Indian Hotelier with a low GMAT

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Indian Hotelier with a low GMAT

by ubus » Tue Sep 23, 2014 11:59 pm
Dear Bhavik ,

It would be great if you could give me some feedback on my profile.

Background:
Undergrad in Hotel Administration GPA 3.7 -3.75.
GMAT 650 Q44/V35 ( Retake scheduled for Oct) Hopeful of a 680 if not more.

I work in the hospitality industry as a Revenue Manager.
Just to shed some light on what a revenue manager does:

Responsible for pricing strategy of the hotel.
Top Line budgeting
Revenue Maximization by optimizing pricing ( demand supply analysis).
Responsible for Distribution Channels of the hotel.
And pretty much responsible for strategizing to achieve Top Line.
Revenue Management usually has one or two people handling the entire show.
The Reservations team of 8 reported into me.
I report directly to the General Manager and Corp Director of Revenue.


Work Experience:

I ve worked as a Revenue Manager at the Taj Group of hotels, handling a turnover of 50 Million USD for abt 2 1/2 years.
Was hired as management Trainee and within 6 months given independent control of the one of the largest revenue generators for the entire group.

Moved to Hyatt Regency in Chennai as a Revenue Manager and have been working here for the last 2 1/2 yrs

At both these positions I have a great turn around stories.

Extracurriculars:
Headed two commercial food festivals at college each with 150 junior students working.
Presented a paper on innovation in hospitality at an international symposium
Headed Public Relations for College Annual Charity Fund Raiser. ( We raised close to USD 20k )
President of Arts Club at college.
Educating underprivileged children has been an issue close to my heart, so i ve been associated with the cause in one way or the other for the last 8 years.


So here's my issue, I know 650 is not a great score and i ll in all probabilities i ll be dinged by top schools
I am not quite sure if I can go beyond 680 in the limited time I have.


I know the demography I represent will surely work against me but I was hoping my work ex and undergrad would help me stand out in some way.

If not the top 15 schools, I was wondering if i could make it to the schools in the 16 - 30 range.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Regards

Sb

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by CriticalSquareMBA » Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:27 pm
Hey there,

Let's start by addressing the 800lb gorilla in the room. Your academics aren't great. Your GPA is a bit rough and your GPA, while awesome, is not from a Tier I school. Ok, so that's the bad news. The good news is your work experience is definitely going to catch some attention. Because it's really different than being a developer for Infosys. So that's fantastic! And working for some massive names (even Taj is well known globally) and having turn around stories at both is great. It seems you're involved a bit outside of work but not in a way that'll really set you apart. But you don't have a hole in your application there, either, so that's good!

So the top 10 are not going to happen. A couple of stretch programs in the 10 - 20 range are worth a shot (but, once again, probably not going to happen). But you can definitely target the 20 - 30 range as aligned programs. Your safeties with a 650 are beyond #30 but whether you choose to apply to programs ranked below that is a personal decision. If you bump up your score to a 680 you improve your chances a fair bit but not in a way that would move the ranges above. But if you can, retake the test and eek out a higher score!

Does that help?

Bhavik
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by ubus » Wed Sep 24, 2014 9:04 pm
Hi Bhavik,

Thank You for your response. I ve graduated from Manipal University, Welcomgroup School of Hotel Administration, which has been ranked no 1 or no 2 in India.

With a 680 or a 690 would i have a fair shot at the schools between the 11-30 range?

A lot of admission consultants in India don't seem to have any expertise on guiding a non traditional applicant like me.

Do you think the following schools are a possibility:

Emory University (Goizueta)
Indiana University-"‹Bloomington (Kelley)
Georgetown University (McDonough)
Vanderbilt University (Owen)
University of Southern California (Marshall)
University of Maryland-"‹College Park (Smith)
University of Washington (Foster)

Thank you once again!

Regards

Subu

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by CriticalSquareMBA » Thu Sep 25, 2014 8:05 am
Hi Subu,

Thanks for the additional info - Manipal is a great university. I'd say it's on the bottom of Tier I in that it's not a top ranked IIT. But great school nonetheless! As for a 680 - 690, yes, you'd have a solid chance at the 11 - 30 range. Like I said, it doesn't change the breakdown (11 - 20 are still stretches) but your chances do go up meaningfully! It's hard to say which programs you should apply to without knowing what you want to do, but that's a good diversified list you've provided. It's a good place to start. But don't be afraid to throw in a school or two that's a stretch - you won't know if you don't try!

Bhavik
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by ubus » Thu Sep 25, 2014 8:15 pm
Thank You Bhavik.

I ll let you know how my retake goes. :)

Regards

Subu

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by CriticalSquareMBA » Fri Sep 26, 2014 10:03 am
Awesome - good luck!!

Bhavik
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