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Profile Evaluation Requested for Fall 2014 Entry

by darkknight4686 » Wed Jul 31, 2013 9:52 pm
Advisors,

Please help me in choosing the right schools for my application in the upcoming months. Below is my information:

Personal
Age: 27
Ethnicity: Indian (raised in America since I was 3)
Gender: Male

Education
University of Southern California
Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering ('08)
GPA: 3.0*
*I am taking the Mathematics for Management extension course at UCLA as part of the entire pre-MBA series (expected grade of 'A') to counteract my low undergrad GPA

Work Experience - Total is 5 years
Microsoft Corporation
- 2 years as an SDET (Software Development Engineering in Test) in the Core Windows group
Deloitte Consulting
- 2.5 years at consultant
o Promoted this year with highest rating in the firm
- Current project role is a multi-track leader on the implementation of healthcare IT marketplace to align with national health reform

GMAT
730 (96%) -- Verbal 40 (89%); Quantitative 49 (85%)

Extracurriculars
Regional Director of west coast non-profit
- 2 years as regional director in LA
- Poised to take national board role in September on non-profit board
Local office liaison for Junior Achievement non-profit
- 3-years in regional volunteer coordinator role for company's annual volunteer day
- Have organized 3-4 events totaling ~120 volunteers to teach 500+ kids over past 2-3 years

Goals
Short-term
- To land a strategic consultant job that helps provider/health plan companies predict future changes and trends in the health insurance markets
Longer term
- Lead the national health insurance practice for a health plan firm to integrate healthcare systems across multiple channels to provide a more holistic, simplified health insurance platform

Target Schools (all Round 1):
HBS (reapplicant '12)
GSB (reapplicant '11)
Wharton (reapplicant '12)
Kellogg (reapplicant '12)
Darden
Anderson

Thinking about:
Haas (reapplicant '11)
MIT
Michigan

Are there any other schools I should consider?

Thanks in advance for your opinions and guidance!
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by CriticalSquareMBA » Fri Aug 02, 2013 11:37 am
Hey there,

There are a couple of strong programs that have great healthcare focuses that are conspicuously missing from your list. Tuck, Duke, and UNC all have strong presences in this field along with the placement and networking to support you after you leave.

You're targeting a lot of schools in R1. Not saying that it's impossible, merely pointing it out. If you add any others, I'd suggest you rethink your round strategy. Also, 4 of your 6 R1 programs are top 5. That isn't a lot of diversification. Darden, while a great program, doesn't match your short or long term goals so I'm curious to see how you added that to the list. Anderson makes perfect sense for most of your goals but their healthcare focus is average. But I support UCLA's inclusion in the list.

Of the ones you're considering, Haas and Ross are both great but I'd lean towards Haas.

On a complete side note (even though you didn't ask for this) - you have a strong profile yet your list of reapplications is pretty long. I'm thinking it came down to story execution for you. Pay close attention to that this time around.

Oh, and one more thing, pay close attention to schools Deloitte has strong placement and recruitment relationships with.

Bhavik
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by darkknight4686 » Sat Aug 03, 2013 8:47 am
Hi Bhavik,

Thanks for your input. I think Tuck, Duke, and UNC are great and will consider adding those and dropping some of the ones you suggest. Out of the programs listed, the ones where Deloitte has a good placement (to my knowledge) are Kellogg, UCLA and possibly Wharton/HBS. However, I'm currently in technology consulting so I'll have to make sure those placements are not only for strategy or human capital.

In the past two years, I have applied to 2 schools each, in Round 2. I do think my essays and storytelling could use some work but I feel that the 2nd round applications (as an indian, male, IT consultant) probably didn't work as well since most schools already have their quota of those. In that case, I'm really shooting to apply to many of these schools R1 and leave some of the backup schools to round two. In this case, R1 would be HBS, GSB, Kellogg, Haas, Wharton and Round 2 might be Tuck, MIT, UCLA, Duke.
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by CriticalSquareMBA » Sat Aug 03, 2013 4:07 pm
Hey there!

My first reaction to your post is: 9 schools with a 730?!

Here's why - even when we have applicants FROM India who have average work experience (little pedigree, average experience, no consulting, etc.) we cap at 8 schools. Even that's a lot and we only go that high if conversion is their absolutely priority. After that, it's really just shotgunning.

The other thing is that you've deprioritized to R2 schools that, in some cases, are better goal enablers than their R1 counterparts. In R1 you've listed 4 of the top 5 programs and Haas, which is notorious for accepting continuously shifting applicant profiles.

I'm not trying to come across as judgmental because I don't know you very well but if I had to guess, you're getting a little rank happy. Your round strategy is inviting a lot of risk and by doing it this way you're enhancing the risk in both rounds at the same time.

Here's what I would suggest - take half of the schools you have for R1 and move them to R2. Take half of the R2 schools and move them to R1. Balance the attack strategy. ESPECIALLY because you're a reapplicant and, with some of these programs, that puts you in a tough spot.

Additionally, Deloitte's penetration at HBS and Wharton is primarily S&O driven with very little Tech or HC representation, FYI.

What you need to do before you finalize your strategy is to have a little time for introspection. Which schools are the right choice for you and where you're headed.

I hope this helps!

Bhavik
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by darkknight4686 » Sat Aug 03, 2013 9:09 pm
Definitely good points here, Bhavik. I actually agree that I'm getting a bit rank happy but to be honest, my goal of healthcare consulting is what fits in best with my past experience. Although I do have a passion for it, what I really want from business schools is networking and the ability to switch into a strategic consulting focus. If that's in healthcare, fantastic. If I can go to some other industry but stay in consulting, that would be great as well.

I do agree with the inviting of risk but at the same time, there are so many other applicants from Indian, male, IT backgrounds and I fear that applying again in Round 2 may put me at a disadvantage for those high rank schools that get a multitude of applications from the Indian, IT, male consultants.

Lastly, I do think I have to do a bit more introspection but with what I have done in the past few months, I do feel that the H/S/Kellogg/Berkeley schools fit the bill for exactly what I want from an MBA program. The problem is that all of those schools are very difficult to get into and I want to have some backups, hence the UCLA, Darden, Ross, etc. (although Ross and Darden may not really be considered "backups")

Thanks for your input and if you want to send me a PM, I'd love to schedule some 1:1 time with you.
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by CriticalSquareMBA » Sun Aug 04, 2013 4:35 am
Ahh - that's great information to have! :)

I sent you a note.

Cheers,

Bhavik
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