Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

RBBmba@2014 wrote:Hey Sameer - did you get to see the PM I sent you on this (re subscription to your blog feed/post) ? Sorry to follow-up here as there is no option to do so in message section!

Apologies, sire! Since our own site has been keeping me occupied, I haven't had a chance to be as active on BTG as I was earlier.

Coming to your PM query, Wordpress does have its own idiosyncracies about the way it manages subscriptions and its not always intuitive.

We post each new article on our FB page and on our Twitter page.

Following either one should keep you posted on newly published posts.

We have also add an Applicant Lab promo code for those who're interested in a self-help option.

Alright Sir! Thank you.

Btw, just sent you a PM...

MS in US with full scholarship for Indian with average GRE score

Anamika Agarwal's story is unusual. Like many Indian and international students planning to study abroad, if you feel that the university ranking and brand power means everything, you have to read about the lessons that she has to share. Don't miss Lesson 4 about the value of brands...read more

Top MBA in USA for international students

As America accelerates its journey out of the recession, high paying jobs are back on the table. In such a scenario, an MBA in USA offers excellent career prospects for not just U.S. citizens but also international students.

In the following table, we identify the U.S. schools where this proportion is higher than the average for American bschools.

This brings up some surprising results....Read more

Schools Offering MBA Application Fee Waiver

Who doesn't like to save some money? More so when you are applying to the best bschools and are aware that there's a huge avalanche of costs to follow once the program starts. Read this related article on how much it costs to attend a top MBA abroad.

Planning early can help you save a few hundred (or thousand) dollars at the application phase.

Take MBA application fees as an example. Even if you have selected 6-7 schools, you are looking at over $1,000 in application fees alone. But there are some bschools you should know about that don't charge an application fee or reduce it if you meet certain criteria (like being an international applicant)....Read more

What's the Magic Number for MBA applications

Occasionally we get queries such as this - "I applied to 15 schools last year. But look at my luck. Not even one admit. I thought the odds would be better than this. How many b schools should I apply to this time to increase my chances?".

Three operative words (luck, odds, chances) in there would give you an indication as to why our friend's machine gun strategy didn't work. He was leaving too much in the hands of destiny. Read here to find out what's the right strategy.

Hello!

I'm a non-engineer final-year female from BITS Pilani. I gave the GMAT recently, and scored a 710 (Q49/V39). It was a hurried attempt (Had deadlines) and I plan to retake the test, for, I'd like to apply to top B-Schools and I have heard horror stories of Indians with 710s getting dinged by adcoms.

Here's the rest of my profile, to give you a better idea:

Age: 21

Stream: Pharmacy

GPA: 7.9/10

GPA in 10th: 10/10

% in 12th: 94.2%

Extra-curriculars:
--Held various administrative (Not related to college fests) PORs in college. Hostel Representative, Sports Sec, Secretary (Department Association) to name a few. Also involved in the Academic Counseling Cell.

--Co-founded the first ever business negotiation competition for under-grads in India.

--Been involved with local and national NGOs since I was 14 (Both my parents were heavily involved in social work.)

--I'm currently pursuing a thesis(with fieldwork) in one of the best colleges in India for social work, on a topic which incorporates aspects of my stream (Pharma) into social work.(Luckily, my work with NGOs paid off, for it is in a pretty similar setting.) It's more like an excuse to gauge the situation, and familiarize myself with the technical know-hows, for I plan to start-up on those lines by the end of my project. The MBA would get me ready for the management aspects, I guess. I'm pretty sure I want to work in my own organisation or gain work-ex post-MBA to later work in my own start-up.

I'd like to know how realistic it would be to apply to top, say, 10 B-schools. I am not ready for a Round-1 application because I have my hands full, and I'd like to prepare before I attempt the GMAT again. Perhaps a 'safe' school in Round 1? Would targeting Ivy League schools like Harvard, Wharton and Kellogg be too optimistic?

I know, the lack of work ex would be a major downer. But can you please evaluate my profile based on the info^ ?

Thanks in advance. ^_^

Great work..

NeutronSky wrote:Hello!

I'm a non-engineer final-year female from BITS Pilani. I gave the GMAT recently, and scored a 710 (Q49/V39). It was a hurried attempt (Had deadlines) and I plan to retake the test, for, I'd like to apply to top B-

<<snip>>

I know, the lack of work ex would be a major downer. But can you please evaluate my profile based on the info^ ?

Thanks in advance. ^_^

NeutronSky,

Though not explicitly mentioned, I am assuming you are yet to complete your undergrad. It would have helped to know the name of your college to get a sense of pedigree.

Nonetheless, the lack of work experience is not just a major but a HUGE hurdle. Read here on why this is so.

Though there are top schools that consider freshers, but to be blunt here, nothing in what you've written 'jumps out' to attract top schools towards the profile. Read here for more on schools taking freshers.

It would serve you well to do more research and ascertain that you are not being overtly ambitious here. Just my 2 cents.

Cheers,

Hi
Yesterday I took GMAT and got 690 [Q48,V35,IR6].
It would be very helpful if you can evaluate my profile for ISB Hyderabad and suggest how to improve my chances of getting an admit.. The details are as follows:

Class X - 89.8 %
Class XII (PCM)- 81.8%
Bachelor of Engineering(B.E) - Mechanical Engineering from M.I.T, Manipal |CGPA- 8.08/10
Work Experience -
5+ years [ July 10 to present ] in Vedanta Resources Plc.
Experience in projects planning, execution and management (4 years) and mechanical maintenance(1 year) in a pig iron manufacturing plant
Identified as Star of Business , received few awards , promoted after 3 years, rated excellent/very good through out during appraisals , undergone some professional trainings/management development programs

2 months Industrial internship at TATA Motors and 1 month at Bharat Wagons during college

Academic achievements:
-Campus recruitment offers from 3 multibillion companies including Vedanta & TCS
-Awarded Certificate of Merit by CBSE for being among the top 0.1 % candidates at AISSE
-Certificate of Merit for outstanding performances in Science & Mathematics Olympiads
Extracurricular :
-Elected as Secretary of Hostel Committee : responsible for resolving day-to-day issues of hostel residents
-Executive Committee Member of Institution of Engineers (India) M.I.T Student's Chapter (Mechanical Engineering & Industrial Production)
-Organized Mechtrix 2008 - responsible for event management and publicity
-Associate Editor of Institution of Engineers (India) M.I.T Student's Chapter in-house publication "Impulse" 2007 to 2010
-Captained school Basketball team at the regional CBSE Inter School Competitive Sports Programme held at Army School, Barrackpore
-Active Sportsman. Special interest in Karate, Volleyball and Basketball. Semi-finalist in Inter-department Volleyball tournament held in Feb'14 at Vedanta. Green Belt (5th Kyu) in Karate from Seigo-Ryu Karate-Do, India in 2000.

Also supporting Akshay Patra Foundation (NGO) in their cause of hunger eradication and education by donations for past 5 years. Raised funds this year to feed 11 children for a year through online campaign.

Thanks
Rituraj

Ritu Raj wrote:Hi
Yesterday I took GMAT and got 690 [Q48,V35,IR6].
It would be very helpful if you can evaluate my profile for ISB Hyderabad and suggest how to improve my chances of getting an admit.. The details are as follows:

Class X - 89.8 %
Class XII (PCM)- 81.8%

<<snip>>

Also supporting Akshay Patra Foundation (NGO) in their cause of hunger eradication and education by donations for past 5 years. Raised funds this year to feed 11 children for a year through online campaign.

Thanks
Rituraj

A few reflections on your profile Rituraj:

1. Your work profile will be your claim to fame. It is not clear however if the promotion you got was out of turn? Apart from your responsibilities, it will be important to showcase any differentiation you can bring out.
2. There is no mention of your post-MBA goals. That is another very important aspect and it will really depend on how well you are able to connect the dots here. From an years of perspective though, you are in a pretty good position.
3. Not sure how your relative performance was during undergrad, but the absolute looks fine. The GMAT may be a bit of hurdle. If you think you can boost that score by 30+ points, definitely worth a re-take. Else go ahead and apply
4. Though the college level ECs are good, there seems to be a lull thereafter. The non-profit work too is more tick the box than anything else. Don't expect much mileage on these fronts. That makes the above point even more relevant.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Is ISB still worth the money and time?
It has been 20 years since the idea of the Indian School of Business (ISB) was conceived. This is puny in comparison to say a Harvard that has a 105+ year legacy or even our home grown IIMs (IIMC being the first ever) that have been around for over 50 years now.

It has been less than 15 years since the institute actually came into being. There is no denying the fact that the school has achieved a superstar status in this short time span. But is it still worth it? Read more

MBA Time Table - the time to start is now
So you've decided that the coming year is going to be the year for you; when you finally take charge of your career and make it happen for yourself. If your New Year resolution is to get an MBA application (or two?) in next year, this article would be a good place to start.If you went back to see if we wrote 'next year', you saw it right the first time, planning and preparing for your MBA application has to be ideally a year-long thing; maybe even longer.

The post is an attempt to apprise MBA wannabes on when to do what as well as give a quick overview of the main components involved in the application. Read more

Demystifying HBS Harvard 2+2 program
It's easier to understand the veil of mystery around new programs that have just been launched and there aren't enough reviews about it. But not when the program has been around for almost a decade.

Harvard 2+2 (pronounced two-plus-two) is one such program that gets a lot of interest. But try searching on the internet for more information and you'll get hardly anything to help you decide if the program is really worth your time and money. More so if you are an India / international student.

We first provide an overview of the program - format, fees, application process, class profile - and then move on to review the pros and cons from the perspective of Indian students and applicants. Read more

Iowa Tippie (full ride) vs SMU Cox (half ride)

Hello,

Total work ex : About 6 years at matriculation

My work-ex : 1.5 years in large tech consulting company (think IBM, Accenture etc. )

Remaining 4.5 years : worked as a first-generation entrepreneur; B2B Marketing, supply chain etc. as channel partner for Fortune 500 energy-efficiency companies (think Siemens, Eaton etc.)

I am an international; got two offers as mentioned in the subject.

My post-MBA preferred location is either California or Texas. Any other US region with an entrepreneurial spirit and good high-tech employers (Seattle..?) would also be okay. If possible, I would like to avoid extremely harsh winters. I am also trying to avoid excessive student loan debt.

Immediate Post-MBA goals are somewhat flexible : would love to work in Operations & Supply Chain for a tech company (Amazon, Apple, or even some slightly less prestigious but interesting ones). Alternatively, won't mind slogging for some time in management consulting ( non M/B/B consulting - Deloitte, PWC, AT Kearney etc. )

My research :

Tippie (Iowa) : Big 10 public Univ., higher ranked than SMU. Probably, more people are aware of it. I like the business school overall but location ain't great. However, most students join the program with much less debt and those who manage to network well are able to go anywhere for post-MBA jobs. Otherwise, recruiting stats at Tippie for internationals are fantastic. Perhaps, less financial burden can be liberating! Is it worth to turn down Tippie only because of its location ? How easy or difficult will it be to land roles in California (or Texas) after studying from Tippie ?

SMU Cox : Private University with a superb location and networking opportunities but extremely expensive. Brand is highly restricted to Dallas. I've had mixed reviews about the quality of the business school and international recruiting. Is it worth all the money ?

Opportunity cost at Tippie will be about less than half that of Cox.

Note : I am interviewing at some higher ranked schools too; but they are not top 10-15 schools. So, the current offers are pretty good.

Please help !!

Request you to avoid discussing/suggesting other business schools.

Thank You