Ask Veritas Prep Admissions Consulting

Dear concern,

kindly evaluate my profile.

I am a 29 year old MBA prospective student from Pakistan.


GPA/Percentage: I have done my bachelors in Computer Sciences from NED, a local University that is among the top 3 Engineering universities in my country. My final accumulative percentage was 83%. I was among the top 15 in my class.

Career: I have been working with Standard Chartered, which is a British bank, for more than 6 1/2 years. Standard Chartered has a decent network of more than 140 branches in Pakistan. I started my career as a sales executive in branch banking in February 2005. I have steadily progressed and was promoted four times during these 6 1/2 years. From 2008 to 2010, I was the floor manager for one of our flagship branches in Pakistan. I managed a sales/service team of more than 12 people and a portfolio of more than 100 million dollars. At the start of 2011, I was promoted as a branch manager. Later in June, I was hand picked for a sales transformation project. The scope of the project is to standardise the way sales is done in consumer banking. In my current role as a coach, I am responsible for implementing the new sales model, bringing about a behavioural and cultural change in the whole of consumer banking. I am part of team of 7 people. I will be able to get good/stellar recommendations.

Personal life: My father was in army and we moved a lot till I was 18. I have lived in all four provinces of Pakistan and speak atleast 2 provincial languages besides the national language.

Volunteer experience: I have been involved with a non-profit school for the last 3 years. My work consists of teaching, assisting in administrative work and running a social awareness project. I have also been involved with another organization doing 7 weeks mentoring sessions for the last 2 years.

MBA major: I am looking to switch career into investment banking. Post MBA,I want to work at a bulge bracket US investment bank and gain experience and build technical acumen. Ultimately, I want to work in the middle east because of growth opportunities for investment banking in the region.

GMAT: I have taken the GMAT test 5 times. Break-up of score is given below

GMAT 1

March 2010 : 650 (Q 43, V 37)

GMAT 2

Dec 2010: 600 (Q 47, V 27)

GMAT 3

Feb 2011: 640 (Q 42, V 37)

GMAT 4

Jan 2012: 680 (Q 44, V 40)

GMAT 5

Mar 2012: 720 (Q 49, V40)


Please evaluate my profile on my current scores. Please advise me on my chances with respect to the following tier of schools? These are 9 schools in total.

I am considering the following schools

Second tier US Schools

1) Duke
2) Yale
3) Cornell
4) Virginia Darden

first tier US schools

5) Wharton
6) Chicago
7) Kellogg
8) Tuck
9) Stern

NON-US schools

10) Rotman (Canada)
11) Australian school of business (Australia)

Rotman and ASB , although good schools in their own sense, would be my back up.

Please let me know If I am missing any information in my profile.

Thank you for reading my long post.

I actually think you stand a reasonable chance at any or all of your targets. you have a great GMAT score (they only consider the best score), you have great leadership experience at work, with a dozen or more direct reports, and finally, you hail from an under-represented country, Pakistan. These elements could create for you a very close look from your target schools. Make sure your career vision is clear and inspiring and if you have a well constructed application, you should find acceptance at one or more of your schools.