Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

Hi MBACrystalBall,

Are High school academics important?

When to give my GMAT?

Thanx a lot in advance...

10th , 11th , 12th etc are not as important as GMAT or GPA..In fact i do not think the adcoms even ask for High school academic performance as there are too many variations as far as different countries, different courses, different boards, schools etc etc..Your GMAT will be the most important judge followed by your GPA..And even combined they are only a fraction in the overall scheme of things..

USA MBA accepting 15 years of education from Indian universities

Many US business schools and top universities expect applicants to have completed 16 as opposed to 15 years of education. In India, part from fields such as engineering, medicine and architecture, graduation in many popular disciplines require 15 years of education. This post is for those MBA aspirants who have completed their graduation in India in science, arts, commerce or any undergraduate stream that follows a 12+3 pattern.

These candidates may have landed a great job or successfully launched their own venture or made it big with their family business, so never considered studying further. Should a three years bachelor's degree (or 15 years of formal education) act as a deterrent while applying for an MBA abroad? ...Read More

MBA rejection analysis and feedback after getting a Ding from bschools

Dealing with rejection isn't easy. After painstakingly selecting bschools that you felt would be the best for your career goals, after going through the nerve-wracking ordeal of responding to MBA essay topics that swing between introspection and philosophy, and after spending all that hard-earned money on the GMAT exam, bschool application fee, and many months of excitement + anxiety + nail-biting...what is it that most MBA applicants get from the bschool?...Read More

gughanbose wrote:I have just started working. Joined a Telecom-Networks company some 5 months back. So, I have to gain work-ex before applying to any college.

Good to see that you've started planning early, Gughan dada.

But there's still a long way to go. So don't rush through the process.

gughanbose wrote:What I don't get is, what is a "good" work-ex ? What should I do now in the company to get that good work-ex ?

In the earlier years, you won't have the freedom to ask for the work you like. So take whatever comes your way and do it well.

Keep it simple for now.

gughanbose wrote:I am planning on joining an NGO. Is that good ? What do you suggest ?

It's good only if you are taking it up for personal reasons, and not to impress Adcoms.

gughanbose wrote:When to give my GMAT ?

Take it up 1 year before you are ready to apply. That'll give you enough buffer to retake it if needed.

Pick up a copy of Beyond The MBA Hype to get an idea of what's in store.

F1 Visa requirements in U.S. for Indian students

All accepted undergrad and graduate program (including MBA) students from India require an F1 visa stamping to get into the U.S. and stay there for the entire duration of the MBA course. In this post we try to address the most frequently asked questions on how to apply for a student visa, the basic documents needed, and problems / issues to tackle before you can confidently answer the F1 visa interview questions at the American consulate.

Read on to see what you need to do before you can get access to all the high-paying consulting and investment banking jobs that are coming back to the US based bschools...Read More

How to make your profile irresistible to the top schools?

"I plan to apply to the top business schools in 2-3 years. What can I do during this period to build my profile for Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, INSEAD, London Business School, ISB...?"

This is another of those frequently asked questions (FAQ) that we come across on various discussion threads that MBA Crystal Ball is active on. Typically the question comes from freshers i.e.folks who have just graduated from Engineering (B.E), BCom, BSc and many other streams. But quite a few students who haven't even completed their basic graduation are also anxious to know how to make their profile irresistible to many of their dream schools...Read More

Dear Sir,

760 GMAT(51Q,41V)/Petroleum(Non-IT) Engineer/3.5 yrs WE Oil & Gas

Hi,

I would be grateful if you can assess my profile and mention the strengths and weakness.

24 year old Indian Male

Current Job:Working as a Petroleum Engineer(Reservoir Engineer) in a
state-owned Oil and Gas E & P(Exploration and Production) company.(Didn't
switch to a bigger company for the vast learning experiences in a small
start-up dept.

760 GMAT (Q51,V41,AWA 5.0)-1st attempt
111 TOEFL iBT
6.68/10 GPA (3.54/4.00 on US Scale -Converted through World Education Services)
(Also submitting an alternative transcript(99/100 score) from mbamath online course to offset the low Quant Courses GPA)

Undergraduate Degree(Bachelor of Technology) in Petroleum Engineering from ISM
Dhanbad(the only institute apart from IITs to take admission through IIT-JEE.

Work Experience:3.5 years(from June 2009) with an Oil & Gas Exploration and
Production MNC(Public Sector Undertaking Company).

Promotions:On the same post(though had increasing responsibilities) for 3.5 years as
promotions are time-based in Indian Government Companies.(4-5 years)

Job Profile:1)Analysing well data from oil fields,running simulation based on those data and predicting forecasts for oil production and field development.
2)Work on oil rigs(atleast for 1 month per year) during the oil testing phase
3)Department Representative(1 from each dept. in the company) for the Corporate Data Managment System(CDMS).
4)Responsible for techno-economics in Reservoir Team.

Note:-In 2012,for 4 months,(Aug - Dec)due to 2 seniors leaving we had only 2 people(Me + 2 trainees who joined in June 2012) in the department.Due to this,I greatly managed most
of the work of the department (acting HOD-Head of Department) and made changes
to working of a few things.

Accomplishments:-1)Initiated the Well Site Visit of Reservoir Engineers to Offshore Rig during Well
Testing(A new process in a start-up department).
2)Presented SPE(Society of Petroleum Engineers) Paper on "Drilling & Testing
Challenges in HPHT Environment" in OGIC(Oil and Gas International Conference),2012.
Represented the Company at OGIC;1st in-house paper at the company.

Extra-Curriculars:-1)Worked as a Presiding Officer in the Gujarat State Assembly Elections(Social Work/Leadership) in Dec. 2012.
2)Found the College Rock Band 'Blitzkreig'(Played Rhythm Guitar) with a batchmate(also a singer in the band)
3)Was a member of the team which co-ordinated the 2010 ISM(College) local Alumni Meet.

Language Skills:-Hindi (Native),English (Fluent),French (Intermediate - Cleared DELF A2 level),Rajasthani(Native).

Career Goals:-
Short Term-Join a consultancy firm in energy/petroleum sector(Can utilize both my technical and management skills)
Long Term-Start own consultancy firm myself or with colleagues in the same domain area.
In relevance to career goals,I am looking to major in
Consulting/Entrepreneurship/International Business(given the international reach of oil and gas industry)

Schools :Harvard,Stanford,Wharton,Columbia,MIT,Columbia and NYU
(Suggestions welcome regarding adding or dropping any school(s) considering the
majors and career goals)

P.S.(I prefer to study in a big city ;personal choice as well as more opportunities.A campus with more facilities/student attracts my eye-Ex:-Stanford)Please correct me if I am wrong in considering the above 2 factors

Hi Sameer,

This is a call for help. Apart from my profile which we will discuss later, the most current achievement/failure seems to be Economic Times Young Leaders 2012. After investing 4 months and 4 rounds into this competition, I made it to the top 78. Now that the final list is out everywhere ( TOI, ET) i didnt make it and its easy to see the lack of big names in my employers. This has me dejected. do the adcoms work the same way?

For you to digest the above, heres my profile:

Work ex: 8 years ( by sept 2013)
10th : 88%
12th: 81.4%
BEngg Ece : 64% from Visveswaraiah institute of tech

5 years in IT and ITES sales and marketing
Bitten by entrepreneurial bug in 2010, finalist in Economic Times Power of Ideas 2010
Set up own console gaming and cafe in 2011 Mar called Gamerlounge
Set up own rooftop restaurant + Banquet hall + Gaming lounge in 2011 Oct called Angaraa
As an entrepreneur I set up Angaraa from scratch- designing, procuring materials, executing the plans, hiring the workforce, training and implementing best practices and managing day to day operations of Angaraa. This is apart from my stated job functions of marketing, brand building and corporate communication.

Among top 78 young leader in the country beating 17000 other participants in ETYL 2012.

Significant extracurriculars :
1. Started own NGO in indore called Cuddlestreet in dec 2010 as there was no welfare organization for street dogs. Cuddlestreet works towards rehabiliatation of dogs, treatment for sick creatures and adoption of indian puppies.
2. Manage a food blog since 2008 called Indianculinaryguide. Avid cook and host.

havent taken the GMAT yet but scoring 650s in practice tests.

Post mba want to work in luxury retail/ real estate/hospitality and travel as further down the line i plan to start my own resort.

My question to you is-

1. would the absence of big brands in both education and work hamper my chances?
2. Rather than me saying I have INSEAD in scope, which colleges should look realistic?
3. Should i take up some easy offers by lets say HULT international etc or should i try for admissions in 2014?

Thanks in advance.
Regards
Vidyut

MBA after 30: Am I too old for a full-time bschool degree?

MBA applicants who are older than 30 years (or closer to 40) often ask these questions:

- 'Is it too late for a full-time MBA program?'
- 'How do bschools look at MBA applicants over 30?'
- 'After I cross 30 years, should I even try for full-time MBA programs?'
- 'Will my age force me to choose between an Executive MBA or Part-time MBA?'

Most of these 'senior' applicants are considering conventional American 2-year full-time programs. There are several 1-year programs where the average age is closer to thiry (in fact, higher than 30 for a few bschools). But when it comes to the regular 2 year full-time MBA, there's a statistical and psychological bias that comes into play the minute you move to the wrong side of thirty...Read More

harsh.champ wrote:760 GMAT(51Q,41V)/Petroleum(Non-IT) Engineer/3.5 yrs WE Oil & Gas

Hi,

I would be grateful if you can assess my profile and mention the strengths and weakness.

:

Harsh bhai,

You've got some good pointers on the other threads about your profile, choice of schools, extra-currics etc. Btw I loved Jon's response.

You are a veteran on the BTG forums (1000+ posts). I'm sure you've checked out a whole lot of admissions related gyan and got the basics nailed down.

So let's not re-invent the wheel as it won't really take you anywhere new.

When you are ready, get in touch with us offline and we'll take it to the next level.

What say?

B-school rankings 2013 MBA Crystal Ball

We have published our first B-school rankings based on a popularity index. Unlike the other B-school rankings, our attempt is to find out the top 50 international business school that have the best online footprint. Or in simple terms - the most popular business schools.

The big assumption here is that the level of interest in a bschool's 'online properties' (website and social media presence) is directly correlated to how popular it is among prospective students as well as other stakeholders (staff, employers, alumni).

If you haven't seen it yet, check out the full list first before reading the rest of this post:...Read More


MBA Rankings for the best business schools

For many MBA applicants, the search for their top bschools starts with the MBA rankings list. However, there are several challenges.

1. There are too many of these MBA ranking lists floating around
2. The methodology of how bschools are ranked isn't entirely clear
3. The definition of 'best' isn't universal. Different MBA rankings show different heroes
4. Bschool ranks aren't sancto sanct. They change frequently.

Despite these drawbacks, whenever there's news of a new MBA rankings list being release, there's a mad rush of applicants to check out which ones have won the battle for that year. Alumni (new graduates especially), driven by ego or curiosity (or both) also make a beeline to these sites to see if their alma mater is still on the pedestal it was one when they graduated...Read More

MIT Sloan MBA: Admissions Director Interview

The MIT Sloan MBA offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the best MBA programs on the planet. The MIT brand has a formidable reputation across the world. In MBA rankings, the MIT Sloan MBA ranks not just in the general category but also across specialty rankings for finance, entrepreneurship, Supply Chain / Logistics, Production / Operations, Information Systems. If you check out the statistics for the class profile, you'll find high average GMAT scores (710) and classmates who have done some solid work in their pre-MBA careers. The graduating class gets an average salary of around $120,000.

Sameer Kamat (founder of MBA Crystal Ball) interviewed Jeffrey Carbone - Associate Director - Admissions, MIT Sloan School of Management.

Read on to delve deeper into what the MIT Sloan MBA has to offer, gets tips on how to tackle the Sloan MBA essays, interviews, and many other topics...Read More

Vidyut Banerjee wrote:the most current achievement/failure seems to be Economic Times Young Leaders 2012. After investing 4 months and 4 rounds into this competition, I made it to the top 78.

Khoob bhalo, dada! Congrats.

Vidyut Banerjee wrote:Now that the final list is out everywhere ( TOI, ET) i didnt make it and its easy to see the lack of big names in my employers. This has me dejected. do the adcoms work the same way?

I don't know how the TOI / ET selection process works, so I can't compared. But I do know a little more about the MBA admissions process, so let's focus on that.

Big names help to the extent where you can demonstrate that the brand also stands for selectivity and quality.

Unfortunately, many of the *big* brands in India from where bschools get applications are actually having the reverse effect on Adcoms ["Another one from here? Sigh!"].

Vidyut Banerjee wrote:havent taken the GMAT yet but scoring 650s in practice tests.

This could be a problem area buddy. Any thing you can do to pump it up would help you a lot later.

Vidyut Banerjee wrote:Post mba want to work in luxury retail/ real estate/hospitality and travel as further down the line i plan to start my own resort.

Ekhane tomar rational-ta ki, aamar bujhte parchhi na. Ektu explain koro dao please.

Vidyut Banerjee wrote:1. would the absence of big brands in both education and work hamper my chances?

Answered this one earlier.

Vidyut Banerjee wrote:2. Rather than me saying I have INSEAD in scope, which colleges should look realistic?

Can't recommend names for reasons you might know, as I've been repeating that in the other responses. Consider taking up our MBA MAP after you get a GMAT score and we'll approach it in a structured manner.

Vidyut Banerjee wrote:3. Should i take up some easy offers by lets say HULT international etc or should i try for admissions in 2014?

The 'easy' way out is generally not the 'best' way out. If you are concerned that a bigger, stronger company brand could've helped you get into better schools, then the same logic applies at the other end too. A bigger, stronger MBA brand will open up more opportunities with bigger, better companies.

So let's take the extra effort at this stage, so that we can enjoy the fruits for a longer time to come.