Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

Kindly evaluate my profile for ISB 2017 intake.

I am a 22 year old female.

Undergrad : BA in Eco Stats from Xaviers, Mumbai GPA 3.5/4

Class X ICSE 92.4% and Class XII IBDP 93.4% (batch topper from 100 students)Wrote 3 research papers (unpublished) during course of education.

Work Ex : Currently working in Financial Services Risk Consulting in EY for 2 years. Previously interned at HDFC Bank, Family Business and FXall (Treasury system vendor).


GMAT : Will be writing on 27th May. Expect a score of 710 or above.

Co- curriculars :

. Represented school at an international college festival, Harvard Model Congress, held in Singapore in 2011, simulation of the American Congress.

. Achieved distinction in Trinity College examinations for Speech and Drama (up to Grade 4).

. Vice-chairperson of a committee in the national level junior college festival International Youth Conference, a simulation of the G-8 and G-20 in the year 2010.

. Increased social awareness via work with NGOs during school as well as college. Taught students at Gandhigram School, St.Catherines Home for girls and Vivekanada Youth Forum.

Consider the following points Ananya:

1. The EY name is great. Though you need to dig deeper on the achievements. 2 years is on the lowest end of the spectrum when it comes to ISB - so you'll have to make a strong case as to why your case merits a second look. The other thing you will need to align is your post-MBA goals
2. All of your ECs is from the college time. Those have limited impact and the without something to show continuity more recently, can have even lesser utility. So think along those lines.
3. The GMAT is just about at the average at ISB. So bear in mind that you are straddling multiple handicaps here. It may be worth giving things another year before making a much more confident shot at it.

Hope this helps some

Cheers,

Ananya Agarwal wrote:Kindly evaluate my profile for ISB 2017 intake.

I am a 22 year old female.

Undergrad : BA in Eco Stats from Xaviers, Mumbai GPA 3.5/4

Class X ICSE 92.4% and Class XII IBDP 93.4% (batch topper from 100 students)Wrote 3 research papers (unpublished) during course of education.

Work Ex : Currently working in Financial Services Risk Consulting in EY for 2 years. Previously interned at HDFC Bank, Family Business and FXall (Treasury system vendor).


GMAT : Will be writing on 27th May. Expect a score of 710 or above.

Co- curriculars :

. Represented school at an international college festival, Harvard Model Congress, held in Singapore in 2011, simulation of the American Congress.

. Achieved distinction in Trinity College examinations for Speech and Drama (up to Grade 4).

. Vice-chairperson of a committee in the national level junior college festival International Youth Conference, a simulation of the G-8 and G-20 in the year 2010.

. Increased social awareness via work with NGOs during school as well as college. Taught students at Gandhigram School, St.Catherines Home for girls and Vivekanada Youth Forum.

Hi Ananya,

You have a good profile in the making. EnY is a good brand and diversity of work ex will help. But 2 years of experience is less. ISB takes very few applicants with less than 3 years of experience. So, ideally we would recommend that you apply next year ( your first attempt should be your best shot). But in case you definitely want to apply this year we would recommend that you take a couple of months extra but target a better score e.g. 740 or 740.

Feel free to contact us if you have any queries.

Apphelp Team

Hi,

Can you please evaluate my profile.

I am Soham. I am looking to pursue 1 year MBA programme (2017-18) and planning to apply for B-schools such as ISB,IIMI-IPMX,XLRI GMP etc.

Let me begin by briefing my work experience below and want you to feed some valuable opinion.

I have total experience of 7 years.Presently, I am working as an electrical engineer in WS Atkins(An UK based Design Engineering and Management consultancy firm) in Gurgaon & responsible for project design and management for various international projects in UK & Middle East.
I develop the electrical power distribution and essential requirements for various water and waste water schemes planned and develop across U.K and Middle east.I liaise, coordinate, interact and do meetings with Atkins U.K and Middle East counterparts pertaining to different projects to ensure that project discussions occur frequently amongst project team members to discuss project design progress, changes and review in design, design challenges and solutions.I liaise and coordinate with mechanical, civil and instrumentation engineers to ensure uniformity in project design and resolve issues that are bottleneck to project progress.

I am an active & certified ERT(Emergency Response Team) member in the organisation responsible to cater aspect of Health & Safety.I hold the responsibility of being the floor leader of ERT.
I also fulfill the role of Internal Auditor of my team(responsible for Quality Control of documents) and facilitate the process of continuous quality improvement in project delivery.
I am a member of steering committee for green house who co-owns the process of 'one Atkins'and seeks to align all the houses and increase collaboration and engagement within teams.
I participated in MERIT '16 competition(computer based business game for professionals to run a virtual construction company) and stood 9th overall out of 120 teams globally.

Previously I have worked with an EPC firm,Technofab Engineering Limited where i have fulfilled roles of both as an Engineer & Senior Engg. (Electrical) for various turnkey projects pertaining to clients such as NTPC,NPCIL etc.I have had engineers and Cad Technician(Draftsmen) working under me in successfully delivering a lot of projects. My responsibilities included review control schematics of MCCs (vendor drawings),prepare bill of materials procured for different projects,liaised and coordinated with mechanical, civil and instrumentation engineers to ensure uniformity in design and effectively deliver drawings and documents,standardized documents and drawings for various clients that helped the team reduce time in project delivery and henceforth increase efficiency,project progress meetings and had job related discussions with clients/consultants,worked closely Purchase (Procurement) dept. to facilitate technical evaluation of equipment which were to be placed for order/inquiry,worked closely with Tendering/Proposals dept. to help quote suitably for a job that were in the course of bidding,participated in FAT (Factory assurance tests) for MCCs (Motor control center) and distribution boards procured for different projects and performed quality and performance checks for all components supplied by vendor,supported commissioning AAFR (Additional away from reactor) facility in Nuclear power Corporation of India ltd. (NPCIL), Tarapur, India

Acads :
10 th - 80.8 % ; secured scholar badge and certificate from apeejay school
12 th - 79.2 % ; secured highest marks in Maths(95/100) from apeejay school in CBSE class XII exam.
B.Tech - 7.74 (DGPA)

Please suggest whether my profile stands suitable for applying into b-schools of my choice.

sohamnag wrote:Hi,

Can you please evaluate my profile.

I am Soham. I am looking to pursue 1 year MBA programme (2017-18) and planning to apply for B-schools such as ISB,IIMI-IPMX,XLRI GMP etc.

Let me begin by briefing my work experience below and want you to feed some valuable opinion.

<<snip>>

12 th - 79.2 % ; secured highest marks in Maths(95/100) from apeejay school in CBSE class XII exam.
B.Tech - 7.74 (DGPA)

Please suggest whether my profile stands suitable for applying into b-schools of my choice.

A few reflections on your profile Soham:

1. Your profile looks pretty interesting overall. A word of advice though, it is difficult to read through the work that you do since it has been written in the form of one huge sentence. This is something to bear in mind especially when you are writing your essays - won't help you much there. The profile alone however is pretty meaty and if positioned well, can definitely get you some attention at these schools.
2. There are several important aspects missing in your post though. Your post-MBA goals and GMAT for instance. Your ECs too seem to be one off (the competition)? That will fetch you limited brownie points. The outside work efforts will help balance things out though.
3. Overall though, definite merit in proceeding with your MBA plans.

Cheers,

sohamnag wrote:Hi,

Can you please evaluate my profile.

I am Soham. I am looking to pursue 1 year MBA programme (2017-18) and planning to apply for B-schools such as ISB,IIMI-IPMX,XLRI GMP etc.

Let me begin by briefing my work experience below and want you to feed some valuable opinion.

I have total experience of 7 years.Presently, I am working as an electrical engineer in WS Atkins(An UK based Design Engineering and Management consultancy firm) in Gurgaon & responsible for project design and management for various international projects in UK & Middle East.
I develop the electrical power distribution and essential requirements for various water and waste water schemes planned and develop across U.K and Middle east.I liaise, coordinate, interact and do meetings with Atkins U.K and Middle East counterparts pertaining to different projects to ensure that project discussions occur frequently amongst project team members to discuss project design progress, changes and review in design, design challenges and solutions.I liaise and coordinate with mechanical, civil and instrumentation engineers to ensure uniformity in project design and resolve issues that are bottleneck to project progress.

I am an active & certified ERT(Emergency Response Team) member in the organisation responsible to cater aspect of Health & Safety.I hold the responsibility of being the floor leader of ERT.
I also fulfill the role of Internal Auditor of my team(responsible for Quality Control of documents) and facilitate the process of continuous quality improvement in project delivery.
I am a member of steering committee for green house who co-owns the process of 'one Atkins'and seeks to align all the houses and increase collaboration and engagement within teams.
I participated in MERIT '16 competition(computer based business game for professionals to run a virtual construction company) and stood 9th overall out of 120 teams globally.

Previously I have worked with an EPC firm,Technofab Engineering Limited where i have fulfilled roles of both as an Engineer & Senior Engg. (Electrical) for various turnkey projects pertaining to clients such as NTPC,NPCIL etc.I have had engineers and Cad Technician(Draftsmen) working under me in successfully delivering a lot of projects. My responsibilities included review control schematics of MCCs (vendor drawings),prepare bill of materials procured for different projects,liaised and coordinated with mechanical, civil and instrumentation engineers to ensure uniformity in design and effectively deliver drawings and documents,standardized documents and drawings for various clients that helped the team reduce time in project delivery and henceforth increase efficiency,project progress meetings and had job related discussions with clients/consultants,worked closely Purchase (Procurement) dept. to facilitate technical evaluation of equipment which were to be placed for order/inquiry,worked closely with Tendering/Proposals dept. to help quote suitably for a job that were in the course of bidding,participated in FAT (Factory assurance tests) for MCCs (Motor control center) and distribution boards procured for different projects and performed quality and performance checks for all components supplied by vendor,supported commissioning AAFR (Additional away from reactor) facility in Nuclear power Corporation of India ltd. (NPCIL), Tarapur, India

Acads :
10 th - 80.8 % ; secured scholar badge and certificate from apeejay school
12 th - 79.2 % ; secured highest marks in Maths(95/100) from apeejay school in CBSE class XII exam.
B.Tech - 7.74 (DGPA)

Please suggest whether my profile stands suitable for applying into b-schools of my choice.

Hi Soham,

Your profile is diverse and interesting. While writing the essays you will have to ensure that you dont get into technicalities of your experience. Instead, highlight aspects such as project mgmt, client interaction, procurement & vendor mgmt well. Think through your post MBA goals and connect them to your past experience.

ERT etc. doesnt matter much. Every company has ERT members.

We assume you havent taken GMAT. If you are targeting ISB, IIM I and XLRI then 700 on GMAT is fine. But if you are looking at IIMB / C as well then target a 720+. They are far more competitive.

Feel free to contact us for any queries.

Apphelp Team

Hey everyone! I'm looking to apply for PGP 2017/18 at ISB Hyderabad. Here's my profile:

1) 10th: 90%
2) 12th: 87.2%
3) Graduation (Mechanical Engineering): 67.6% (not CGPA!) from a Tier-2 college in Delhi-NCR
4) GMAT: Will appear in August 2016, hope to score upwards of 720

Work experience: 22 months of work experience till date. Will have 30 months till the ISB cut-off of March 2017.

1) I'm an entreprenuer, I started my own e-commerce business straight out of college, was pretty successful, until we had to shut down because of lack of funds, led a team of 5-8 people
2) Almost 10 months now in a popular digital media company, in a product and business role, working in a senior leadership role with the CEO

My 22 months in the industry have been really challenging, I've started my own venture, which I headed, I've built and grown products, learned the trade of digital marketing, business strategy, business development, hiring etc. They've been leadership roles (albeit smaller teams to lead and smaller businesses to scale), I want to work in product management for the rest of my career, I've found my mojo here, but definitely want to work at scale, in big internet businesses now.

Extra and Co-curriculars:

1) Been an academic gold medalist in school
2) College quiz society - organised and led teams during technical festival
3) Founding member and Head Editor of official college newsletter, started and built this from scratch
4) Social volunteer for 2 years for a leading NGO - taught various subjects to underpriviliged kids, took holistic ownership of a kid in high school, now he's studying in a full-time course at University of Delhi, awarded for these contributions
5) Active MUNer during college days

Any pointers for ISB?

harshgupta16 wrote:Hey everyone! I'm looking to apply for PGP 2017/18 at ISB Hyderabad. Here's my profile:

1) 10th: 90%
2) 12th: 87.2%
3) Graduation (Mechanical Engineering): 67.6% (not CGPA!) from a Tier-2 college in Delhi-NCR

<<snip>>

What are my chances at ISB?

Consider the following points Harsh:

1. The nature of startup and to what level you were able to take it is important to understand. Several folks take a shot at it these days so important to understand that yours was not just a flash in the pan.
2. While the diversity is great, it can also be a bit of burden. The onus of explaining why you want to leave your current gig so soon will be on you. Without that, your experience can come across as fractured and your decisions, lacking foresight. So make sure you are ready to be challenged on the story.
3. While for reasons mentioned here, I won't comment on your selection chances, but the years of experience could be a definite handicap. That said, if you are able to differentiate and reason out things, you might just make enough dent to warrant attention.
4. Assuming the ECs (NGO) is current, that can help provide added richness to the profile. So use that well.

Hope this helps some.

Cheers,

harshgupta16 wrote:Hey everyone! I'm looking to apply for PGP 2017/18 at ISB Hyderabad. Here's my profile:

1) 10th: 90%
2) 12th: 87.2%
3) Graduation (Mechanical Engineering): 67.6% (not CGPA!) from a Tier-2 college in Delhi-NCR
4) GMAT: Will appear in August 2016, hope to score upwards of 720

Work experience: 22 months of work experience till date. Will have 30 months till the ISB cut-off of March 2017.

1) I'm an entreprenuer, I started my own e-commerce business straight out of college, was pretty successful, until we had to shut down because of lack of funds, led a team of 5-8 people
2) Almost 10 months now in a popular digital media company, in a product and business role, working in a senior leadership role with the CEO

My 22 months in the industry have been really challenging, I've started my own venture, which I headed, I've built and grown products, learned the trade of digital marketing, business strategy, business development, hiring etc. They've been leadership roles (albeit smaller teams to lead and smaller businesses to scale), I want to work in product management for the rest of my career, I've found my mojo here, but definitely want to work at scale, in big internet businesses now.

Extra and Co-curriculars:

1) Been an academic gold medalist in school
2) College quiz society - organised and led teams during technical festival
3) Founding member and Head Editor of official college newsletter, started and built this from scratch
4) Social volunteer for 2 years for a leading NGO - taught various subjects to underpriviliged kids, took holistic ownership of a kid in high school, now he's studying in a full-time course at University of Delhi, awarded for these contributions
5) Active MUNer during college days

Any pointers for ISB?

Hi Harsh,

We agree with the response provided by another consultant. ISB admits few applicants with less than 3 yrs of experience. So, less work ex duration is one key deterrent. Second one is less than yr in the current assignment/ job. Too frequent job / career changes may ( not always) can raise doubt in adcom's mind and they may feel that you need more experience.

Ideally, we would suggest that you apply in 2017. But in case you want to apply this year target a score on GMAT, say 750 which makes it tough for adcom to reject you w/o an interview call. Obviously, solid clarity on post MBA goals and connection with what you have done in past will be key.

Feel free to contact us for any queries.

Apphelp Team

Hi, I'm looking to apply for PGP 2017/18 at ISB Hyderabad. Please evaluate my profile and let me know your thoughts.

1. 10th: 93% (CBSE)
2. 12th: 89% (CBSE)
3. Undergrad: B.Tech (Chemical Engg), 8.4/10.0 from SASTRA Univ, Tamilnadu
4. Postgrad: MS (Industrial Engg), 3.4/4.0, Texas A&M Univ, USA
5. GMAT: 680 (Taken in Dec 2014)
6. Work Ex: 36 months (as of June 2016)

Background: Towards the end of my B.tech, I wanted to understand more about the economics and operations aspects of manufacturing. Hence, the move to Industrial Engg for my masters. Also, the exposure with a degree from a top-tier US Engg college (Texas A&M is ranked within the top 10 for Industrial Engg) brought me to the US. Post MS, I've been working as an Associate consultant with a petrochemical market research firm in Texas. Primary focus of my role is to analyze market data, build models to forecast supply/demand/pricing based on which we provide market intelligence/strategic options to leading producers and investors in the chemicals space. Over these years, I've used my analytical and problem solving abilities to provide recommendations for a wide variety of problems from our clients, including evaluating sourcing options, positioning a new product in the market, developing analytical models for manufacturing cost analysis.

Reason for MBA/Post-MBA goals: For the past 3 years, I've been focused on a 'niche' segment within the whole chemicals spectrum. I'd like to expand my tool set to work on a broader set of problems within a given industry. I'm interested in strategy & planning roles within the manufacturing domain.

Extra-curriculars:
1. Photography & Scene designing - Design the stage and work on visual effects for a Indian theater group in the US. We hold about 3-4 major shows every year. I also cover dance and theater shows for the group as a photographer.
2. Worked as a marketing and communications graduate assistant for the University art galleries in Texas A&M. I was involved in website maintenance, design and distribution of marketing materials for art shows and exhibitions. Also worked with a team to plan and organize a university wide student event to promote art awareness on campus
3. Trained in carnatic violin, have played on shows at the school & college level.

anushar31 wrote:Hi, I'm looking to apply for PGP 2017/18 at ISB Hyderabad. Please evaluate my profile and let me know your thoughts.

1. 10th: 93% (CBSE)
2. 12th: 89% (CBSE)

<<snip>>

awareness on campus
3. Trained in carnatic violin, have played on shows at the school & college level.

A few thoughts for you to ponder on Anusha:

1. You have broken into a pretty niche area; something not many international candidates are able to do. The quality of work sounds excellent however it is not clear about accomplishments. The international nature of your work will be a big asset for PGP.
2. You need to formalize the goals story better. Are you talking about SCM/Demand Planning or Corporate Strategy roles for instance?
3. The GMAT will be an obvious handicap in an otherwise good academic record. With the different nature of your work, you might 'just' make the cut but you will be playing on chance. So if you can boost that score by 20-30 points, it will be super.
4. The ECs will help boost your profile further. It is great that you have kept up with them and not lost touch with your creative side.

Overall, with a better GMAT, you should have a solid shot.

Cheers,

Thank you, Manish.

Yes, I was worried about my GMAT score too. But I'm pinning my hopes on building a solid case through my work ex in the essays.

My long term goal is to get into Corporate strategy roles - for which, I'll need to broaden my skill set across several areas such as mgmt finance, corporate decision making and other general mgmt topics.

Accomplishments at work: There are quite a few. For the sake of brevity, I'll just share a key one here. I started off working as a Research Analyst in the plastics and petrochemicals area. About 1.5 years later, our company was acquired by another international mgmt consulting firm that specializes in mining and inorganic pigments. Just 6 months post the acquisition, I was promoted to a senior role within in the new parent company and I've emerged as a star performer in the past year within the mining practice. I feel that this bears testimony to ability to adapt my problem solving and analytical ability in a variety of contexts.

My question is - with my GMAT score, can I build a strong enough case for the PGP program? I'm willing to take chances here. Do you think my chances are better than a 50-50?

anushar31 wrote:Thank you, Manish.

Yes, I was worried about my GMAT score too. But I'm pinning my hopes on building a solid case through my work ex in the essays.
<<snip>>

My question is - with my GMAT score, can I build a strong enough case for the PGP program? I'm willing to take chances here. Do you think my chances are better than a 50-50?

You could have a shot Anusha but there is still time to the deadline and you seem to have made only a single attempt at it? So it will be worth another shot unless impossible.

Cheers,

anushar31 wrote:Hi, I'm looking to apply for PGP 2017/18 at ISB Hyderabad. Please evaluate my profile and let me know your thoughts.

1. 10th: 93% (CBSE)
2. 12th: 89% (CBSE)
3. Undergrad: B.Tech (Chemical Engg), 8.4/10.0 from SASTRA Univ, Tamilnadu
4. Postgrad: MS (Industrial Engg), 3.4/4.0, Texas A&M Univ, USA
5. GMAT: 680 (Taken in Dec 2014)
6. Work Ex: 36 months (as of June 2016)

Background: Towards the end of my B.tech, I wanted to understand more about the economics and operations aspects of manufacturing. Hence, the move to Industrial Engg for my masters. Also, the exposure with a degree from a top-tier US Engg college (Texas A&M is ranked within the top 10 for Industrial Engg) brought me to the US. Post MS, I've been working as an Associate consultant with a petrochemical market research firm in Texas. Primary focus of my role is to analyze market data, build models to forecast supply/demand/pricing based on which we provide market intelligence/strategic options to leading producers and investors in the chemicals space. Over these years, I've used my analytical and problem solving abilities to provide recommendations for a wide variety of problems from our clients, including evaluating sourcing options, positioning a new product in the market, developing analytical models for manufacturing cost analysis.

Reason for MBA/Post-MBA goals: For the past 3 years, I've been focused on a 'niche' segment within the whole chemicals spectrum. I'd like to expand my tool set to work on a broader set of problems within a given industry. I'm interested in strategy & planning roles within the manufacturing domain.

Extra-curriculars:
1. Photography & Scene designing - Design the stage and work on visual effects for a Indian theater group in the US. We hold about 3-4 major shows every year. I also cover dance and theater shows for the group as a photographer.
2. Worked as a marketing and communications graduate assistant for the University art galleries in Texas A&M. I was involved in website maintenance, design and distribution of marketing materials for art shows and exhibitions. Also worked with a team to plan and organize a university wide student event to promote art awareness on campus
3. Trained in carnatic violin, have played on shows at the school & college level.

Hi Anusha,

Everything looks good with your profile. While you can get an interview call at 680 as well, you should seriously consider improving your score by 30 points and leave nothing to chance. Also, while everyone looks at strategy roles and broader skillset post MBA, better clarity on goals e.g. Consulting roles ( which go well with what you have done in past) or core ops roles ( e.g. Ecommerce vendor channel operations or Uber Operations Manager) will help you present a stronger case.

Apphelp Team

Hi Everyone,

Please evaluate my profile for ISB 2017 intake.

10th: 91.67% (AP state Board)
12th: 95.30% (AP State Board)
GRADUATION: B.Tech in IT with 82.44% from a Private college in Hyderabad.

Work Ex: 3 yrs of software development experience in two different companies (As of Sept'16).

GMAT: 690 (Planning to give one more attempt next month and expecting 720 going by the mocks)

Extra Curricular:
- Diploma holder in Carnatic Music vocal. Done many concerts on many stages. Also taught music alongside my teachers. Won various state-level competitions in music.
- Grade 3 pianist from Trinity Guildhall.
- District level prize holder in chess championship during school.
- Held many seminars/presentations during college days.
- Promoted to senior developer with in 2 yrs of industry experience based on performance, while the average experience required to promote is around 3.5-4 Yrs.
- One of the very few people in the team and the least experienced one to be selected as a interviewer.

Also, please suggest if there is anything that i can do meanwhile to improve my profile.

Thanks,
Sireesha.