Ask Stacy Blackman

Hi Stacy,

I am an MBA aspirant for 2013. My profile is as follows

Male/28/Indian

Secured an all india rank of 294 in IIT entrance exam
Dual Degree (BTech + MTech in 5 Yrs) from IIT Bombay -- GPA 7.7/10


GMAT --- 760

International Internship
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Language Technology Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. This is graduate school but was able to impress the Prof and was offered an 3 month summer internship even though I was an undergraduate. The work done was presented at Internal Conference of Learning Science-2006, Bloomington Indiana.


Work Exp
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3.5 Yrs ( will be 4.5 yrs when I will be applying)

1. Specialist at Merill Lynch India (4 months) - Laid off during meltdown.
2. Software Developer, Chaupaati Baazar - Phone Commerce startup ( 14 months). The startup got acquired by an Indian retail giant.
3. Currently Working at the proprietary trading desk at an Indian Investment Bank. Started off as a developer but transitioned to a Quant role within a yr. Role requires creating High frequency trading strategies, developing them and running them in Indian Markets. Turned around a product that was about to be shutdown and transformed it from a loss to 50 million Rs profit. Recently got promoted and have dual role as a Quant and the Head of algo development team.

Extra Circulars
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Was extensively involved in promoting entrepreneurship among students at IIT Bombay.
1. Started as a volunteer in freshmen year at Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Bombay and by the 5th semester rose through the ranks to become member of the core team and head of Public relations and lead at team of 20.
2. Was member of core team responsible for conducting Eureka, IIT Bombay annual Business plan competition and Entrepreneurship summit, college festival involving lectures and presentations by eminent personalities in corporate world and startups to promote entrepreneurship.
3. Was founder of Entrepreneurship Club, an informal platform for weekly meeting with succesfull entrepreneurs for mentoring and networking.
4. Played cricket for my Hostel at IIT
5. Acted in the freshmen competition play.

After college interest include watching documentaries, Also have been volunteering at Teach for India Campaign, an education initiative for underprivileged kids


I have two questions.

Firstly, there is gab of 3 years between school and starting of college due to financial circumstances. Will that be cause of worry? If Yes, Any ways to negate it?

Secondly My GPA is not spectacular as I was involved in a lot of things in my Undergrad. How can i overcome that.

I am targeting Top Tier schools lie Wharton, Sloan, Booth, Tuck and HBS. Do you think I have a shot at these or do i need to rethink my school selection.

Thanks in advance