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Need Profile Eval

by niraj_a » Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:14 pm
Age: 24 years (as of this post)
GMAT: Male
Nationality: Indian

Education:

B.S. in Business Administration (Dean's List) - Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, USA - May 2006

Double Majors: Finance and Accounting
Minor: Telecommunications
Cum. GPA: 3.3 (rounded up)

Other Acads

Passed CFA Level 1 - Dec. 2007, Current CFA Level 2 Candidate
Series 7 Licenseholder

GMAT: 690 (Q44 V41)

Work-ex:

Completed 2.5 years full-time as of this post. Completed 3 internships during undergrad with Merrill Lynch, ICICI Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank (i do not know if internships are relevant for MBA applications, please advise)

Brief Details:

1) Aug. 2007 to Present - Auxiliary Accounting Consultant, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

● Part of a 5 member team, responsible for effective accounting for the university’s auxiliary units. Responsibilities included overseeing ongoing accounting practices and transactions for over 30 assigned units (revenues
totaling approx. $61 million) over six campuses, to uphold the units' general ledger integrity
● Detecting significant accounting errors and improving operational efficiency of units by conducting onsite
consulting and close interaction with respective unit fiscal officers
● Assumed responsibility to manage reporting requirements for all units (more than 60 units with revenues
totaling over $700 million) during a four month period of major employee transition

2) Jun. 2006 to Jun. 2007 - Portfolio Investment Analyst, Stifel Nicolaus & Co., Indianapolis, IN

● Worked directly with Senior Managing Directors and the VP of Portfolio Management, for the fourth largest producing retail brokerage team in the US (over $4.6 Billion Assets Under Management)
● Responsibilities included:
– Monitoring asset/sector allocations and equity returns for $700 million of high-net worth portfolios
– Preparing equity recommendations, investment proposals, and fund performance layouts through fundamental analysis, modelling, risk/return evaluations, and industry attractiveness
– Conducting searches for third party managers across investment styles, such as separately-managed products and hedge funds.
● Recommended three new stocks and four new funds during tenure based on industry analysis and value-oriented valuation, eventually deemed investment-suitable in discretionary portfolios
● Developed a “cash flow” tracking system to identify accounts with un-invested liquid assets for streamlining cash management and trading across portfolios

Extra Curricular Activities

● Team Leader-in-Training, Finance Committee Board Member (interviewing), Habitat for Humanity
● Have been active in the family business of trading cloth, plastics, and precious stones

Kelley School of Business Clubs:
● Treasurer, Phi Eta Sigma Honors Society (managing $15,000)
● Vice-President and Technology Director of Computer Information Systems Club


Kelley School of Business Honors
● Executive scholarships by the Office of International Services, and Phi Eta Sigma Honors Society
● Top 5 in I-Core Final Case Competition (among 100 Teams)

Interests

Personal Investing (actively manage over $200K of family money), Making Music, Soccer, Travelling (have travelled to a majority of the US states and Indian states)

Why MBA: I want to leverage and combine the experience I have gained in Investment Management and Consulting by entering the Investment Consulting industry. MBA school would allow me to explore this non-traditional finance industry, and exploit networking opportunities with the many finance and consulting peers expected to be in top programs.

Why Now: I like to work with smaller organizations (see my workex) in order to make a more meaningful impact in a heavy teamwork environment that allows me to wield significant responsibility. Unfortunately, a downside to these organizations is limited upward mobility without an MBA. I believe I have reached my upper limit in my organizations and am looking to change into a more mamagerial position in an entity with better career advancement opportunities.

B-schools

Columbia (dream school)
CBS
Wharton
Stern
Darden

Basically I desire to attend a top-10/15 East Coast school, and the only Midwestern schools acceptable would be CBS or Kellogg.

Questions

1) Am I competitive for these schools given my non-profit exposure?
2) I have not begun writing essays etc. so would it aid me to wait till R1 in 2009 or would it be a decent shot to apply early R3 / last day R2? I would ideally like to begin school in 2009, but am willing to wait if it can aid my chances.

Thanks.
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Source: — Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant |

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by Cindy Tokumitsu » Mon Dec 22, 2008 5:00 am
Hello,

You would be borderline competitive for NYU and Darden, in my view. You have numerous strengths and some differentiating factors, but still Wharton, Columbia, and possibly Chicago would like to see a higher GMAT – at least with the 3.3 GPA. The 690 won’t cause anyone to question your abilities, but for such competitive programs either the GPA or the GMAT should be strong.

The strengths that I see are the differentiating experience and goals plus strong community service.

You should apply in R2 if you can do so with the strongest possible applications. Otherwise R3 will be OK -- less chance of acceptance, but you can reapply to these schools if need be (though hopefully that won't be needed!).

Good luck with your MBA plans!

Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
www.Accepted.com

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by niraj_a » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:26 am
Cindy,

That is good insight, thank you. I can't change my GPA, and don't feel like taking the GMAT a fourth time, so I guess I will take my chances with what I have for now and try to sell my CFA progress as proof of quant achievement.

I believe that I won't be able to submit a solid app by R2 for most of the schools on my list except Columbia, since it has rolling admissions.

So, wWould you say that I will be late if I apply there by Jan 31? Do you know if they are re-applicant friendly?

Thank you again.