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kanishkayadav wrote:Hi,

I came across this thread while doing research on whether I should take the services of an admissions consultant or try applying on my own. I got a score of around 67 on Aringo's calculator. My profile is as given below

GMAT: GRE score of 1450/1600 which converts to a GMAT score of 710 (Using the official conversion Matrix)

Ethnicity: Indian

Undergrads: Bachelors in Electrical Engineering From a private university in Pune, India. Secured first class with distinction as my graduating grade.
Worked with a top IT company for 2 years and was promoted once.

Graduate Degree: Masters in Industrial Engineering( GPA: 3.94/4.00)from North Carolina State University. It is a highly reputed engineering school and the Industrial Engineering department was ranked in the top 10 till last year.
While at school:

Completed a 3 month summer internship at Bank of America as a business analyst intern
Completed a 3 month part time internship at GKN driveline as a manufacturing intern

I am currently based in USA and am working as a Global logistics Project Leader at a fortune 200 engine manufacturing company. Am leading projects in India, CHina and US. I have completed APICS CSCP certification and will also complete six sigma certification (offered by my company) in the next few months. This is faster than anybody else I know in the organization since usually people take over 3 years to complete the training and the 3 projects you have to finish before you can be certified.

By the time I will join school Ill have over 5 years of FT experience and most probably I would have been promoted at my current organization.


I do not have a lot to show as far as community service is concerned. But, I was the cultural President in my high School's student government (second highest office bearer), marketing head during my undergrads for national level technical fest and at grad school, I was the vice president of a nationally recognized honor society.

As far as extra curricular activities are concerned, I have been involved in a number of cultural events. The most recent being that I am a bronze level dancer at Fred Astaire Dance studio. Before this I have represented my grad school in Squash competitions, was the lead guitarist of my high school's band, head of debating society in HIgh school and a few more.

My family faced a lot of hardships after my dad passed away when I was just 17, and that has played a major role in shaping my personality. My father was a high ranking official in one of India's most reputed Public Sector Companies and my older brother is a very high ranking official at P&G (HR Country head)

The only school I am looking at is INSEAD
Because of my Engineering background , I have a very strong quantitative skill set. I want a business degree to learn General Management and Strategy and try breaking into the operations consulting Realm.


I plan to join school in Dec 2015 and want to apply before R1 deadline ( March 2014).I will be 28 by the time I apply. If I do not get INSEAD, then I will do a part time MBA from Kellog or Booth for which I dont think I need help preparing my application.

Do I stand a chance at INSEAD? if I do, then I want to start early on my applications. Let me know when I should get in touch with Aringo and apply for the Lese discount?

Hello Kanish,
Thank you for the thorough profile that you provided - it was very helpful in assessing your chances.
Based on what I see, and with a well-written application, you are a strong candidate for admission at INSEAD. It also sounds like you've done your research, which is great to hear.
We'd love to help you bring out your best attributes when putting together your application. Contact us this summer to apply for the Lese discount.
Good luck!
David
Senior Consultant
Aringo.com

Hi Aringo,
Quick question - Are schools more open about couples who submit their applications at the same time? does it give any advantage?
Thanks!

supermario wrote:Hi Aringo,
Quick question - Are schools more open about couples who submit their applications at the same time? does it give any advantage?
Thanks!

Hello Supermario! Thanks for your question.

We usually recommended mentioning that the spouse/significant-other is also applying, and statistically the results are relatively good compared to the results we could expect if each person applies independently.

By the way, based on our experience, the following schools are relatively more "couple-friendly":

1. Smaller schools (Stanford, Tuck, etc.).
2. Lower-ranked schools. These schools are particularly concerned about "yield" (number admitted vs. number enrolled). If they get the feeling that they can "kill two birds with one stone" they may be more excited to take on the couple.
3. Wharton - are a bit (just a bit) friendlier than other large schools as far as I can see.

Good luck!
David
Aringo.com

Hi Aringo,
My GPA is below 80... does it ruin my chances of gaining admission into a Top 20 program?

olimpic wrote:Hi Aringo,
My GPA is below 80... does it ruin my chances of gaining admission into a Top 20 program?

Every year in the past few years we saw candidates gaining admission with BA average in the 75-79 range (and at times also in the 70-74 range) to Top 10 programs (and certainly to Top 20 and 30 programs). See the link below for more information on admission requirements:
https://www.aringo.com/Requirements.htm

Thank you! much appreciated.

Hello,
Can you please address the issue of a one-year deferral in case of admission to certain b-school? is it usually allowed?

prnd7748 wrote:Hello,
Can you please address the issue of a one-year deferral in case of admission to certain b-school? is it usually allowed?

Hi Prnd! Thanks for your question.

In our experience, MIT, Columbia, Cornell, and NYU tend to only grant deferrals in rare cases. Berkeley, UCLA, Tuck, Wharton, and Darden grant deferrals in cases that are not as rare, but here too these are relatively unusual cases and you will need a convincing explanation in order to be granted a deferral.

Best,
David
Senior Consultant
Aringo.com

Hi,

Can you please evaluate my profile. I am in a fix.

My Profile:

Female/30/Indian/IT

1) Brief description of work experience.

7 Yrs of work exp in Sept 2013 in top Indian IT company. The client for the project is one of top 5 financial instituions in the world.360 degree experience in IT starting as a Software Developer to QA Tester to Business Analyst .Currently as a Project Lead handling a team of 10 resources.
I have a 360 degree experience in IT starting as a Software Developer to QA Tester to Business Analyst .Currently as a Project Lead handling a team of 10 resources. I have worked in USA for 3.5 years. For these 7 years , I have worked in Banking and Finance domain with a specialization in US Mortgage.

Also running a small startup business ,which I partner with my father . It is a new guest house and a small food joint setup in an area booming with business . I started it in Jan,2013 and investment for the startup was all done by me alone.
Also have a short term experience of working in an outbound call center after final year in college and before joining full - time work in IT.

2) GMAT.
Appeared twice :
1. 600(Q48, V25)
2. 680(Q47, V35)

3) Qualification:
B.Tech in Computer Science , West Bengal University of Technology , CGPA - 7.93
12th - 70%
10th - 92%

4) Extra-curricular activities.
- Captain of school Basket ball team.
- Won competitions related to shot put, javelin throw and long jump.
- Commander of School marching team
- Won the district painting competition for consecutive three years.
- Active involvement in our school's NGO by teaching english and maths to poor children in the area and organizing events of food sharing and gift sharing with the poor children.
- In college participated in college Fest. Played a role of event anchor and worked with core team for sponsorships in college fest.
- In the past 7 years , represented company in basket ball meets , fashion shows . Anchored formal events and corporate picnics.
- Family actively involved in community service through NGO's and I have volunteered in several such events.
- Basic knowledge of French Language
- Enrolled for an Interior Designing course.

5) Important certifications - like CFA, CPA, FSA, or CA.
Company Certified in Basics of US Mortgage and Credit Reporting

6) Target programs.
Good schools in Asia Pacific , USA , Europe , Australia. Preferential Course will be International Business, Consulting, Marketing and might be Information/Operation management

7) When to apply?
R1 2013-2014

8) Post-MBA goal.
My post-MBA goal is to grow my startup to have a chain of food joints .I also want to make a global impact to society and aspire to open my own NGO featuring Breast Cancer awareness programs .
I believe everything I want to do in life will be made easy with an MBA which will help develop the skill-set I need to grow my business ideas into scalable organizations while also making strides in global social concerns .

9) Additional Info
Language fluency in 4 languages, advanced in 3 , and developmental in French. Hobby is painting . Take interest in Car Racing , horse riding.

My questions are
1) Which all colleges should I apply. Preferential regions will be a )USA b) Europe/Australia c) Asia Pacific d)Canada. Kindly let me know the colleges that I have a shot at
2) Should I a retake of GMAT

The list of preferential colleges are below

USA colleges

Duke (Fuqua)
Virginia (Darden)
Yale
Cornell (Johnson)
Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)
UCLA (Anderson)
Michigan (Ross)
Emory (Goizueta)
Texas--Austin (McCombs)
Indiana (Kelley)
USC (Marshall)
UNC (Kenan-Flagler)
Georgetown (McDonough)
Rice (Jones)
Vanderbilt (Owen)
Wash U. (Olin)
OSU (Fisher)
Notre Dame (Mendoza)
Washington (Foster)

European Colleges
INSEAD, France
IE ,Madrid
IESE, Barcelona
IMD, Switzerland
HEC, Paris
Said ,Oxford
Judge, Cambridge
Rotterdam , Netherlands
Manchester Business school, England
ESADE, Barcelona

Asia Pacific Colleges

HKUST, Hong Kong
ISB, Hyderabad
CEIBS, China
NUS, Singapore
NTU, Singapore
AGSM, Sydney
Melbourne Business School
AIM ,Manila
XLRI, Jamshedpur
SP Jain, Mumbai

Canada
University of Toronto : Rotman
University of Western Ontario: Ivey
York University: Schulich
Mc Gill University: Desautels
University of Alberta
University of British Columbia :Sauder

Any suggestion would be of great help.

Thanks.

ArpitaGanguly100 wrote:Hi,

Can you please evaluate my profile. I am in a fix.

My Profile:

Female/30/Indian/IT

1) Brief description of work experience.

7 Yrs of work exp in Sept 2013 in top Indian IT company. The client for the project is one of top 5 financial instituions in the world.360 degree experience in IT starting as a Software Developer to QA Tester to Business Analyst .Currently as a Project Lead handling a team of 10 resources.
I have a 360 degree experience in IT starting as a Software Developer to QA Tester to Business Analyst .Currently as a Project Lead handling a team of 10 resources. I have worked in USA for 3.5 years. For these 7 years , I have worked in Banking and Finance domain with a specialization in US Mortgage.

Also running a small startup business ,which I partner with my father . It is a new guest house and a small food joint setup in an area booming with business . I started it in Jan,2013 and investment for the startup was all done by me alone.
Also have a short term experience of working in an outbound call center after final year in college and before joining full - time work in IT.

2) GMAT.
Appeared twice :
1. 600(Q48, V25)
2. 680(Q47, V35)

3) Qualification:
B.Tech in Computer Science , West Bengal University of Technology , CGPA - 7.93
12th - 70%
10th - 92%

4) Extra-curricular activities.
- Captain of school Basket ball team.
- Won competitions related to shot put, javelin throw and long jump.
- Commander of School marching team
- Won the district painting competition for consecutive three years.
- Active involvement in our school's NGO by teaching english and maths to poor children in the area and organizing events of food sharing and gift sharing with the poor children.
- In college participated in college Fest. Played a role of event anchor and worked with core team for sponsorships in college fest.
- In the past 7 years , represented company in basket ball meets , fashion shows . Anchored formal events and corporate picnics.
- Family actively involved in community service through NGO's and I have volunteered in several such events.
- Basic knowledge of French Language
- Enrolled for an Interior Designing course.

5) Important certifications - like CFA, CPA, FSA, or CA.
Company Certified in Basics of US Mortgage and Credit Reporting

6) Target programs.
Good schools in Asia Pacific , USA , Europe , Australia. Preferential Course will be International Business, Consulting, Marketing and might be Information/Operation management

7) When to apply?
R1 2013-2014

8) Post-MBA goal.
My post-MBA goal is to grow my startup to have a chain of food joints .I also want to make a global impact to society and aspire to open my own NGO featuring Breast Cancer awareness programs .
I believe everything I want to do in life will be made easy with an MBA which will help develop the skill-set I need to grow my business ideas into scalable organizations while also making strides in global social concerns .

9) Additional Info
Language fluency in 4 languages, advanced in 3 , and developmental in French. Hobby is painting . Take interest in Car Racing , horse riding.

My questions are
1) Which all colleges should I apply. Preferential regions will be a )USA b) Europe/Australia c) Asia Pacific d)Canada. Kindly let me know the colleges that I have a shot at
2) Should I a retake of GMAT

The list of preferential colleges are below

USA colleges

Duke (Fuqua)
Virginia (Darden)
Yale
Cornell (Johnson)
Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)
UCLA (Anderson)
Michigan (Ross)
Emory (Goizueta)
Texas--Austin (McCombs)
Indiana (Kelley)
USC (Marshall)
UNC (Kenan-Flagler)
Georgetown (McDonough)
Rice (Jones)
Vanderbilt (Owen)
Wash U. (Olin)
OSU (Fisher)
Notre Dame (Mendoza)
Washington (Foster)

European Colleges
INSEAD, France
IE ,Madrid
IESE, Barcelona
IMD, Switzerland
HEC, Paris
Said ,Oxford
Judge, Cambridge
Rotterdam , Netherlands
Manchester Business school, England
ESADE, Barcelona

Asia Pacific Colleges

HKUST, Hong Kong
ISB, Hyderabad
CEIBS, China
NUS, Singapore
NTU, Singapore
AGSM, Sydney
Melbourne Business School
AIM ,Manila
XLRI, Jamshedpur
SP Jain, Mumbai

Canada
University of Toronto : Rotman
University of Western Ontario: Ivey
York University: Schulich
Mc Gill University: Desautels
University of Alberta
University of British Columbia :Sauder

Any suggestion would be of great help.

Thanks.

Hello Arpita,
Wow! Looks like you've got your mind set on obtaining an MBA, and you've already thought through your strengths and recognize your potential weaknesses. That's wonderful!

It looks as though you have strong work experience, and a decent educational background. Your GMAT score is a bit on the low side for top-20 programs, but fine for others. So whether you should re-take the exam depends on how important it is for you to be in a top-20 program, and whether you believe there is good potential to improve your score by at least 20 points. Either way, it is definitely not unheard-of for people with a 680 being accepted in top-20 programs. It just means that your application would need to be superb in every other way.

Unfortunately I cannot go through every school that you listed, but I'll give you a few examples of great programs where you have a strong shot. If you don't plan on re-taking the GMAT, I would advise that you apply to schools at this level of selectivity: UNC, USC, Austin, Emory, Georgetown, HEC Montreal, HEC Paris, ESADE, IE Business School, Rotterdam, Ivey, Queen's, McGill, Schulich, Babson, SDA Bocconi, Washington University (Olin). A bit more of a stretch but doable would be schools such as Carnegie Mellon, IESE, and Toronto. As for Asia-Pacific programs, I advise you to do some research regarding their accepted class statistics.

I hope this helps. Best of luck to you, Arpita!

David
Senior Consultant
Aringo.com

David, thanks for the useful info!

Hello Aringo,
I'm trying to plan the applications season and wanted to ask what is the negative effect on admission chances if I apply in the 2nd round instead of the 1st round in your opinion?
Thank you.

suburban wrote:Hello Aringo,
I'm trying to plan the applications season and wanted to ask what is the negative effect on admission chances if I apply in the 2nd round instead of the 1st round in your opinion?
Thank you.

Hi Suburban, thanks for submitting your important question.
Based on past experience, applying in the 1st round is usually preferable. There are years when it's the other way around, and there are programs where it's the other way around. The bottom line: My impression is that on average, the positive effect of applying in the first round is small to medium. The extent of this advantage depends on the quality and number of candidates who apply in each round as well as on the policy of the specific admissions committee at a certain school in a certain year. Over the years, the effect comes and goes "in waves" - the more international students apply in the first round, the less advantageous it is to apply in the 1st round (and the other way around), and then we see fewer applicants in the 1nd round the following year, and so on and so forth. Hope this helps.

David
Senior Consultant

Hi

I am Male, 29, Indian IT professional with 6 years of experience (programmer/team lead) :
4 Years in Computer Sciences and Corporation(CSC) for a fortune 500 US client (1 year from TN, US) and 2 years in top Indian IT company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for 2 big Indian clients.
Prior to this, I did B. Tech. in Computer Science engineering from a premier institute (NIT) scoring 7.2/10. My Community service and extra curricular are good.

I want to move into strategic consulting with specialisation in IT.

After preparing 3 months on my own, I wrote GMAT this Feb end, got just 640(Q49, V29) but applied nevertheless (R3 Fall 2013) to McGill & Schulich in Canada and (owing to my low GMAT,) some Tier II US schools. Two US schools I have got admit from are not really of my priority and are on the expensive side too. So, for US, I would have to wait another year for better schools/scholarship there.

Since financing my MBA is a concern for me, the only offer I can consider is from McGill with $8000 entrance award.

Now, any suggestions on my below queries would be highly appreciated:

1. [Most Important] My dream schools are some of the high end Tier II schools from US (Fuqua, Darden, Tepper, Owen) but they have an average GMAT approaching 700 or more. I want to go to either of these schools not just for the brand name, but because I really want to study with the best out there. I have studied in one of the top engineering colleges in India, and know what kind of incredible people you see in the top schools. But since I am 29 already and will turn 30 this sept.(already above avg. age at most schools), Would it be worth waiting another 1 year and applying next year with GMAT 680-700? (this seems achievable in 2nd attempt with better verbal score as I was getting 35 in Verbal Mocks.) I don't think there will be any other significant addition to my profile in the coming year other than around 50 points in GMAT and one more year of IT experience.

2. Please throw some light on how Canada can prove out to be equally good/better (if at all) MBA destination than US? (4-5 years down the line, I plan to either head back to India or move rest of my family with me.)

3. How about job prospects after graduating from McGill with twin specializations in either of below combinations:
a) Technology & Innovation Management, and Global Strategy & Leadership.
b) Finance and Marketing (I might consider a career switch after completion of 1st year of MBA).

4. McGill definitely is a great brand as a university but their b-school doesn't rank that well and I am not sure if one should go for a parent university brand or a prestigious MBA brand. Can you share your ideas on this?


Thank you very much for your time. I would really appreciate your advice and guidance.

Regards,
Munish

Hi Brian,

I am planning to give GMAT by July,2013.I am looking for a admission in TOP 50 global B schools.

Can you please evaluate my profile and let me know if I stand a good chance in making it to TOP 50.

Computer Engineering and MBA in Marketing and Finance from India
2+ years of Work Experience in Outsourcing industry, India ( 1.5 years with Ernst & Young and 0.9 years with Genpact India till now) in Financial Planning and Analysis domain.

Do you think prior MBA is an advantage or disadvantage in getting to TOP 50 Global B- Schools and what are the chances of getting into Schools like SUNY,Buffalo; University of Iowa;HEC Paris etc.

Also, what minimum score I should target in order to be in a competitive zone.

Thanks,
Gaurav