Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

Dear MBA Admission Consultant,

Kindly need your help to assess my current profile and advise my chances in getting accepted to my target schools:

Biography:
- 25 Male, Chinese ethnic Indonesian. Born in a small city of Indonesia
- GMAT : 730 (Q 50 V 38 IR 8)
- Bachelor in Industrial Engineering from a private university in capital city of Indonesia, GPA 3.79/4
+ finished degree in 3 years with study curriculum that was supposed to be finished in 4 years
+ awarded university scholarships and awards during period of study
+ won 1st place in national Industrial Engineering competition representing university, being the first student from my university who successfully to do so

Work experience:
- Industry IT
- Limited international working experience: Based in Indonesia with regular conference calls and frequent visit to asean region for workshop/training
1. Internship program in Fortune500 IT company
+ being part of 20 interns who were selected from 1000 applicants
+ was the only applicant from my university
2. Sales & Product Management role in Fortune500 IT company (2.5 years)
+ offered with full-time employment after internship
+ granted awards by company for high job performance
3 Sales & Product Management role in other Fortune500 IT company (1.5 years -now)
+ was recruited to competitor with larger responsibility

Extra Curricular activities:
- President of Student Organization during university period
- Member of student religious community during university period
- Actively involved in volunteering activities with current employer

Post-MBA Goals:
- Management Consulting, and VC as long term career aspirations

Target schools:
1. MIT Sloan
2. Yale
3. Judge Cambridge
4. Oxford Said
5. NUS
6. MBS (Manchester)

Dear IndoVC,

Here are a few reflections on the profile:

1. Though the GMAT is good (Verbal percentile?), unless you give a comparative sense on the GPA it is tough to judge the academic strength of your profile. On an absolute basis, it looks good - but that may not really mean much if for instance 80% of your class scored above that! Another factor to bear in mind is that many US schools want 16 years of education - check on that aspect regarding your 3 year degree. More on this here.
2. You have mentioned your role as Sales and Product Management. These functions are VERY different and usually managed by separate departments in most firms. Are you on in a services focused firm or a product one? Is your role mainly selling or you actually work on the technology as well?? These question are critical to understand which pool of applicants you belong to.
3. The school list looks balanced - though it really depends on the point above. If you are from IT services space, in general, it might be a bit tougher

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Dear Manish,

Thank you for taking your valuable time to share some constructive feedback.

For a better view, kindly allow me to share more details on the queries that you mentioned above. If you do not mind, please help to enlighten me further with your expert evaluation after some information below.

1. In terms of GMAT percentile: Quant 50(88%) Verbal 38(85%) Total 730(96%) IR 8 (92%) AWA 4.5 (44%)
On the other hand, my university degree class was relatively small (40 pax), and I was the 2nd highest GPA(top 5-6%). In terms of education period, it was supposed to be a 4 years degree, but since I rushed my degree by taking full credits every semester and accelerated semesters I managed to cut my study period short into 3 years. Will there be any issue for the US schools due to my condition?

2. Let me clarify further on my job role. In general, I am responsible for the business of certain product lines within my assigned territory, which include both hardware and software products. Daily activites include managing the whole 4P marketing mix (product positioning,price,promotion,place), being responsible for P&L & market share, visiting customers, delivering training and presentations during events, those kinds of stuff. May I know whether my chance are higher or lower with my current profile?

Thank you in advance.

Regards,

Future(I wish..) IndoVC

IndoVC wrote:Dear Manish,

Thank you for taking your valuable time to share some constructive feedback.

<<snip>>

Thank you in advance.

Regards,

Future(I wish..) IndoVC

Dear IndoVC,

It will be best to directly check with respective schools regarding your years of academic education. The GMAT + GPA combo doesnt look to be of any hindrance though.

The work experience definitely looks good. Make sure you explain this well to differentiate from peers in the IT industry.

Cheers,

IndoVC,

Your GMAT/ GPA/ standing-in-the-class is definitely above par. As far as qualification of your degree is concerned, I think technically you've a degree for a four-year program. It's another thing that you finished your program in three years. In fact, some of the two-year MBA programs also give you the option of finishing it earlier (3 semesters instead of 4), provided you complete the minimum required credits. Although I'm 95% sure that your undergraduate program will qualify as a four-year program, there is no harm in writing emails to the admission office of the schools where you apply and checking with them.

As far as your professional experience is concerned, you seem to be handling lot of responsibilities! With your profile, you've the potential to make it to some of the schools that you've mentioned. I say 'potential' because it all depends on how you tie up your past experience with future goals, and how you project your candidature.

Hi Manish & Anil,

Thank you for the fruitful feedback! Really appreciate your input.

Regards

Future IndoVC