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Evaluation of Shortlist.

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Evaluation of Shortlist.

by itsvkc » Thu Jul 22, 2010 11:40 am
I am an Indian male with a gmat score of 720(94 percentile), with a break up of 49 (86 percentile) and 39 (87 percentile) in quant and verbal respectively. My AWA score is 5.5(77 percentile).

The following is my professional background:
1. 4 plus years of work experience.
2. One year spent in entrepreneurship. Shut shop to get back to work.
3. Primary industry is the internet media industry where I have been working as a product manager.

Academic Qualifications:
1. Post Graduate Diploma in Advertising, Marketing and Journalism, India.
Score: 68%
2. Bachelors in Science in Maths, Computer Science and Electronics, India.
Score: 58%

My current application shortlist is as follows:
1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Insead
4. Wharton
5. Stern
6. Chicago Booth
7. MIT Sloan

My questions are:
1. Is this shortlist achievable considering my background?
2. Should I consider some safe schools as well? I am looking at getting into a top ten MBA school ideally.
3. I am not looking at getting any recommendations from my current workplace ( I have spent a year here). Will this go
against my application?
4. I do not have any community service experience. Will this go against my application?

Thanks
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by Tani » Fri Jul 30, 2010 6:51 am
Your GMAT is definitely within range. I have seen the Indian GPA translated to the US system in several different ways, so I am not sure how yours would compare. You should check with your undergraduate institution. They should have experience translating their grades.

Your work experience is okay, but not exceptional unless there is something you haven't told me. You are in an interesting industry, but it is not clear from your title whether you are working in a technical or a marketing position - the term product manager is used for both today. If you are essentially technical, that will make it tougher for you to stand out from the other South Asian applicants with technical backgrounds. The graduate marketing degree will help.

No one is a shoe-in for the schools on your list. They have thousands more qualified and interesting candidates than they can accept. You are qualified for these schools, but that is not enough in this competitive environment. That does not mean that you won't get in, with a solid set of essays and a good story you have a strong chance, but if you are determined to go to school in 2011, you should broaden your list.

The lack of strong recommendations from a professional supervisor will be a big hurdle. Is there anything you can do to fix that between now and the time your application is due? Without a supervisor recommendation the school will only have your word for your professional abilities. That would weaken your application considerably.

Community service certainly helps an application, particularly if it is sustained and involves either innovation or leadership. Lacking volunteer work is not always a killer, schools recognize that many entry level positions simply don't allow the time, but lacking both community involvement and a supervisor recommendation will be a problem.

To compensate you will need brilliant essays. An experienced admissions consultant can be a big help in guiding you to recognize your unique story.

On balance, if you are only interested in a top ten school, then go ahead and apply only to those schools, knowing there is a significant possibility that you will not get in at all. On the other hand, if you are determined to go to school, you should expand your list.
Tani Wolff
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by itsvkc » Fri Jul 30, 2010 10:20 am
Hi Tani,

Thank you for your reply.

Just thought I would add on to a couple of points that you raised:
In terms of career, I was the first employee in a internet company in India that has gone to be India's largest Indian social networking company. The company was also included in the top 50 startups in the world by Business Week. As the first employee I have the opportunity to work on each of the products that we came out with. Additionally, a product that I conceptualized and created there was the company's most successful products. I was also chosen by my company to make a presentation to our global board including the Group CEO and our global group of directors. I was the only person besides my CEO to do this.

With regards to the point that you raised concerning product managers, while product managers in our industry do have a large aspect of interacting with the technology team, once our products go live we have significant dealings with both the marketing and sales teams. It is also the function of a product manager to identify the target customer market and ascertain the needs of the user and make a product that users want.

With these aspects in mind, do you think I could still stand apart from the regular technical candidates?

In terms of receiving a recommendation from my current company, I was working in a team where I did not get along really well with my boss. Around four months back, I was transferred to a new team [this was done by the company and was not requested by me] and now have a new boss. With only four months of working together, I am unsure as to how much of a recommendation he can give me. The only other person I can ask for a recommendation is my CEO since she is the the person who my bosses report to (My post is third in line in the company).

Do you think getting a recommendation from my CEO would be viewed favorably by the admissions committee since she is technically an indirect reportee? I am most worried about this since Stanford and a couple of other colleges insist on a recommendation from a direct supervisor.

I am also worried about how revealing my plans would be perceived internally.

Looking forward to your response.

Thanks a ton.
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