Application to Top B-Schools

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Application to Top B-Schools

by Arjun25 » Fri Mar 20, 2020 5:17 pm
Greetings,
I am a second year student at one of the top 5 colleges in India for my programme,BBA.I am looking for guidance and tips on how to improve my resume or chances at the top B-schools.
I am going to be applying to
1)Harvard-(Deferred MBA)
2)Wharton-(Deferred MBA)
3)Stanford-(Deferred MBA)
4)Yale-(Deferred MBA)
5)Indian School of Business-Hyderabad-(Deferred MBA).

Along with MiM courses
1)London school of Economics
2)St Galen
3)HEC Paris
and other colleges in Europe.
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  • I project my cgpa to be at 7.4 or maybe higher for my graduation(Topper projected gcpa-9.4)
  • GMAT-740
  • Internship at one of the top 3 consulting firms for a month(Will try for more)
  • Won CBSE states in my 12th grade-U-19-Shotput(Gold).Eventually playing CBSE Nationals.
  • Ongoing progress at small scale Sports NGO where we would be teaching kids.
  • Broke various sponsorship records for my college event.
  • Most probably will be the Head of Department for sponsorship.
  • Planning to submit a business plan of dream company i wish to build
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Assuming everything above goes my way,Kindly provide me with loads of tips to build my resume either on existing achievements or any new things I should do
Along with my chances at every above mentioned college as excellent,good,moderate and low
I still feel there are a couple of things missing which do not make me at par or above the competition I would be having.
Harvard Business School/Wharton Business school is my main goal.
PS:-I am planning to work with HelpAge India too as a volunteer ,do you thing I should or focus my time someplace else?
I would be really grateful to you for your response.
Thank you !

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Re: Application to Top B-Schools

by Jon@Admissionado » Tue Mar 31, 2020 5:32 pm
Wow - it seems like you already have an enviable profile in many respects. It sounds like you are applying for 2+2-type programs which is probably a good idea -- that way you can apply for full-time 3-6 years post undergrad if you don’t get into a 2+2 program.

Despite your obvious accomplishments, I probably don’t need to tell you that your hardest challenge will be overcoming the steep odds associated with your demo through prudent strategic positioning. The top US b-schools you mention all cap their non-US enrollment at less than 40% and Indians make up a minority of that number while a disproportionate number of Indians apply. Add on compounding variables like maleness or engineering/IT focus (which may or may not be you -- you mention studying for a BBA but you may be planning on doing work in tech post-MBA), and it becomes an even harder uphill battle. Still, not at all insurmountable with the right strategic positioning.

Excellent strategic positioning comes from looking at the uniqueness of your profile and making sure your app stands out -- not just for scores and grades (that’s table stakes) but for leadership potential, passion, and proven managerial success. Schools are going to look to see if you’ve gotten prestigious internships, if you’ve taken risks, if you have entrepreneurial hustle, if you are a leader outside of school and work. You mention volunteering at HelpAge but schools want to make sure you are more than just a volunteer foot soldier. Make sure that you are spending your time in ways that demonstrate you as a *leader.* Since you are still in college, opportunities abound on campus to run for leadership positions for extracurricular clubs. Schools would rather see that you are a *President* of a club and see that you have real measurable impact in that role rather than being a *member* for two clubs.

Tell me more about your GMAT score - is this final score or practice test? You’ll need your score to at least meet but probably exceed the mean score for the school in order to have a good shot. For Harvard/Wharton the average is about 730 but realistically you’ll want to score 750+. This year we expect the competition to be especially intense for full-time MBA programs given COVID-19’s impact on the global economy and people wanting to de-risk by holing themselves up in an MBA program for awhile (it starts to feel safer than an investment bank or consulting firm or tech company that start mass layoffs). So the intense competition this year plus your competitive demo means that you’ll likely want to be targeting 750 for HBS and Wharton to have a better chance. Keep in mind that your score is *table stakes* - it’s simply not enough to move the needle the way strategic positioning can it’s just a barrier to entry. The schools you are targeting will expect you to have the whole package. If you believe that a 740 is the very top of your potential, that is still definitely a workable score, and you should still apply. But if you think you can nudge it up (and it seems like you have time to try), you definitely should.

It’s hard to give you strategic positioning on your candidacy without more information. We could delve further into that during a free consultation. What are you about? It seems like you have varied interests -- corporate, entrepreneurial and humanitarian. In what field do you plan to excel during your two years between undergrad and MBA? How will that sync with your long-term post-MBA goals? This is the heart of your strategic positioning and there’s not much on this in your profile. Probably best to hash this out over a free consultation. Feel free to sign up for that here: https://admissionado.com/free-consultat ... sultation/
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Re: Application to Top B-Schools

by Arjun25 » Wed Apr 01, 2020 6:58 pm
Sir,
Kindly provide me with ways to strategically position myself in my demographic and with new things I can do to make my resume stronger.
How do I showcase uniqueness?
Talking about leadership I mentioned Head of Sponsorship and starting a NGO.
I am going to be submitting my application in 2021 at the start of my 3rd year.