Profile evaulation request - Chance at the top 10 bschools

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Hi,

I'm a prospective applicant for a 2-year MBA starting Fall 2011. I was hoping to get your inputs on what my chances are at the top 10 bschools (specifically Stanford, Berkeley haas, Kellogg, MIT Sloan, ), and what do you make of my candidacy to these top programs. Details of my profile are mentioned below.

24/M Indian, with 3 years work-ex at matriculation in the Investment Banking arm of J.P.Morgan

I'm looking at a career in Strategy Consulting in the Technology domain post my MBA, and in time move into Private Equity/Venture Capital in the Cleantech and Emerging technologies domain.

Education:

Bachelor in Engineering (Electronics), graduated from a Top tier University in India in 2008 with highest honours (First Class with Distinction, 70.2%) (equivalent GPA of about 3.5)
GMAT - 760 (Q51, V41, AWA 5.5)
Additional courses - CFA Level 1 cleared with highest grades in all subjects

In terms of my co-curricular and extra-curricular activities,

- I have a 4-year association with National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), a nonprofit organization that helps budding entrepreneurs launch their businesses and mentors the youth on entrepreneurship. Currently, I'm a part of the Leadership council of NEN E-club Mumbai Chapter.

- Was very active in college co-curricular activities and held several leaderhip positions in different student bodies
(not sure how relevant that will be though)
- Have led a team from college representing the western region at the All-India IEEE conference
- Conducted a session on Global economic crisis and its repercussions on India at College a year after graduation

- Additionally, I'm associated with a local NGO supporting underprivileged children and have taken initiative in mentoring the children
- Am also a part of the local chapter of Lions Club International. (Although both these activities have been recent in 2010)


I would greatly appreciate your inputs on this and your assessment would go a long way in helping me which schools to target with my profile.

Thanks and Regards,
Ankur
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by Lisa Anderson » Wed Aug 04, 2010 3:09 pm
Dear Ankur,

I think you have the profile for a competitive application to a top 10 program. Your GMAT and GPA are where they need to be, and your experience with JPMorgan will be an asset. Don't discount the importance of your essays, interviews, and recommendations as they will greatly impact your ultimate decisions. Give these schools every reason to want you in the class and use these components to distinguish your application from the competition. Finally, you might identify 2-3 programs outside the top 10 to round out your mix of schools. There are no guarantees for any profile and applying to a mix of reach and reasonable/safety schools will ensure you start business school when you want.

Good luck,
Lisa
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by ankurbhageria » Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:42 pm
Thanks for your inputs. I just wanted to know how feasible is a switch from IB to strategy consulting through an MBA... how do adcoms view such a move. I've been hearing a mix of opinions from admission consultants on this. Some tend to believe, I'd be safer going with finance as a career goal... I've been pondering over this for a while. Your inputs would be really valuable.

Thanks.

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by Lisa Anderson » Fri Sep 03, 2010 10:51 am
Dear Ankur,

Realistic career goals are important in the evaluation, so whether you stay on your current path or make a change, you want to be able to show the goal as realistic for you. Many people make significant career changes post-MBA, and the MBA program can help facilitate that change as it provides an avenue to intern and network. If you can present your goal of strategy consulting as a realistic outcome for you, which means having a thoughtful plan to get there, then I don't think it is all that risky. The safest bet to be viewed as having realistic goals is to say you want to stay in finance--those consultants are correct--but that 1) doesn't mean you should say that and 2) can't show consulting as a realistic goal. I think it is always best to be honest in your applications, for what it is worth.

Good luck,
Lisa
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Stacy Blackman Consulting

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