The Application Process

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are doing well!

I gave my GMAT recently and scored 710(Q-50, V-35, AWA-5, IR-8) and now I am planning to apply for top 40 b schools. I want to pursue my career in Investment Banking.

My basic profile:

10th : 74.60%
12th : 80.00%
Under-graduation : Bachelors in technology from Maharishi Dayanand University in Computers Science (69.02%)
Total Work exp: 3 Years 6 Months (1 year 3 months at Broadridge Financial Solutions and 2 years 3 months at Nirvana Financial Solutions)

Job profile : I work in the role of technical support and provide help via email/phone to our clients which include top 20 investment banks in UK. Prior to that I worked as a software developer and also provided support to the top hedge Funds in USA.

Certifications : Derivatives by NSE India, Securities Market by NSE India

Extra-curricular : That's where my profile is very weak. I don't have much. I used to play football in school days and nowadays watch lots of EPL/La liga matches. Participated in some not so useful competitions.


Could anyone please provide me some clarity on the following questions :

1. I am not sure how 69% converts into 4 point GPA. 1 conversion method says it is 1.9 and another says it is 4.0 as I passed first class.

2. What can I do now to increase my extra-curricular. Should I complete some finance courses from coursera.org to make my case stronger for Finance industry or Should I go for some diversification and start working for some NGO.

3. I am researching colleges for last 2 weeks and thinking of applying for University of Virginia, McCombs School of Business,Georgetown University. Please let me know if I should apply for some higher or lower ranked colleges considering my profile



PS : My dream school is NYU (Stern). Maybe one day I can clear all 3 CFA certifications and apply for the same.

aankitfbd wrote:Hi Everyone,

Hi Aankitfbd,

Hope you are doing well too!

I need a little bit of clarification here- you are planning to apply this year or later? As in are you planning to work on your profile for another year and make yourself attractive for b-schools like Stern? If the plan is to apply this year, then you should work upon your GMAT and get the score up atleast 20 points. A CFA will be a definite nice to have, but its not a requirement.

To answer your queries:
1. Don't convert your score because b-schools don't ask you to do it. If you must, use a paid service like WES to get an official report, this is also most likely to be accepted by the business schools.

2. If you are applying this year, its too late to work on your profile. If you are applying next year, then of course its a possibility! Whatever you intend to do should tie in with your interests and skill set.

3. So I think the programs that you have mentioned here are already in your reach-par list. You can add a couple which are safeties.

4. Also, a shift from back office to front office IB is not very easy. You should think through your career goals more deeply.

Hi Namita,

Thanks for the reply.

I am planning to apply for this year. But if I don't get the admission in a good university this year then I am planning to take some SAFE colleges such as University of Texas, Dallas and University of Wisconsin - Madison.These colleges have a good placement record (more than 90%), low tuition fees and around 20% placement in the Finance Industry.

Also if I do delay my MBA plan for 1 more year, could you please advise me what else I can approve in my profile in 1 year apart from getting 20 point higher GMAT score.

Thanks in advance,
Ankit