Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

Hi

New to this forum, I need some expert guidance on how to begin my MBA application. I am yet to select any schools or programs. Though I would like to attend one of the top B-schools. My profile is as follows and any advice on what to use as a starting point would be appreciated Smile

GMAT: 720 (Q50, V38) 94th percentile, AWA 5.5 IR 7
Degree: Masters in Information Security GPA: 3.65 GeorgiaTech, USA
Degree: Bachelors in Information Technology GPA: 3.1 DA-IICT, India
Work Experience: 2 years Associate at PwC US (Technology Consultant). Elected for Financial Services Academy Leadership Committee, North America
~1 year Solutions Architect, Akamai Technologies. Winner of Spot Award for exceptional customer-focus.
Summer Internship as Internal IT Auditor at Time Warner Inc.

Lived in two countries so international exposure and diversity. Indian Female, Age:27.

Based on these data points, would I be considered for at least a few of the following top B-schools:

1. HBS
2. Stanford
3. Wharton
4. MIT Sloan
5. Columbia
6. Berkeley
7. LBS
8. INSEAD
9. NUS
10. Booth

Hi shaileethaker,

Your academic stats are around the mean/ median of the top schools, so that shouldn't be a concern. However, academic stats are sort of hygiene factors - low scores can keep you out, but high are unlikely to pull you through on their own.

Now, top schools (in fact, most) value leadership (I see you've 3+ years of work experience and you may not hold a formal leadership position, but more effective experiences are those where you didn't hold a formal position of authority), career progression in terms of promotions and/ or increase in responsibilities, and diversity. And that's where you separate from the pack. That's what will get you through.

Second, have clarity about your post-MBA career goals. Although most top schools will take you to most industries, some may be better than others. For example, if you want to work in Finance, Wharton, Columbia, and Booth (and Stern, which isn't in your list) will serve you better than, say, MIT or INSEAD. To give another example, if you want to work in tech - which is quite popular on B-school campuses these days - then you may consider schools on the West coast (the likes of Haas and UCLA) as recruitment is largely regional (post-MBA, most students work in the geography of their school) and most tech companies have base on the West coast. Even Tepper, on the East, can be a good option if you want to recruit in tech.

Coming to the list of schools you've mentioned, I'd say they are 'stretch', and you should temper your list with few schools where you've 'reasonable' chance of getting in.

shaileethaker wrote:Hi

New to this forum, I need some expert guidance on how to begin my MBA application. I am yet to select any schools or programs. Though I would like to attend one of the top B-schools. My profile is as follows and any advice on what to use as a starting point would be appreciated Smile

GMAT: 720 (Q50, V38) 94th percentile, AWA 5.5 IR 7
Degree: Masters in Information Security GPA: 3.65 GeorgiaTech, USA
Degree: Bachelors in Information Technology GPA: 3.1 DA-IICT, India
Work Experience: 2 years Associate at PwC US (Technology Consultant). Elected for Financial Services Academy Leadership Committee, North America
~1 year Solutions Architect, Akamai Technologies. Winner of Spot Award for exceptional customer-focus.
Summer Internship as Internal IT Auditor at Time Warner Inc.

Lived in two countries so international exposure and diversity. Indian Female, Age:27.

Based on these data points, would I be considered for at least a few of the following top B-schools:

1. HBS
2. Stanford
3. Wharton
4. MIT Sloan
5. Columbia
6. Berkeley
7. LBS
8. INSEAD
9. NUS
10. Booth

What do you want to do post MBA? Also, are you targeting 2017 intake?

Let us know so that we can evaluate your profile better.

Apphelp Team

Hi,

Here is my profile in brief:

GMAT: 730
Undergrad: B.Tech in Chemical Engineeering from NIT Warangal (CGPA: 7.2 /10)
Work experience:
2 years at a UBS investment bank captive covering the TMT sector for the APAC region
2 years at Rothschild investment bank - leading M&A advisory in India

Worked on multiple transactions while at both UBS and Rothschild.

Other qualifications:
CFA level 3 candidate

Extra-curricular activities:
Various medals and awards in sports and music at zone/interzone/national levels
President of the college Music Club
Member of the school student's councils
School Sports captain
Junior Science Talent Search scholarship winner

Post MBA goals: Looking at PE,VC, investment bank, consultancy /strategy (in this particular order)
Target schools: Columbia, Stern, Wharton, Booth, LBS, HEC

Can you describe my chances at these schools or should I revise my list?

Thanks. Appreciate the great work on this thread!

rokr44 wrote:Hi,

Here is my profile in brief:

GMAT: 730
Undergrad: B.Tech in Chemical Engineeering from NIT Warangal (CGPA: 7.2 /10)
Work experience:
2 years at a UBS investment bank captive covering the TMT sector for the APAC region
2 years at Rothschild investment bank - leading M&A advisory in India

Worked on multiple transactions while at both UBS and Rothschild.

Other qualifications:
CFA level 3 candidate

Extra-curricular activities:
Various medals and awards in sports and music at zone/interzone/national levels
President of the college Music Club
Member of the school student's councils
School Sports captain
Junior Science Talent Search scholarship winner

Post MBA goals: Looking at PE,VC, investment bank, consultancy /strategy (in this particular order)
Target schools: Columbia, Stern, Wharton, Booth, LBS, HEC

Can you describe my chances at these schools or should I revise my list?

Thanks. Appreciate the great work on this thread!

Thanks for the post. What have you done outside of work since college? This may help you get over the line or not at some of the schools since your profile is good but you are also coming from a competitive set. Wharton and Booth are certainly reasonable to apply to, but some with your experience and background will have slightly better academic stats. Columbia would be a great early decision school (though you may end up doing better) and Stern, LBS and HEC are all great options for you as well (with Stern being a lot safer).

This is a good list of schools for you. I envision you doing well if you play your cards right.

Send me an email if you want to set up time to talk about how I can help you with your applications. [email protected]

Best,
Scott

Hi rokr44,

Thank you for posting your profile,

Your profile can get you considered to the schools you are targeting. However, you need to demonstrate how you have excelled at work convincingly and how achievable your post MBA goals are - given that going into PE/VC is very competitive. You have interesting activities in sports/music that you can use as backdrop to highlight personal qualities.

Wish you all the best!