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by singhpvivek » Sat Jul 20, 2013 7:23 am
Hi ,

I am an Indian Male candidate for fall 2014 admissions.

I have graduated in 2010 with degree in Computer Science from a Govt Technical University in India with 72% marks.( My university does not grant GPA's- but 72 is top 10 % of university)

I have worked for Accenture for 2 years in Business Consulting and domains such as Chemicals, Health care & Natural Resources.

Currently working for Big 4 consulting firm in advisory for largest FMCG client,leading a team of 5.

My family runs a registered NGO for past 5 years & I have been a part of it from college days.

I am looking for switching to strategy firms specializing in Non Profit sector & then continue with my family NGO.

I am leading CSR initiative at my current organisation

My target colleges are Yale,Stanford,Harvard,Kellogg,Duke.

Can you please suggest my suitability for these programs ?
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by singhpvivek » Sat Jul 20, 2013 7:25 am
My GMAT score is 710.
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by CriticalSquareMBA » Sat Jul 20, 2013 3:15 pm
Hey man,

Before I can give you a great response, I need a little more info! A few questions.

I couldn't quite figure out from your post is how many actual years of experience do you have? It says 2 years at Accenture but how many at the Big 4 after?

Also, what's the CSR initiative?

What did you do for the NGO?

How did you pick those schools and what do you want out of your MBA?

Ok - I know the answer you were looking for wasn't a series of questions but it'll help, I promise!

Bhavik
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by singhpvivek » Sun Jul 21, 2013 3:37 am
Hi Bhavik,

Currently its 1 year at Big 4 in advisory services.

The CSR initiatives at my workplace were organizing relief donation camps,scheduling & managing 40 CSR club volunteers weekly plans to local NGOs,managing one day visit programs for employees at organization to a local orphanage/old house etc.

Since NGO was started by my Father, I was involved in designing literacy programs and managing execution at ground level. Currently we have 40-50 people staff who takes care of govt aided projects in North India. I have not been involved full time but have been constantly working with my family in driving initiatives coupled by sabbaticals or non paid leaves at workplace.


I referred courses/programs which has social entrepreneurship focus and shortlisted Yale,Hass,Harvard,Stanford,Kellogg & Duke.

My expectation out of MBA program is to understand how global Non profit sectors work, take few additional courses in public policy (offered by these colleges) and then work for some boutique consulting firm for Non profit sector and gain some exposure.


Many Thanks !!
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by CriticalSquareMBA » Sun Jul 21, 2013 5:59 am
Hey there,

Thanks for the additional information! So let's start with your goals. They make sense and there is a clear path between your prior professional experiences and your future goals. There's a lot there you can leverage.

Professionally, at 3 years at the time of application, and 4 at matriculation, it's a little on the lower side but definitely not too much an issue. The saving grace here is the pedigree and name recognition of this latest Big 4 firm (Accenture isn't a differentiator). However, you clearly have leadership in both client projects and internal initiatives along with a variety of projects across industries. Personally, I don't think another year will give you additional unique opportunities so I'm not going to necessarily suggest you wait.

Within the community, your story here is clearly your strength. Not only from a trajectory and establishment perspective, but also in regards to your future goals. The CSR initiative seems impactful and clearly your way of getting involved in the firm. Given you're doing something this large in your first year at the firm speaks volumes about your passions. I'm not at all concerned that you haven't worked with your NGO full time. You were employed full time so it makes perfect sense that you were involved on an initiative level. Not to mention you took time off to make an impact! That's great!

Academics: Your academic performance is average for your applicant pool. You clearly did well on the GMAT and in your studies but given who else is applying from India, this puts your performance as average. But this isn't a bad thing - you're not a traditional applicant and your story is both passionate and realistic so I'm not concerned about this. It won't hold you back, but your advantages come from elsewhere.

The school list is logical - Yale especially is #1 for a reason in the non profit space. However, HBS and Stanford are going to be real stretches for you, to be honest. If you're set on applying there, I'd say pick Stanford as your "hail mary" given their relative strength in the field as well as their placement network on the west coast (lot of non profit focused firms there).

There are other schools you're missing here though. Columbia and Ross both have strong non-profit programs and locations (stronger than Duke, for example). Given your profile, I would say Kellogg is a realistic stretch program for you but above that you'll have difficulty.

How many schools are you looking to apply to? Stanford, like I mentioned, is a long shot. Worth a shot though - right? If you don't try, you won't know. However, with the exclusion of Stanford, this puts your potential list of schools at 7 and it would be useful to have a conversation around what's most important to you in order to short list.

I hope this helps - I think you've got a good profile and a strong, passionate story. The main thing here will be the articulation. Your non profit involvement and passion exceed that of most applicants, but making sure the adcoms see it that way will make all the difference.

Let me know if you have any other questions - I'm happy to help!

Bhavik
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by singhpvivek » Mon Jul 22, 2013 12:11 am
Hi Bhavik,

Thanks for your inputs.
However, I would like to discuss about selection of B schools to an extent now.
Though I understand Stanford has a better structure supporting Non Profit, but the number of seats and selectivity makes it too difficult to target :).
I am looking forward to apply to 4 US colleges - Duke ,Yale, Kellogg, and one among H/S/W.
I will really appreciate if you can help me with making choice between H/S/W .

Many Thanks..
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by CriticalSquareMBA » Mon Jul 22, 2013 9:12 am
Hey man,

Sure, let's talk schools. Yes, Stanford is difficult to get into, but they also value diverse backgrounds and are more accepting of those wanting to go social / service after their MBAs. Wharton is lower ranked when it comes to non profit but I don't care too much about that. My concern with Wharton is given your experiences and goals, they may not be in the best position to enable your success. HBS is a better contender with both their class working style as well as network.

So if we look at it that way, then you're down to H v. S and there is obviously no sense in saying you have a better shot at HBS than you do Stanford, they're both significant stretches for you.

In that case and you need to select one, pick the one that's most closely aligned to who you are and where you're trying to go. So I would stand by Stanford - I think there are a lot of concrete reasons to go there that trump the other programs, but some significant intangibles as well (e.g. location, regional mentalities, etc.).

On a side note - I think you may be well served by A) adding Columbia to the mix or B) subbing out Duke for Columbia. Once again, network, regionality, intangibles, etc.

What do you think?

Bhavik
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by singhpvivek » Tue Jul 23, 2013 12:24 pm
Hi Bhavik,

Thanks for the reply.
I have a general query, if you might answer.

My way of shortlisting college is also on basis of college that provide International students loan.
So my query is " does colleges grant education loan before issuing I20 and can it be used as a proof in I20" or I have to show from my personal savings that I can bear expenses of 60,000-80,000$ for I20 forms required for US Visa.


Thanks..
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by CriticalSquareMBA » Tue Jul 23, 2013 12:36 pm
Hey there,

In all honesty, while I have a general idea of the right direction, you should really call the financial aid office. They know the ins and outs of the I-20 and that's really not our expertise unfortunately. They'd be able to give you a much better response.

Bhavik
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