

I plan to apply in R2.
Also, kindly suggest whether aiming for ISB with this core is justified or not.

Thanks
Ritz

brat_ritz wrote:Hi ,

Kindly evaluate my profile and provide your valuable inputs on B-schools i should be aiming for.

Indian Female working in F&S domain in Accenture
Location: Bloomington,IL,USA
Age: 25

GMAT:
GMAT - 690 - Q46, V39 ,IR-7

Education Qualification: Bachelor of Engineering - Electronics and Communication 71.01% First Division:2008

<<snip>>

Hobbies/Interests:
"¢ Jogging/Long Distance Running
"¢ Hiking/Canoeing
"¢ Cooking (Indian/International cuisine) Desserts &Baking in particular
"¢ Music
"¢ Watching Historical movies &Documentaries

I plan to apply in R2.
Also, kindly suggest whether aiming for ISB with this core is justified or not.

Thanks
Ritz

Dear Ritz,

Thanks for reaching out to us. Here are a few things to keep in mind while you prepare your application strategy:

1. A bit late in the date even from R2 perspective, any reasons you are starting now? What's your level of preparedness - have selected the schools or is that still an open point?
2. Without insights on where you did your undergrad from, it is tough to take a call on the strength of the profile. I guess you have about 5 years of work-ex by now given you passed out in 2008? But if that's the case, then is it true that you passed out of college at an age than most do? Will be good to get a handle on this. It is also not clear whether you are involved in physical 'auto' crash testings process or more on the software side? If the former, then the profile could be really interesting. If latter, it will be useful to understand if that's what you've been doing for the past 5 years.
3. The ECs add an interesting dimension to your profile, worth exploiting while creating the essays.
4. One thing that is certain is that GMAT score does put a spanner when it comes to a school such as ISB given the higher average. But I would reserve the judgement before getting more information on b above.

Cheers,

sonam_gmat wrote:Hi Sameer,

Can you please evaluate my profile

I am an Indian female
Age- 23
GMAT-650 (q-47 ,v-33)
Undergrad - Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science- 78% (VTU)
I have interned at ISRO during my 3rd year.

<<snip>>

Can you please evaluate my profile and tell me whether I am a competitive candidate for these programs. Please suggest more schools for MBA in Operations/SCM . Please suggest 1/2 stretch schools as well.
Will it help if I retake GMAT ?

Thanks in advance.

Sonam,

It has been yours truly who has been fielding questions on this forum for a while
Here are some thoughts for you:

1. Given your profile, I think the school list you have is already a good mix in terms of the overall risk. Kelley bordering on stretch and Broad/Smeal potentially achievable. But I agree you can add 1-2 more schools to it. For reasons mentioned here though, I would refrain from dishing out gut-based recommendations.
2. The GMAT is an obvious weak point. Given the Indian average tends to be on the higher side and the fact that you are from a pretty competitive industry pool, that score will pull down your chances heavily. So if you think you can improve that by 30-50 points, it would definitely be worth another shot
3. Finally merely knowing which area you'd like to do your MBA is not enough. You should also know what you want to do post the MBA. So think hard on that.

Hope this helps,
Cheers,

mcbMcK wrote:

brat_ritz wrote:Hi ,

Kindly evaluate my profile and provide your valuable inputs on B-schools i should be aiming for.

Indian Female working in F&S domain in Accenture
Location: Bloomington,IL,USA
Age: 25

GMAT:
GMAT - 690 - Q46, V39 ,IR-7

Education Qualification: Bachelor of Engineering - Electronics and Communication 71.01% First Division:2008

<<snip>>

Hobbies/Interests:
"¢ Jogging/Long Distance Running
"¢ Hiking/Canoeing
"¢ Cooking (Indian/International cuisine) Desserts &Baking in particular
"¢ Music
"¢ Watching Historical movies &Documentaries

I plan to apply in R2.
Also, kindly suggest whether aiming for ISB with this core is justified or not.

Thanks
Ritz

Dear Ritz,

Thanks for reaching out to us. Here are a few things to keep in mind while you prepare your application strategy:

1. A bit late in the date even from R2 perspective, any reasons you are starting now? What's your level of preparedness - have selected the schools or is that still an open point?
2. Without insights on where you did your undergrad from, it is tough to take a call on the strength of the profile. I guess you have about 5 years of work-ex by now given you passed out in 2008? But if that's the case, then is it true that you passed out of college at an age than most do? Will be good to get a handle on this. It is also not clear whether you are involved in physical 'auto' crash testings process or more on the software side? If the former, then the profile could be really interesting. If latter, it will be useful to understand if that's what you've been doing for the past 5 years.
3. The ECs add an interesting dimension to your profile, worth exploiting while creating the essays.
4. One thing that is certain is that GMAT score does put a spanner when it comes to a school such as ISB given the higher average. But I would reserve the judgement before getting more information on b above.

Cheers,

Hi,
Please find below answers to your questions:

1.Fairly simple reason of starting now:i gave my GMAT few days back on 16th Nov.I know that it was not pretty wise of me to have waited this long but that is the way it is.I am yet to decide on what all schools i can apply to.But applying to ISB &NUS for now
2.Did my undergrad from Kurukshetra university (Non-IIT)in 2008.work ex is 4.5 yrs(Not exactly 5 since our joining dates were delayed due to 2008 recession)
2009-2011 : worked at offshore location Chennai,India
2012Jan- Present :working at onsite ,Bloomington ,Illinois,USA

Yes i did graduate in 2008.As far as age is concerned,I will turn 26 next month.I actually edited post earlier changing it to 26.But,somehow it is not getting reflected.

Current work Profile:
Since the time i joined I have been working for the same client,same company.
I am currently working as a Test lead for an Auto insurance client for Accenture.It is not a physical "auto" crash testing but software testing for a Work force optimisation tool used by client.
I have also worked in P&C Rating(Property and Casualty rating)in testing of tools used by underwriters to calculate insurance premiums as well as detailed rating calculation breakdowns
Unified communications area: Basically testing of CISCO set up (hard phones) and ICM scripts (Call flows/call routing) used by by client in the call flows used by insurance agents in contact centers

Thnx
Ritz

Hey there ,

Following is my profile . I am a 26year old Indian male .
-Did my B.com 62%
- Have a NCFM certificate in Fundamental Analysis and Financial markets issued by National Stock exchange (NSE)
-GMAT - 700

-worked at a shared service centre of mckinsey&co for 7months .
where for 3months I was the point of contact for their oracle r12 testing .

- after that I left cause I thought i was not really learing anything of use other than MSexcel .
So I joined my dad in his business (small iron sheets trading business and an agency) ; we were able to increase our turnover by 5% from the previous year and we were able to bring in 3 new clients in our agency . Worked for 1.2years and left cause of family problems .in that time I gained intrest in stock markets and started studying it online through sites and investing small amounts.

- Then joined a small PE firm as a Research Analyst . Worked there for 3 years . Was promoted to Senior Research analyst during my second year .Basically my job is to look at PE firms activities , M&A activities and analyse them and produce reports (rather help produce reports)


Extra-Curricular :
- volunteer at a charitable trust for 2.5years .
- published papers on stock market in a few journals.

Goals:
- I intend to get into investment banking for the short term (5-10years)
- intend to have my own venture capital firm (10+years)


It would be very helpful if you could evaluate my profie and let me know if my profile is apt for the following programs :
1. Warwick Business school
2. ISB
3. Oxford
4. Cambridge .



Thanking and Regards,
Raj

brat_ritz wrote: <<snip>>

Current work Profile:
Since the time i joined I have been working for the same client,same company.
I am currently working as a Test lead for an Auto insurance client for Accenture.It is not a physical "auto" crash testing but software testing for a Work force optimisation tool used by client.
I have also worked in P&C Rating(Property and Casualty rating)in testing of tools used by underwriters to calculate insurance premiums as well as detailed rating calculation breakdowns
Unified communications area: Basically testing of CISCO set up (hard phones) and ICM scripts (Call flows/call routing) used by by client in the call flows used by insurance agents in contact centers

Thnx
Ritz

Dear Ritz,

Thanks for the clarifications. Given this understanding, I would reiterate my earlier point - the GMAT would definitely be a handicap for both the schools. There is barely enough time left for ISB, so perhaps you should go ahead and apply - ensuring other parts of the application are covered well.

Cheers,