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Hi

My name is Abhinandan. I am looking to do a full-time MBA from one of these schools (Wharton/Booth/Tuck/MIT Sloan/NYU Stern/Haas). I feel my profile is weak and want help to enable me improve it.

So here is my background - I am 23.5 years old (Indian male). I am a Chartered Accountant (CA). I started my CA right out of school - you should know that there are three levels (Entrance, Intermediate and Final). Once I completed my entrance and intermediate levels, I am required to undergo 3 years of articleship (practical training). This is a pre-requisite for me to appear for the CA-final exam. I underwent my articleship with KPMG (Big 4 -Audit division). Though this was an articleship, from the end of my first year, I was leading audit teams (statutory audit) as an engagement in-charge.

In my 3rd year, I wrote my CA-Final exam and passed it in my first attempt. The overall pass percentage in country was 3.1%. I scored 6 marks lesser than the All India 50th rank candidate (who was a friend). So out of 30K people who appeared for the exam, I was among the 900 who passed the exam and was close to the 50th rank. (I am giving these details to inquire if the above matter to business schools or will they only look that I passed the CA final exam)

Post my CA I did my under graduation with an university named Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). Since CA does not require graduation and is more valuable than B-com, I started out directly without doing my graduation. IGNOU had a tie-up with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India wherein if I gave a specific set of exams, I would be issued the Bachelor of Commerce degree. I obtained my B-com through this without going to college.

However, my overall marks for graduation were not high since a portion of the marks were taken from my CA marks - which are low in absolute terms (56.2% in CA-final though is low in absolute terms - relatively it was more than 99th percentile)

Post my CA-final, I continued in KPMG audit for about 8 months and got a transfer to the Deal Advisory department in Oct 2014. I presently work in the Deal Advisory department of KPMG (9 months and counting). In effect, I have about 4 years and 5 months now including my articleship.

I intend to write GMAT sometime in October 2015. I am aiming for a score not less than 740. I intend to apply to schools in Sep 2016.

In terms of extra-curricular I don't have much to show due to hectic work schedules. I used to play basketball and cricket in school - but don't really have certificates to prove anything.

I used to visit orphanages through office to teach children and also attended tree plantation drives. I was part of a social club who used to visit orphanages during festivals and give them food, clothes etc. I would really want to improve my co-curricular profile and require guidance on what I can do.

So my overall concerns are the following:
> I don't have a proper graduation obtained from a full-time college and the marks I secured are low (60%)
> My work experience seems decent - but that's presuming my 3 years articleship would be considered as work experience. Though I was an article, I was a full time employee for all practical purposes.
> My co-curricular profile is weak since I didn't attend college - I can't demonstrate leadership skills.

Presuming I get a GMAT score of 740+ and I do develop my co-curricular activities during the next 1 year, how strong is my profile to apply in any of the above mentioned schools?

Please help - let me know in case of any clarifications.

Hi Abhirox,
I'm wondering if you're the same guy who asked about consultants...now that you share the info about your education background I suspect it is you. Nice to see you again.

Yes - the CA system is different from what we have in the US. You will need to do some explanations about your situation, to both consultants in the US and to the schools. However, you are not the first CA who is applying to b-schools in the US, so top schools they will have some knowledge about the program and the way it works.

There are a few questions:
1. How will they calculate your full time experience? The instructions are to calculate full time experience post graduation, so training isn't part of that, usually. If your current role is senior and your rec letters can support your growth and maturity you could probably balance being younger than most students (and with less post-graduation experience).

2. There are many applicants from finance/accounting background, and it is very competitive, especially for candidates from India. To get into the schools above you have to be super impressive. There are a few options: spend more time improving your profile (community work, make sure your GMAT is good), or apply to a wider set of schools.

3. Academics - do must people go to college while doing the CA? If so, you will need to explain why you have decided to work (maybe you needed the fund, wanted to learn). A lot depends on what is the standard for people. It's nice to have very strong marks in these entrance exams - they will expect you to do well in the GMAT too. .


Yael
www.admit1mba.com

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